“The very basics, the things we rely on to build the foundations of a good life, have been taken out of our hands, sold for profit – and then sold or rented back to us at crushing rates. The water that keeps us alive. The energy that warms us. The home that keeps us safe.”
I love this man.
Proper_War_3717 on
He’s 100% right, privatisation has been a disaster for public services, agencies charging stupid money being utilised across the board, shareholders being paid millions in dividends, vital national infrastructure owned by foreign billionaires, social housing being sold off and replacements not being built (gotta inflate those house prices, so your mates can charge stupid money with private rental prices).
Quite frankly it’s disgusting. 14 years of tory rule has done, I fear, irreparable damage to this nation. Sadly I believe in the concept of nation states and don’t think all cultures are equal to ours, so I cannot vote for the Green party, not that the “right” wing options are any better, Boriswave for example. Pretty much just fucked across the board tbh.
[deleted] on
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RaymondBumcheese on
This is so manifestly true that I’m actually looking forward to seeing how the right wing press try to refute it. Even things as mundane as your kids getting one less fishfinger at lunch because they outsourced school lunches are gradually chipping away at us.
BathFullOfDucks on
try to think of a single thing you do in life that does not involve paying a foreign owned corporation.
For decades the UK relied on a strong currency to import essentials, but the pound (and the dollar) is being whittled down by successive poor economic choices that benefit the few snd impoverish the many.
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pjs-1987 on
I don’t agree with everything the Greens stand for, in particular their positions on nuclear energy and NATO, but they are the only party putting forward any kind of ambitious, positive vision for the country.
When the only other options are milquetoast Labour, regressive anti-intellectual Reform, and whatever the fuck the Lib Dems are, I expect many will be ticking Green at the next election.
Pangalonia on
He hit the nail on head. The profiteering for share holders is disgusting. Ordinary people are paying for it.
GhostRiders on
Yes he is right but it is very easy to say something is shit, the difficult part is coming up with a solution.
I want to hear what his solution to the problem is otherwise its just basically karma farming
EddieHeadshot on
Can someone ELI5 the massive uptick for the Greens? I’ve had 2 children recently and am not in the loop with this at all
[deleted] on
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WildTomato9 on
He’s a great speaker but I just don’t see how he plans to fix any of it.
Saw something similar about how the government should do more to protect people against economy shocks from Iran/US conflict. Literally how my guy, we don’t have the resources to create the fertiliser and I’d hardly imagine the greens wanting to drill in the North Sea? There isn’t capacity yet on solar and wind so what exactly would you do.
[deleted] on
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Small-Caramel-3579 on
The echoes of greedy decision making and selling it off from Readon and Thatchers era really coming home to roost
Practical-Purchase-9 on
Everything has been sold off, energy, water, gas, transport, post, housing… that’s why they’re picking away at the NHS. There’s little else to dip into to get money to cover government incompetence and embezzlement, which is the manner these services are sold off. Labour and Conservative, both have asset stripped the country and where all the money gone? It wasn’t invested back in to improve things, that’s for sure.
The way billions of pounds seemed to evaporate during Covid time and no one has been held to account is exactly the problem spread over 40 years.
SableSnail on
I agree that some stuff should be nationalised like water and perhaps rail as it’s really hard to have effective competition there. But for electricity and fuel you do have quite a lot of competition.
This War of American-Israeli Aggression is making fuel a lot more expensive but that would be the case even if it were run by the government.
IMO the biggest issue is the housing crisis and that’s not really due to the private sector. It isn’t the private sector that decides to stop bulking council houses and sell off the existing ones, it isn’t the private sector that empowers the NIMBYs to stop all construction etc.
He’s spot-on that we should aim for energy independence but then they still oppose nuclear power…
So yeah, they have some good ideas but also a lot of cheap populism. Ultimately, I trust Starmer more to actually improve things.
lowkey_human on
Imagine if basic necessities like housing, transportation, water, electricity, are seen as basic necessities instead of investment vehicles
SoggyWotsits on
He might be right on this, but it doesn’t make any of his other policies any less insane.
BeenCalledWorse on
Well he’s not wrong. Greed over the last couple of decades has gotten completely out of control and regulators do not even care anymore. In fact most seem to be working for the companies now rather than keeping them in check.
19 Comments
“The very basics, the things we rely on to build the foundations of a good life, have been taken out of our hands, sold for profit – and then sold or rented back to us at crushing rates. The water that keeps us alive. The energy that warms us. The home that keeps us safe.”
I love this man.
He’s 100% right, privatisation has been a disaster for public services, agencies charging stupid money being utilised across the board, shareholders being paid millions in dividends, vital national infrastructure owned by foreign billionaires, social housing being sold off and replacements not being built (gotta inflate those house prices, so your mates can charge stupid money with private rental prices).
Quite frankly it’s disgusting. 14 years of tory rule has done, I fear, irreparable damage to this nation. Sadly I believe in the concept of nation states and don’t think all cultures are equal to ours, so I cannot vote for the Green party, not that the “right” wing options are any better, Boriswave for example. Pretty much just fucked across the board tbh.
[removed]
This is so manifestly true that I’m actually looking forward to seeing how the right wing press try to refute it. Even things as mundane as your kids getting one less fishfinger at lunch because they outsourced school lunches are gradually chipping away at us.
try to think of a single thing you do in life that does not involve paying a foreign owned corporation.
For decades the UK relied on a strong currency to import essentials, but the pound (and the dollar) is being whittled down by successive poor economic choices that benefit the few snd impoverish the many.
[removed]
I don’t agree with everything the Greens stand for, in particular their positions on nuclear energy and NATO, but they are the only party putting forward any kind of ambitious, positive vision for the country.
When the only other options are milquetoast Labour, regressive anti-intellectual Reform, and whatever the fuck the Lib Dems are, I expect many will be ticking Green at the next election.
He hit the nail on head. The profiteering for share holders is disgusting. Ordinary people are paying for it.
Yes he is right but it is very easy to say something is shit, the difficult part is coming up with a solution.
I want to hear what his solution to the problem is otherwise its just basically karma farming
Can someone ELI5 the massive uptick for the Greens? I’ve had 2 children recently and am not in the loop with this at all
[removed]
He’s a great speaker but I just don’t see how he plans to fix any of it.
Saw something similar about how the government should do more to protect people against economy shocks from Iran/US conflict. Literally how my guy, we don’t have the resources to create the fertiliser and I’d hardly imagine the greens wanting to drill in the North Sea? There isn’t capacity yet on solar and wind so what exactly would you do.
[removed]
The echoes of greedy decision making and selling it off from Readon and Thatchers era really coming home to roost
Everything has been sold off, energy, water, gas, transport, post, housing… that’s why they’re picking away at the NHS. There’s little else to dip into to get money to cover government incompetence and embezzlement, which is the manner these services are sold off. Labour and Conservative, both have asset stripped the country and where all the money gone? It wasn’t invested back in to improve things, that’s for sure.
The way billions of pounds seemed to evaporate during Covid time and no one has been held to account is exactly the problem spread over 40 years.
I agree that some stuff should be nationalised like water and perhaps rail as it’s really hard to have effective competition there. But for electricity and fuel you do have quite a lot of competition.
This War of American-Israeli Aggression is making fuel a lot more expensive but that would be the case even if it were run by the government.
IMO the biggest issue is the housing crisis and that’s not really due to the private sector. It isn’t the private sector that decides to stop bulking council houses and sell off the existing ones, it isn’t the private sector that empowers the NIMBYs to stop all construction etc.
He’s spot-on that we should aim for energy independence but then they still oppose nuclear power…
So yeah, they have some good ideas but also a lot of cheap populism. Ultimately, I trust Starmer more to actually improve things.
Imagine if basic necessities like housing, transportation, water, electricity, are seen as basic necessities instead of investment vehicles
He might be right on this, but it doesn’t make any of his other policies any less insane.
Well he’s not wrong. Greed over the last couple of decades has gotten completely out of control and regulators do not even care anymore. In fact most seem to be working for the companies now rather than keeping them in check.