Anyone in favour of Nationalisation of utilities?

[Harry Bloomfield]

When BT was privatised a rapid effect was an increase in what we pay. They were also given responsibility for internet back bones - main highways effectively. You may see them about improving telephone lines to enhance internet performance. Eg outside my house changing connections to water proof ones. I asked the bloke what he was doing.

They would be swapping ordinary contact terminations for gel sealed which are water proof, sealed against oxidation which always caused noise and poor internet speeds.

Here I have a very wide range of suppliers, FTTC or full fibre, with a full range of speeds from 17Mbps, to 1000Mbps. Cost now, is less than we paid when there was only BT available, not taking into account the decline in the value of money, but now we have broadband as well as a voice phone included. I have 40Mbps for around £22 via Plusnet. Fibre is there at the end of my drive, should I want it, which at the moment I do not.

 

[ajohn]

More nuke, certainly, but where does wind sit with nuke - it doesn't.

IMHO the odd one is larger scale solar. It really needs batteries and may well take up farming land. How does it fit in with wild life. I suppose they could sow wild flowers etc between the rows and mow them yearly which they will need to do anyway. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me. However some one that wants to do it, planning in progress thinks it's wonderful

Replace or fitting to roofs - entirely different area - if reasonably cost effective. In Turkey sun is used for hot water, thermosyphon system. Solar may be able to do similar with a well insulated tank and give some excess. 80C water, maybe higher along with hot cold mixer valve for say 40C or so. I had to fit one of those due to the boiler we currently have. Not an expensive item really that happens to have sufficient flow rates. I looked at the data on it. Larger if needed - if enough are produced costs would reduce, rather a lot in this case.

 

[delmel]

Yes. Only of they do it not for profit though. The Tories will do it only to somehow make them richer though.

Tories will probably nationalise it buying back the mess created after all profits have been exhausted without any updating and falling apart. They will then spend millions of money updating and then hand it back to the private sector mate from the pub. Will labour do much better, well they cant do any worse, but far from ideal either.

 

[ajohn]

We have a pretty senior labour MP but not a cabinet member. There main concern is utilities and feel that area isn't working well. They recognise the problems from the past when state owned and feel these can be overcome. I don't think they intend old style nationalisation anyway.

Some of the problems relate to these doing the correct thing for the country rather than themselves and profit.

An interesting link for some

PORTON BIOPHARMA LIMITED persons with significant control - Find and update company information - GOV.UK

PORTON BIOPHARMA LIMITED - Free company information from Companies House including registered office address, filing history, accounts, annual return, officers, charges, business activity

find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk

Another one, more interesting in some ways

One year on: MoD acquisition

www.sheffieldforgemasters.com

Go back pre latest Tory victory and Labour were going to help them get a loan for investments. Some time ago now. Blocked by the Tories. Has the MoD bought them out purely for defence purposes. They are a world class company. What form of control does the MoD have?

LOL Sounds like the Tory think we can't do without them anyway. Labours view - they wouldn't have any problem repaying it.

 

[Koolpc]

I am in favour of cheaper bills!!!

 

[JohnD]

It appears there will be a water company on the market shortly

"SES Water up for sale in UK as Japanese owners pay £7.8mn dividend​

Company on the market as groups face pressure over debt levels and pollution failures"

FT.com



"SES Water’s Japanese owners are paying a £7.8mn dividend and putting the business up for sale as the UK’s privately owned water companies come under pressure to invest in ageing infrastructure.

The company, which provides water for about 745,000 people in south-east London, West Sussex and Kent, has been put on the market by its owners Sumitomo and Osaka Gas, according to two sources close to the sales process. Macquarie Capital is acting as adviser to the companies.

SES’s Japanese owners are understood not to have wanted to put equity into the business and instead decided to sell, one person close to the discussions said. The company is one of six water-only providers in England and is responsible for supplying Gatwick airport, which was forced to close restaurants and toilets for one day last July after pipes burst."

 

[securespark]

Yes! The whole lot.

Everything around these companies stinks.

These services are not supposed to be run purely to generate a profit.

The train fares are ****ing ludicrous.

Train operators in Europe part own ours and our ticket prices are subsidising theirs. Ridiculous.

Likewise, energy bills.
The water companies have been aided and abetted by the ****ing Tories and are pouring sh it into our waterways.

The government regulators are ****ing toothless and do sweet FA.

As you might get from my post, I'm absolutely livid about the way these companies have been going over the years since privatisation.

Return the whole damn lot to public ownership.

 

[Deleted member 18243]

Return the whole damn lot to public ownership.

To be managed by whom?

 

[securespark]

We need a complete change.

We need to sweep out this sleaze. All the lying, cheating and lack of transparency.

Those who are diehard Tories say that Labour won't be any better.

Well, they sure as hell can't be any worse.

 

[Deleted member 18243]

⁹We need a complete change.

Yes we do.

Those who are diehard Tories say that Labour won't be any better.

Other people say that too, not just diehard Tories.

Well, they sure as hell can't be any worse.

Yes they can.

We need a complete change.

A complete change would entail getting rid of the Tories and Labour.

 

[fillyboy]

We need a complete change.

We need to sweep out this sleaze. All the lying, cheating and lack of transparency.

Those who are diehard Tories say that Labour won't be any better.

Well, they sure as hell can't be any worse.

Yes. Lets go back to the power cuts and shortages of the 70's, when the utilities were publicly owned.
Nowt wrong with candles lad.

 

[securespark]

Yes they can.

We will find out sooner or later.

A complete change would entail getting rid of the Tories and Labour.

Who do you suggest in Government?

 

[securespark]

Yes. Lets go back to the power cuts and shortages of the 70's, when the utilities were publicly owned.
Nowt wrong with candles lad.

Both you and Andy are oddly mute when it comes to suggesting an alternative.

 

[Deleted member 18243]

Both you and Andy are oddly mute when it comes to suggesting an alternative.

Wrong. I've already addressed what needs to be done, in 3 detailed stages, on another thread.

But even if I didn't have an alternative, it wouldn't mean that you should stick with the uniparty.

 

[Diver Fred]

BT is a sort of example. Product development etc. That is now seen as a didn't encourage it problem.

Bollux! I spent best part of my professional career working in PO telephones/BT development labs.
System X development started as a collaboration in the 1960's - biggest problem was making the 'switch' work. getting the call 'thread' path across the 'time-space-time' electronic block; had to buy in technology from a USA company to get it to work successfully. BT withdrew from the collaboration before privatisation to allow the remaining 2, to then merge into one company to sell the 'exchange's' to many customers.
Post 1990 OfCom stuck it's oar in so many times - BT developed 'CallMinder' - made the trial system, found it worked and the customers really liked it but OfCom stopped BT (BT Labs) from making the units, design 'sold' to Ericssons, who then contracted BT labs to make it for them...
Fibre to the Home/Premises - BT intended to start a roll-out from around 1993, I'd been involved with the speech element of project; OfCom stopped the project dead in it's track - they said it was AntiCompatative. Still grieves me today.
The 'big' 0800 number cruncher - the last big BT project I was involved in was 'bought-in' from BT's then partners (intending to be part of BT) MCI; the people who knew the signalling system best was a British group working on the DEC kit - we understood it better than the manufacturers.

(Shortly after I left BT to take up my dad's trade - which was my first apprenticeship.)