For 40+ years, the Conservatives have held an idealogical point of view which means they want to reduce the size of the state and the amount of money the state spends. They believe the marketplace is more efficient at providing public services than a publicly-owned resource. Whenever possible, they've gone ahead and carried out actions in line with that belief. The fact that many Conservative party funding supporters were in business themselves and wanted to use their own businesses to provide public services (and make a profit) rather than use a publicly-owned organisation may have had something to do with the support it carried within their party.
New Labour went along with aspects of this as part of their positioning to win the support of Conservative voters. It worked.
Some policies, like "right to buy" were very popular with people who may not have considered themselves Conservatives until they were able to buy their council house at a significant market discount. Who could blame them? I don't. Moreover, by preventing the councils from spending that income on building new houses to replace them, the state was being taken out of the housing provision business - in line with the ideology. You can see why that approach would appeal. It's only now, a few decades down the line, that we see the short term gain (politically and financially) has been replaced by a longer-term problem. And the marketplace isn't solving it. There is not enough affordable housing available.
So now we have a scenario where the government spends our money managing and monitoring the quality and effectiveness of public services - the services where the customer has no real choice about supplier, the ones where the suppliers are paid by the government to run a service on behalf of the country. Like the railways. The only time this is a free market with competition is when the suppliers are bidding against each other to win the franchise. The government generally selects the lowest bidder. Then, when the supplier actually starts to run the service, they don't have enough money to do it properly. They cut services, or lay off staff, or forget to clean the trains.
This is the point in time when the government steps in. They are responsible to the public for the service that they subcontracted to the private sector. They are somewhat isolated from the problem, because they don't run the company that is failing to deliver. They have actually stepped away from their responsibility to us, the public, and hide behind the private company that they selected. A very common trait everywhere. How many of us have had to fight an unfair parking ticket in a shopping car park and been told it's enforced by a separate company and not the fault of the supermarket?
It's time to correct mistakes and put these services back where they belong.
It's funny, because some of you will call me a socialist for writing this - and for some of you, that is an insult and something you would never want to be. I don't support any political party. I support policies.
Using the marketplace to provide public services does not save money from the public purse in the long run. It only serves the people who own the companies delivering those services. Measuring a service by how much it costs is not the only metric we should use. What is the price of a dirty train, or a cancelled one to the commuter who already pays through the nose for a service they have no choice over using unless they move house or change job?
Apologies for the long read. Looking forward to the emoticons from the usual people with lots of zzzz's on them. Do your worst!
Fantastic post the best for ages
This is the essence why I have continuously done what I have done
Thatcher and then Blair politically sold out our country and made it one big shop
It generated individual and corporate greed and that destroyed the U.K. imo
I hold my hands up however as that system benefitted me to get out and follow my own agenda. What it has left is a very nasty culture that I cannot see ever changing
Public services playing catch up with business models borrowed and influenced by the private sector which I believe is still ten years ahead.
Public services will always be in the shadow of Private Enterprise. The private sector feeds off the public sector because of one thing money. Profits to be made Greedy shareholders demanding more money
This is the norm
Example Kingston Council had a commercial property it owns which is one of many they have purchased so they can met budgets and supply public services
It’s a commercial property worth £300m and has been vacant for a while.
A problem arose recently when grass root housing officers responsible for the homeless discovered rough sleepers in an area of the property.
Actions were taken very swiftly indeed not because of the homeless but because the insurance for the asset was compromised
The housing officers tried contacting the building owners and naively went through the insurance company which sparked the whole thing . They didn’t even know the building was owned by their employer Royal Kingston all paid by tax payers money.
Mrs DT didn’t even know of that building
It was hidden under another companyname and managed by a third party
The rough sleepers were chucked out of course because of money very quickly and magically given accommodation where there is none apparently!
Since the crisis it has been exposed they own a lot more property all around London and the other councils do the same.
They are all at it ... some would argue they have to be just to survive
Meanwhile they are moving people out of London as quick as they can ask yourself why? ... no your can’t have a council house in London but you can in Portsmouth
So public services are having to make and retain property portfolios to get revenue in and hold assets worth more than currency So they can continue the social engineering
It will take more than a shift in politics in the U.K. to change this culture. I believe the NHS has had similar issues with its silent portfolio... know that Moorfields in Old Street is sold ... moving to Kings Cross and will make a massive profit
Meanwhile in other parts of the country where they don’t know this stuff is happening or don’t believe it have finally seen and felt the effects ... no wonder they voted for Brexit
They were led to believe the EU is to blame
Hence the protest vote
