DEM not gonna CON dis NATION: Rolling UK politics in the short-lived Cleggeron era

Lease ye olde woods for 150 yr terms, sell the commercial stuff outright, afaik. Conifer plantations suck but idk, seerms like turning them into forest that doesn't suck wld be the right thing, rather than flogging them off for short short term gain.

It was a mess because it was on its way to being seen as a rushed and bungled privatisation. And even the flintiest free-marketeer knows to beware botched sell-offs of state assets: few things are as deadly to public acceptance of an economy based on competition.

ah yes, that long list of successful uk privatizations, in which the state received a reasonable market value for its assets.

on its way to being seen as

VERY LOCAL NEWS: David Cameron made a visit to The People's Supermarket on Monday, only to be met by a shitload of very angry pensioners and various other people who don't like him. His forehead would look perfect with a rotten tomato garnish...

Anyone considered what happens when the AV Referendum is lost, because it will be.

Privatisations are often unpopular in Britain at first; they prove their worth later, when (with luck) it can be shown they have left the country better off.

from another piece on the same thing

what a lying scumbag

who thinks this about the airports, or british rail? does the gas burn hotter now? fuck em.

telling employment of passive voice

it can be shown to those....who want to be shown

Privatisations are often unpopular in Britain at first; they prove their worth later, when (with luck) it can be shown they have left the country better off. for the Cayman Islands.

Talking of which, Cameron has announced today that he wants the privitisation of all public services except for the security services and the judiciary:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/8337237/David-Cameron-promises-public-sector-revolution.html

"Instead of having to justify why it makes sense to introduce competition in individual public services – as we are now doing with schools and in the NHS – the state will have to justify why it should ever operate a monopoly."

I'm surprised he can even be so open about allowing private companies to run part of the NHS

Top rated comment:

Virtually all services can be done for two thirds of the cost in the private sector.

these fucking guys.

Because once you involve a profit motive into any kind of service, things get cheaper, obviously.

oh hang on...

The forests thing is a bit like the NHS in that they raced ahead to look bold, like they were seizing the agenda, without actually working out whether it would be unpopular, whether it would save money, whether it would be worth doing in the first place, only to have to row back.

Idea that private companies, especially huge ones, are "efficient" is nonsense. The fact that some of them are highly profitable obscures the fact that they can waste money with the best of them.

Sorry, should probably elaborate on that point - I reckon the government may be forced to backtrack on NHS reform as well, if only to scale down some of its plans. The same happened with Gove and schools. The same with child benefit. They're not thinking things through properly and the voters will start to see a pattern imagining. Most of this is probably down to inexperience.

Virtually all services can be done for two thirds of the cost in the private sector.
lol Royal Mail.
― James Mitchell, Monday, February 21, 2011 8:32 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

lol british rail

lol democratic accountability

lol

lol Metronet going bust

lol Thames Water investing one fifth of its profits in reparing its leaky infrastructure

lol selling off the Tote and giving half the proceeds to the "racing industry"

if this is real, eMili needs to move beyond 'policy review'

I reckon the government may be forced to backtrack on NHS reform as well, if only to scale down some of its plans. The same happened with Gove and schools. The same with child benefit. They're not thinking things through properly and the voters will start to see a pattern imagining. Most of this is probably down to inexperience.

― Matt DC, Monday, February 21, 2011 9:46 AM (32 minutes ago) Bookmark

well, there is the small matter of their election pledge not to fuck with the nhs so

Has there been a single major British privatisation that hasn't been a disaster? Electricity's been okay, I suppose. No one really objects to BT but they still dominate the fixed-line landscape and it's hardly led to genuine competition. Everything else = steel, coal, railways, gas, kinda lol but mostly sad.

well, there is the small matter of their election pledge not to fuck with the nhs so

Wonder if they can blame that one on being part of a coalition? Probably unlikely.

I imagine that most of this, if it goes through, will be irreversible, bar the occasional forced Network Rail moment. Labour won't have the appetite to do anything about it. In opposition they should just repeat the word "privatisation" as much as possible, it has such negative connotations in this country, which is why NuLab never used it if they could possibly avoid it.

What a bunch of fucking cunts.

"Instead of having to justify why it makes sense to introduce competition in individual public services – as we are now doing with schools and in the NHS – the state will have to justify why it should ever operate a monopoly."

They think 'social' is an invalid construct arising out of the reality of 'economic', that's all kinds of brainwrong. And these privatisations are in political terms near enough irreversible, which is utterly depressing. Not a single lesson learned.

Now what lesson is this? I'm sure all of Camewrong's friends made lashings of cash through privatisation.

Now what lesson is this? I'm sure all of Camewrong's friends made lashings of cash through privatisation.

― anna sui generis (suzy), Monday, 21 February 2011 10:43 (3 minutes ago)

Well, yeah. The general 'false economy' thing, esp in the case of rail privatisation.

http://davidcameronpretendingtobecommon.tumblr.com/

"I was in Egypt recently and a 82-year-old Muslim man, who said, 'I was appointed when I was 53, I was re-elected by referendum for 30 years, I'm incredibly proud of my country.'"

He was in a 82yr old Muslim man?

Blimey, he's in Egypt NOW.

Remember, this government is not about PR and spin.

"I was in Egypt recently and a 82-year-old Muslim man, who said, 'I was appointed when I was 53, I was re-elected by referendum for 30 years, I'm incredibly proud of my country.'"

― James Mitchell, Monday, 21 February 2011 11:31 (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

And your point is...?

Blimey, he's in Egypt NOW.

― Matt DC, Monday, 21 February 2011 11:40 (15 minutes ago) Bookmark

@paulwaugh PM's spokeswmn ducks point made at Lobby that PM's MEast trip orginally designed to sell arms is turning into "democracy tour"

seamless!

And your point is...?

It'll make a nice anecdote for the party conference.

one of the daily mail's readers OTM for a change:

Marvellous - look how well the energy companies serve the public with efficient support services and low costs; look how well rail privatisation has served the public with cheap fares, safe infrastructure, and clear accountability; look how well private health insurance covers non-profitable services like A&E and emergency cardiac care; look how well rural communities are served by private bus companies who want to slash services even further. These reforms will allow financially aggressive large companies to cherry-pick the profitable sectors; they will reduce accountability; and they won't function in true markets (when were we ever able to choose a state school for our children, or have free healthcare choice - the infrastructure to make this possible doesn't exist, and won't under these reforms). This is driven by ideology and the commercial interests of the Tories backers, and we will pay for their profits.

He was in a 82yr old Muslim man?

Could this be the gaffe that brings down the government?

Was he hanging out the mubarek of him?

coincidentally well-timed find on the topic of privatisation

In 2007, the National Audit Office conducted an inquiry into the privatisation of Qinetiq to determine whether UK taxpayers got good value for money from the sale. The NAO inquiry looked at the following issues:
choice of privatisation strategy;
management of the process (the split of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency into two, the sale to Carlyle and the flotation);
costs incurred and the proceeds achieved; and,
whether the deal met its objectives.[24]
In November 2007, the NAO reported that taxpayers could have gained "tens of millions" more and was critical of the incentive scheme given to Qinetiq managers, the 10 most senior of whom gained £107.5m on a total investment of £540,000 in the company's shares. The return of 19,990% on their investment was described as "excessive" by the NAO. The role of Qinetiq's management in negotiating terms with the Carlyle Group, while the private equity company was bidding for the business, was also criticised by the NAO. Carlyle bought a third of the business for £42m which grew in value to £372m in less than four years.[25] However, the Ministry of Defence defended the sale:
"It has delivered excellent value for money, generating more than £800m for the taxpayer, while protecting UK defence and security interests," said Baroness Taylor, Minister for Defence Equipment and Support.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qinetiqhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qinetiq

aaargh fix link pls kind mods

Delingpole, one of the few writers in the mainstream media to talk any sense about climate change, was featured in a recent telly documentary which extracted an unflattering segment from a three-hour interview in order to ridicule him. He then suffered an colossal barrage of abuse from, as he would put it, Warmist eco-loons who seized the opportunity to clobber him around the head on a public platform. (Judging by their tweets, many of them would like to have done it in real life, too.)

But why are bullying and death threats now considered a socially acceptable way to express disagreement with someone in a public forum? And how come it always seems to be the Left doing the shouting?

Delingpole is pestilence

In fairness, "people are nasty twats on the internet" is both non-revelatory and true.

Sad Delingpole will never get over lack of admission to Bullingdon Club.

We need a Delingpole ridicule thread really. His music reviews alone are solid gold.

That Telegraph piece is amazing. Nothing like someone throwing their toys out of the pram to complain about people "throwing their toys out of the pram".

"At least with the "Have your say" section, the non-loony-left get a right to represent their fair-minded and rational views"

Moir wrote a piece that asked tough but pertinent questions about a gay culture that may have contributed to Stephen Gately's death...But why are bullying and death threats now considered a socially acceptable way to express disagreement with someone in a public forum?

I'm a right winger - in that I voted Tory and hold a majority of right wing views - but even I cracked a smile seeing you being made a fool of on the 10 o'clock show.

And yet here I see you brush off the criticism with a comment that implies you're not wrong at all - people just dislike you because of your political ideologies. You've managed to genuinely wind me up a bit with this attitude, and whereas before I cracked a smile, next time you make a tit of yourself I'll probably be laughing about it on Twitter. Which in turn will highlight your arrogance to others. And so the cycle of hate continues... IMO, completely of your own making.

So Milo, is it at all possible that people just don't particularly like you, regardless of their political persuasion? Have you even considered that? Maybe people just dislike your attitude, or think you write with the arrogance of someone that thinks they're better than most. Just a thought.

^^^ I like this dude.

Good of Milo to raise the tenor of internet discourse and show us the way forward

hideous mob mentality
Lefty bullies
the offence brigade
warmist eco-loons
The growing intolerance of any dissenting opinion - a hallmark of the Left
activist thugs
violent threats and smug jokes
this congealed clump of morons

Milo Yiannopoulos is to technology journalism what Delingpole is to climate research.