this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2023
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UK Politics

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Blame financial blunders and timid regulation, not privatisation

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[–] bernieecclestoned 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The difference with electricity is that I can change provider without having to move house

There is no competition between water or train companies

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Trains are different. There isn't market competition between the Train Operating Companies (TOCs) so they created a system of pre-market competition when they privatised them - the competition takes place when TOCs bid against each other in the auction for the local franchises every five (I think?) years.

The bit of the rail network over which it's much harder to introduce competition is the actual railways themselves - which is partly why the railways were renationalised by Labour in 2002.

Water companies don't/can't compete against each other though - that's the reason even the Thatcher government thought it was necessary to give us a system of price cap regulation in order for them to operate privately. But as I've said above, the problem with water isn't monopolistic pricing, it's underinvestment, which wouldn't obviously be solved under public ownership either.