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Brits are fed-up. After 13 years of a Conservative government, our railways are broken, energy prices are through the roof – and yes, the waterways are full of sh… well, you know the rest. As a result, a huge majority of the public is now backing renationalisation.
A recent poll conducted by YouGov for the Financial Times shows the ‘overwhelming’ popularity of the proposals to make our key services public again. Of those surveyed, 69% said water needed to be renationalised – with 66% of all Tory voters backing the calls.
Just 8% of respondents believe that these services should remain under private ownership. A number of politicians have made reference to the poll this week, with Labour MP Ian Byrne declaring that ‘the game us up’ for those currently in charge.
“The game really is up for the privateers, as a majority of the public realise that the con-trick of privatisation fails us all. There is now overwhelming support for the renationalisation of our services in energy, rail and water.” | Ian Byrne
The sewage crisis has cut through at a national level, with waterways from Lake Windemere to the South Coast struggling to deal with the amount of waste that’s being mercilessly dumped across the country. However, the collective disdain goes much further than that.
The same poll also revealed that roughly two-thirds of the public would also back the renationalisation of energy and rail networks. These are landslide numbers which present clear and convincing evidence for, dare we say it, ‘the will of the people’.
Earlier this year, Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham nailed his colours to the mast, demanding that train services return to public ownership:
“I would now advocate for the full nationalisation of all rail services. I think rail privatisation has completely failed. It’s the worst of all worlds for passengers. They are paying so much for tickets, but there’s no accountability. What really annoys me is how these companies cancel trains the night before, then answer to nobody.” | Andy Burnham
