re-nationalising the gas, electric ,and transport,

[alfred]

As we all know what with recent event as we await the very high cost of gas and electricity, which no doubt is going to cause severe hardship for many people , so i assume many most likely in their thousands, will be unable to pay these exorbitant prices due to a world demand ,


if this is the case then i think the government will have to step in and find the extra money to either privatise the energy companies or alternatively  start all over again in having a state run system as we had in the past ,


and the same for the privatised transport companies which although are also adding misery to the unrivalled price increases in just about everything ,  as it is the news that the world will go through a food shortage , so many of us including my own family will think up ways of where possible trying to spread the cost , as the shrinking pound will buy less than in the past,


do you think it time that the government took control and starts to run the country as it was in the past , as it is at the moment this government as many in recent years have passed on all these problems to private companies , and as usual fares price increases are going through the roof.


Q; what are you thoughts regarding these exorbitant price increases , and is there an alternative , if so will you share your thoughts with us,

[klondike]

As I see it the choice is between paying a bunch of money grubbing private companies way over the odds for goods and services or the taxpayer buys those companies out at an exorbitant price and then runs them grossly inefficiently requiring constant further taxpayer subsidy and giving users  incredibly bad service.

The technical name for this type of choice, I believe, is known as Hobson's.

[Scrumpy]

At this present time we have little choice  as to how the country is run and by whom..
I think the government should leave things as they are at the moment.. The tax payer has enough to think about.. and as for fuel prices..

[Alex]

I think they should get a move on with building smaller nuclear plants, no point in just talking about it !

[crabbyob]

i thought theSouth African genius had already produce4d mini nuclear power stations

[Michael Rolls]

The whole energy situation is a demonstration of Harold Wilson's comment that 'a week is a long time in politics'. The panicked reaction we are seeing now illustrates the failure of successive governments over the last 30 years or more to look beyond the date of the next election
Mike

[klondike]

I think they should get a move on with building smaller nuclear plants, no point in just talking about it !

There is no quick fix for our reliance on imports. As you say the sooner they start the better and nuclear is a good place.

It's a base load type of energy though running at a pretty constant level and doesn't provide the quick variable backup for when the wind stops blowing. That pretty much has to be gas. We apparently have large reserves of shale gas but the environmental lobby were very successful in rubbishing fracking so we aren't using that and won't for years if at all.

[GrannyMac]

I worked for the gas board from being a closed shop, nationalised industry, through to privatisation and the separation of the different parts of the company.  It was like a family in the early days, the training the service engineers got was second to none, and the company challenged M&S for the quality of customer care.  It was probably the best place I ever worked.

[klondike]

I worked for the gas board from being a closed shop, nationalised industry, through to privatisation and the separation of the different parts of the company.  It was like a family in the early days, the training the service engineers got was second to none, and the company challenged M&S for the quality of customer care.  It was probably the best place I ever worked.

I worked for a company like that. A software house called Cullinet. They made a bad call on the future, went bust and got bought out for their customer base by a predatory company doing the same with many small independent companies. I was retained being in tech support. They paid well but milked the customer base and our customer support went down the tubes. Worst company I ever worked for.

[Diasi]

As I see it the choice is between paying a bunch of money grubbing private companies way over the odds for goods and services or the taxpayer buys those companies out at an exorbitant price and then runs them grossly inefficiently requiring constant further taxpayer subsidy and giving users  incredibly bad service.

The technical name for this type of choice, I believe, is known as Hobson's.

Exactly!!

Nationalised companies were privatised because they offered shockingly poor value for money

[Michael Rolls]

remember trying to get a phone installed?

[crabbyob]

surely it might have been cheaper to revalue the individual jobs
in the NCB for every man who went down the pit there were ten other jobs
not necessarily at that pit...