Nationalised Untility Companies?

Question

May I ask someone, why this goverment does not nationalised untility companies, as they were before, until thanks to Mrs.Thatcher,God bless her soul, they were fragmented and sold to anyone who has the money to buy them, but before this happened,we had a very good service and no British Gas or YEB s******g us, as they are doing now for their shareholders.

Answer 1

The Government made a fortune by privatising the utilities and, whether you believe it or not, the level of customer service has improved dramatically since then.

There are (at least) two matters that would stop re-nationalisation:

1) the Government could not afford to buy back the businesses or to compensate the owners for their losses/investments

2) under EU law the utility markets must be open to competition and re-nationalisation would cause the UK to be in breach of EU legislation

Note that it's the price of oil that is the real cause of us to pay far more for our energy.

Having said all this I do get upset that almost all our utilities are now owned by French, German & Spanish companies!! I doubt that Mrs T. saw this one coming.

Answer 2

All the government cares is about making money. EDF the biggest french energy company made record profits in Britain, while capping prices in France.