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Isn't it time they fully privatised the Post Office/Royal Mail?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
So there is a free market concerning business to business mail, but why not personal mail? Why should Royal Mail possess a monopoly on posting letters? 
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Welcome back, onenatcons, btw. How long till you get banned this time?
Come on, you need to give reasons if you're going to convince anyone.
I don't need to 'convince'. It's socialist fools like everybody here need to open their eyes.
Someone has to 'convince' ME why governments should own lots of industry.
Oh yes - Onenatcons is back.
Royal Mail is good as it is.
I've never been bothered by 26p to post a letter, and not lost anything in the post.
I think privatising BT was a good idea, as the competition between Telcos makes for some pretty good deals as far as telephone and internet services are concerned.
An example of why all major public services should be nationalised and kept nationalised... Look at the collapse of the rail system and postal system since provatisation... The hoik in prices in water and electricity and the collapse in service.
How can a private company that takes profit out of the service be better than a public company that ploughs all money back into the service, does not have to satisfy shareholders or money-grabbing fat-cats and listens to unions? it absolute MADNESS that our services are in this state and now New Labour wants to destroy the NHS?
BTW Simbelyne - the problems in the NHS in Brighton were caused by [apparently] piss poor management, rather than Govt policy. In the main though 20 years on underfunding by the Tory Govt is what has left us in such a state. Much as I despise Labour (someone I didn't vote for), I cannot condemn them for what they are trying to do in the NHS. My current employment shows me just how much is changing in the health services, but unfortunately it is an area prime for use as a political football by both the media and opposition parties. They would do better, and would help more, in singing our praises. By constantly condemning the NHS they make it harder for us to recruit nursing staff - after all would you want to work in a place which has the reputation of being in a state of collapse?
Well, ideally, once you privatise a sector, it has a vested interest in providing a good service, so that people will pay more money and they make more profits.
Unfortunately, with the way a lot of privatisation has been carried out in the UK, there isn't actually any real competition to drive up the quality of service and stop private sector operators from price gouging. On top of that, if we look at the railways, every time a train operator gets into financial difficulties, the government hands them a massive payout. Given that they now know that the government will bail them out of any difficulties, they have absolutely no incentive to get their houses in order and provide the decent, efficient level of service they promised when they bid for their franchises.
In essence, privatisation in the UK has miraculously given us the worst of both worlds in a lot of industries.
While I agree that in most cases monopolies are a bad idea, there are legitimate cost reasons for certain industries to be monopolies. In these cases, the best way to prevent abuse of monopoly power is to either have the government own the firm, or at least have it strongly regulated.
And yes, I am an economics student
You could also add to the list that average train speeds and journey times on most railway routes were better 40 years ago than today.
In any case, many train operating companies (and obviously all the water suppliers) have a monopoly of the business since they are the only ones covering many areas.
No matter; shareholders are laughing all the way to the bank and the rich pay less tax towards our (ex)public services so everybody's happy!
Look at America, they have a private health system where poor people wait for as long as possible before seeing a doctor and so make themselves iller! And health insurance is a scam, rich people get all the benefit, poor people none, why shouldn't the millionaire subsidise the single mothers healthcare? its just bloody selfish!
It its persuit is it enterly without compassion and morals. And guided by pure reason and maths.
As a result, any 'social/public service' will never have its best interests looked after by a pure free market.
It must be run either:-
1) as a charitable concern
2) as a regulated free market, with a regulatory body with teeth and an iron rod to beat the market when its steps out of line.
3) a franchise which packages profitable and un-profitable serves together in a maner that they off set each other. And remeber that rod of iron.
4) state run down the line.
the 1st 3 are possible, the last one has been tried but has proven liable to bloat, jobsworths and being a gravey chain.
At the moment, the railtrack SRA method is non of the above, and just seems to be a method of handing OUR cash to piss poor rail operators who seem to be round with their begging bowls every other month, whilst still paying their investors returns on their investments. Any private company in any other sector will just be told to go and take a running jump, sort itself out or die like a good failed company. so we have wound up with all the downsides of a nationalised company (inefficient, failing to deliver, money pit) without the benifts of direct control.
Alas vested interests will keep it so.
And some of the same people involved in previous failures are angling for the GPO's job, in the hope it will provide another gravy train.
Finaly to be perfectly honest, i hav't seen a real 'free' market yet.