Privatising the Police

[lolli_pop]

When I had a shower put in it cost me less than £500.

 

She didn't just have a shower put in; it was to revamp the shower room. I don't know - and I suspect you don't either - what state the room was in before and what work was needed. Since she'd had an electric shock in the old shower, it may have been electrically unsafe and needed rewiring etc.

 

When we had our bathroom redone it cost a bit more than £500

[Jim Graham]

The railways are expensive, I didnt say they were perfect, but if they had remained nationalised think what state the rolling stock would be in. We are arguing nationalisation/state support over privatisation.

 

We clearly cannot afford to subsidise transport to the extent it used to be and privatisation works. (not perfectly but better).

 

 

The railways are a basket case. Always have been, always will be. For all the good that has been done "investing" in them in the last 50 years you could have upgraded the roads and given every household a gold Rolls Royce. They will never be a going concern even in London.

 

It's all the fault of the anti roads green nutters. The future is hydrogen cars for all.

[Jim Graham]

She didn't just have a shower put in; it was to revamp the shower room. I don't know - and I suspect you don't either - what state the room was in before and what work was needed. Since she'd had an electric shock in the old shower, it may have been electrically unsafe and needed rewiring etc.

 

When we had our bathroom redone it cost a bit more than £500

 

 

 

When I had my entire house rewired it cost me less than £1,000. Come on, stop defending the indefensible. This is just another abject abuse of power and waste of money. The police are unaccountable, inefficient and top heavy as is every other public service.

[Jim Graham]

In total, the level of franchise support commitments from all sources was £1.8bn in 1998, £1.6bn in 1999, and £1.4bn in 2000, the first three years of full privatisation. This is more than double that given to BR in the 1980s and early 1990s, before the restructuring of the industry prior to privatisation.

 

There is mounting evidence that the fragmentation of the industry and multiplication of commercial interfaces is a key factor in escalating costs.

The performance of the privatised train operators, Jean Shaoul (2004)

 

Do you have any up to date figures on the current level of subsidy?

 

 

 

In 2005 it was £4.59bn but that's the latest figure I could find.

[lolli_pop]

Come on, stop defending the indefensible.

 

I'm not defending anything; I was just pointing out that the example you used wasn't quite what it seemed - I don't know the full facts of what happened and neither do you, so how can either of us make a judgement one way or another?

 

This kind of situation is, however, exactly why we need good auditing of where public money is spent

[I1L2T3]

I don't know about the private prisons but privatising utilities did work. It may not look like it but they are very much more efficient and provide better services.

 

Eh? They are run by private foreign-owned companies that charge excessively and cream off huge profits at the expense of customers. More people than ever are in fuel poverty. The market for fuel is operated in a cartel-like distorted way and is not true competition. Investment in infrastructure is reduced - Yorkshire Water for example tried to have the Humber Estuary redesignated as open sea so it could save money by pumping untreated sewage into it.

 

I could go on all day. I'm sure you don't want me to.

[escobar]

they already are private

[Jim Graham]

Eh? They are run by private foreign-owned companies that charge excessively and cream off huge profits at the expense of customers. More people than ever are in fuel poverty. The market for fuel is operated in a cartel-like distorted way and is not true competition. Investment in infrastructure is reduced - Yorkshire Water for example tried to have the Humber Estuary redesignated as open sea so it could save money by pumping untreated sewage into it.

 

I could go on all day. I'm sure you don't want me to.

 

 

 

Please carry on. All you are doing is reinforcing my view that we need better regulation.

[green]

Please carry on. All you are doing is reinforcing my view that we need better regulation.

 

I think we are all in agreement with one another that regulation is key.

 

We have seen in the care, media & banking industries that regulation hasnt worked, predominately because the people who regulate them are invariably in the pockets of those they are regulating.

 

For UK PLC to move forward we need a mix of state and privatisation with good independent regulators whom have the option of more than just petty fines to wield their rods with.

 

Now, do we believe the IPCC will regulate the privatisation of the Police effectively? Can we take this chance? Are the possible problems this will encounter worth saving money? Will companies start employing police officers whom have just taken their full pensions?

 

I still go back to what i said earlier in this thread.....front line policing and dealing with criminal investigations will need to stay with the state, and we need to make them work better rather than privatise them.

 

Also, after the NHS debarcle i just cant see the Govt taking this any further.

[I1L2T3]

Please carry on. All you are doing is reinforcing my view that we need better regulation.

 

We need regulation whether utilities (or whatever) are privately or publicly run.

 

But you have to ask why would privatisation result in a need for increased regulatory effort?