The argument that private is good and state is bad is so cliched. The privatised utilities like water and electric have been milked by the privatised companies, who have put so little investment back into the system that we are on a cliff-edge with security of supply. Bringing private management into the NHS proved a disaster, when they prioritised profits over patient welfare.
The one successful privatisation in my view was BT. The telephone service from the old GPO was really poor. I once had to walk from one side of Reading right to the other side to find a working payphone, as the GPO just weren't interested in repairing them. The choice of handset was minimal.
When the railways were proposed for privatisation, as a BR employee I was initially enthusiastic as I could see the main problem with BR was government interference. Spending decisions were made on priorities based on national interest, and Tory dislike for state spending, not what was best for the passenger. And industrial relations were a disaster because of government interference, both Labour and Tory. Getting rid of government control would surely be a good thing, if BR could be improved in the same kind of way as BT was. But unfortunately the Tories refused to listen to advice, with the result that we have now - far more interference from politicians and civil servants than ever happened in BR days. And far, far more money being pumped into the railways than was ever the case in BR days, and with so little to show for it. And industrial relations that are every bit as bad if not worse than they were in BR days - I can't recall anything like the ongoing SWT strikes in BR days.
As a BR employee, I was a "railway servant". While there were undoubtedly some free-riders, most of my colleagues regarded what they did as providing a service, and were proud to provide the best service that they could. They certainly didn't do it purely for the money - we could have got much better wages in private industry. People were prepared to bend over backwards to help if things didn't go to plan: I have known people work over 24 hours non-stop and come in unasked on their days off when things have been going really badly. One of the biggest shocks on privatisation was to be told our top priority - by law - was now to make a profit for our shareholders. We should forget doing it the best way if it cost more. Any sense of providing a service was out of the window.
My black and white views about the benefits of privatisation rapidly went out of the window too. For service industries, there are undoubtedly problems with state control. But there are even bigger problems with state regulation of profit-motivated private providers.
