Privatisation Of The Energy Companies Under Thatcher

[mikey4444]

SSE has now been fined £10.5 million for fraud by OFGEM. EDF were fined in March 2012 for exactly the same reason. There are two other companies that are still under investigation. Millions of pounds in fines and penalties have been paid by other companies over the last 20 years for misselling and malpractice.

Bearing all this in mind, and the huge price rises, together with the huge profits made by these private companies that took over the Gas Boards and the Electricity Boards, is there anyone else that still thinks that the privatisation of our energy providers under Thatcher was a good idea ?

For people not born in 1979, or perhaps have forgotten the facts, all our energy production was stolen away from the British people, and then sold back to us. The same happened to the Water Boards and the GPO.

[emmie]

what i recall of some of the nationalised industries, was they were union led, long strikes and poor service. so bring them back into public ownership, it won't happen, as there is no one to run them, the government won't do it, there is no impetus in politics of all hues to renationalise industries, not from what i have seen and read.

[mikey4444]

Baz...So why did you refer to the regulators as "Quangos" then ? The have been put in place to protect us from fraud, which is exactly what they appear to be doing. I hope they continue to do their job, as they are the only thing between us and the criminal elements involved. We should be praising the regulators, not ridiculing them with daft names. Its not a difficult thing to understand is it ?

They don't raise these fines to keep them selves in business for gods sake....what a daft thing to say ! They have been set up under articles of law, by our government.

Look to your own medicine cabinet !

Better still go on to the BBC website and listen again to Humphries interview of this morning. Thanks god for Humphies !

[youngmafbog]

The BBC; the bastion on left wing thinking.

[mikey4444]

We always know when the Tories are getting windy...they start by blaming the BBC.

[Hopkirk]

Governments are appalling at running businesses.

British Rail, British Steel, British Leyland were disasters under state control.

[Gromit]

Stuff important to the success of our country, like energy supplies should not be operated by private firms. Investment and future planning of energy supply should be driven by what is strategically good for the country, not what is good for the shareholders.
The stated aim of privatisation, to introduce competition and an energy marketplace has not worked for consumers. Prices did not go down, and the competition is fake. All the companies set very similar prices and make high profits.
The real reason for the fire sale of these assets in the 1980s was to bail out the country which had plunged into recession twice and pay for record unemployment which had resulted.

[Gromit]

Hopkirk

// British Rail, British Steel, British Leyland were disasters under state control. //

They have not exactly been successes since they were privatised.

British Rail had to be partially re-Nationalised after it became unsafe.

The Privatised British Leyland just assest stripped it selling off its parts to Ford and BMW before the remains went into receivership.

[bazwillrun]

"Baz...So why did you refer to the regulators as "Quangos" then ?"

oh i didnt realise that Quangos translates to "ban them"

Thanks for pointing that out......

[Bazile]

//...The same happened to the Water Boards and the GPO. //


When was the GPO ( as you call it ) , privatised

[emmie]

all you need to know. The government is rubbish at running businesses, it should be allowed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Post_Office

[emmie]

slip up there, freudian perhaps, should not be allowed... x

[emmie]

we weren't known as the sick man of Europe for nothing, some of you are perhaps not old enough to remember the endless strikes, the dirty streets, the unions shouting everybody out at every turn, car industry was on it's knees, the trains didn't run on time, the slam door trains were horrible and dirty, the rail infrastructure was poor,
alas i remember the three day week, trying to work when the lights went off, happy days, well not really.

[Bazile]

The GPO as it was then (which included the telecom bit before BT was formed ) and subsequently The Royal Mail Group of companies ( some of the subsiduary companies are jointly owned by the Group and other partners ) has not been privatised .

[emmie]

baz, as per my link..

[BayBoy1]

If this thread is about thatcher, just remember, Hitler tried to destroy us, but thatcher managed to do it .and now we are all paying for it.and we are still paying for her keep as we speak.

[mikey4444]

Bayboy1...we need more posters like you, to balance out the Daily Mail readers !

My original point remains that we are paying huge sums for our energy supplies because :

1 The companies need to pay their shareholders.

2 These huge fines need to be paid, by someone...guess who...us !

Can't remember the Gas Board being fined £10.5 million !