Which industries would you re-nationalise?

[Lucifer]

Prostitition, it should be free on the NHS, for over 65's at least.

[JFKvsNixon]

Medicine should be done by an international cooperative.

How much more would we learn if all that research was shared instead of being kept secret?

 

But I would not nationalise any industries. I don't trust the government to wipe their own bottoms, never mind run important industries.

 

But all the utilities and transport should be run for service, not profit. Possibly that means they should be publically owned, but the government should have no part in running them.

 

The problem is that it can cost well over $1 billion to bring a drug to the market, so the companies are going to be very protective of that investment.

[Mecky]

energy, transport (buses, trains, planes)

[Agent Orange]

Utility companies and transport. It comes to something when a flight to Barcelona is cheaper than a return to say, York

[Wildcat]

Just a thought here.

 

Is't the UK on the verge of bankrupcy with a £trillion of government debt and a current budget deficit of around £150 billion? I thought that was what the current proposed cuts were designed to tackle.

 

I'm not sure that it is a really good move to dig out the old national credit card and borrow even more money in order to buy a load of industries for the Nation. You only have to look at Ireland and Greece to see how escalating interest rates on out of control debts can bring a country to its knees in a matter of weeks.

 

Not suggesting it is not entirely without flaws but an opposing point would be to make the comparison with the post second world war Government that had much higher debts as a proportion of GDP than we do, and they managed a Nationalisation programme without causing the country to go bankrupt.

[puisseguin]

 

Why is the tax payer paying £8 billion for extra trains when it's only the well off who really use them. (i.e. worth the journey for the extra cash). And their private businesses!

 

 

I thought that the money was going to be found from increased rail fares. That was certainly how it was reported on the news. If that's the case it will be the "well off" who use them who are paying for them. It is only if they get nationalised that the poor sods who can't afford train fares have to pay increased taxes in order to subsidise those who do.

[puisseguin]

Not suggesting it is not entirely without flaws but an opposing point would be to make the comparison with the post second world war Government that had much higher debts as a proportion of GDP than we do, and they managed a Nationalisation programme without causing the country to go bankrupt.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but didn't the post second world war government also impose purchase tax of 66 2/3%, income tax of 80%, ration food, ration clothes, ration fuel and ban imported goods. There was also a 2 year waiting list to buy a car, and a pretty similar situation regarding houses. But hey if it allows us to nationalise the banks.

I suppose carry on with our spend the money and face the consequences later would probably have us back to that situation.

[puisseguin]

Utility companies and transport. It comes to something when a flight to Barcelona is cheaper than a return to say, York

 

Is the cheap flight to Barcelona with a nationalised airline then?

[spooky3]

I thought that the money was going to be found from increased rail fares. That was certainly how it was reported on the news. If that's the case it will be the "well off" who use them who are paying for them. It is only if they get nationalised that the poor sods who can't afford train fares have to pay increased taxes in order to subsidise those who do.

 

http://www.railjournal.com/newsflash/british-government-confirms-8-billion-investment-in-rail.html

 

In no articles can I see anything mentioning repayment. It all states investment.

 

To boot, it looks like the contracts will go to either Bombardier or Siemens, how British are these, or are the government giving large contracts to foreign companies again?

[dosxuk]

Bombardier is the only rail manufacturer with a British factory, with both design and build happening there. There are no solely British manufacturers left - privatisation killed them off.