All utilities should be under State ownership. Aren't you rather worried that the Chinese could own our nuclear power stations?
ditto, who thought it was a good idea to asset strip the county of them in the first place? That's right, Thatcher and the tories and MOST definitely worried about the latter. Who in their right minds thought of a Chinese coalition? oh yeah, Tories.
Perhaps the government could buy them back for what was paid for them. The utility companies have made more than enough profit in the intervening period and if they didn't, they should have .
...and leave the country to pay for what should have been done decades ago? Look at the link to reservoir building and see how many were built pre-privatisation and how many in the 3 decades since - and at the same time the population has been increasing.
It's like most things in the country/world at the moment - no planning - no view to the future by govs - they leave it to the market. And as I keep repeating and will again - the market doesn't care. All it cares about is making money.... and water has made money.
The world is too small and changes happen toooooo fast to leave things to 'the market'.
Well, someone has to do it and if there's no profit in it, market forces won't work. The money that would have gone to shareholders might go some way towards the cost.
No profit in it. There's profit in it - as the 'experts' have been saying. They build the reservoirs and fix the leaks and pass the costs onto the consumer. There's the profit. Ignore the fact that for decades more than enough money to fix the infrastructure has been shelled out to the investors (probably pension schemes included).
Dubious, but to me OFWAT should force the water companies into providing a system that works not only for today, but future proof (ie with planned investment in line with predicted usage across the country). That is what should have been happening since the 90s. But as with most of the 'OF' regulators they seem more than a bit toothless.
Edited to add: And once the system has been brought up to speed it should be nationalised.
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Aren't you rather worried that the Chinese could own our nuclear power stations?
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Who in their right minds thought of a Chinese coalition? oh yeah, Tories.
On the other hand they seem to be accepting Chinese designs and technology for new nuclear plants - https://eciu.net/analysis/briefings/uk-energy-policies-and-prices/china-and-uk-nuclear-power
Can't see that that's a clever move for any shade of UK government or its people.
The Chinese are intent on taking over the world, much like we did, once upon a time.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.