‘Public Ownership & Control – Key to Tackling the Crises We Face’
Time for public ownership!
“Public ownership is the only way that we can provide a tangible difference to people’s lives.”
Cat Hobbs
We Own It
Labour Outlook’s Sam Browse reports on the Arise Festival and Morning Star discussion on why we need public ownership to tackle the economic crisis.
WATCH: Public Ownership & Control – Key to Tackling the Crises We Face hosted by Arise Festival on 3 December 2024.
Arise Festival and the Morning Star hosted an event entitled ‘Public Ownership & Control – Key to Tackling the Crises We Face’.
Kicking off the discussion, Jon Trickett, highlighted that “our modern idea of public ownership is far away from the old fashioned top down nationalisation that some of us remember from the 60s and 70s.”
“Our idea is much more expansive – there are lots of models, which are dynamic, exciting and fit with the current zeitgeist which is very much against bureaucracy.”
“It’s time we got out of our defensive mode and went on the attack” to talk about the failures of privatisation.
He said, “Private ownership seeks to provide enhanced shareholder value. All private companies seek to exploit their employees because you can drive up profits by driving down pay and conditions.”
He also argued that private ownership “seeks to reduce services… and drive up prices at the cost of consumers”, and gave the key example of the water companies.
“Utilities like water, gas, and electricity were created and paid for by the British people, paying tax or rates. All of those facilities were then privatised cheaply… now owned by shareholders that live abroad” and have no stake in the services they provide.
“If Labour wants to renew its mandate, it could do no better than announce it will take water into public ownership”.
The next speaker, Cat Hobbs of We Own It, drew attention to the Chancellor’s latest remarks denouncing the fraudulent contracts given under covid and highlighted that you could make the same remarks about the privatisation of public services.
She emphasised that “this government is completely inconsistent on public ownership. They’re just in the process of passing the legislation to bring rail franchises into public ownership, but not rolling stock or freight”
“You have Steve Reed saying that we’re going to review regulation on water companies – but that won’t include bringing them into public ownership.”
“Great British Energy is a public company, but it won’t have a retail arm so they won’t be able to bring down bills.”
“On the NHS, Wes Streeting says one day he wants to bring in private contractors but then says the next ‘NHS privatisation over my dead body.”
She continued: “public ownership is the only way that we can provide a tangible difference to people’s lives: you can’t stop the sewage in rivers and seas; you can’t reduce NHS waiting lists; you cannot bring down energy bills; you can’t have a Royal Mail you can be proud of; and you can’t have the public transport we need.”
Tom Griffith from Keep Our NHS Public, started by insisting that “it is simply a fact that a fully funded NHS, funded to succeed, rather than a defunded health service, works. The NHS is not a failed model; it’s been failed by successive governments committed to a free market model. The founding model of the NHS works, and works incredibly well.”
“Since 2013 the amount siphoned off by the private sector has grown by 25%, by over 200 companies. Outsourcing to private companies is associated with lower quality care. These are facts”.
He also emphasised the importance of supporting workers in their industrial struggles against outsourcing.
Highlighting the centrality of taking action, he said “it’s seductive to think that if we’ve got all the facts, we think we can win. But there’s a layer of our political class which is ideologically committed to the privatised delivery of public services.”
“We need to build as much pressure on politicians. We need to keep building the campaigns, the strikes and each other’s work.”
“Get down to the picket lines, and let’s get involved with campaigning organisations that support ending privatisation, a properly funded NHS, and a fair deal for NHS workers. That’s what’s going to build the pressure.”
Ben Chacko of the Morning Star was the final speaker and said “despite the Thatcherite mantra, privatisation has not improved the delivery of services… Britain has the lowest level of private sector investment in the G7”.
He reinforced points made previously that public ownership was popular and set out how it would be mistaken to believe that because the Starmer leadership of the Labour Party had taken it off the menu, it was not still in demand.
“We know that the British people want change”, he said.
“We saw in the last decade that political momentum has been with whoever wanted to break with the status quo.”
“The 2024 election is a castle built on sand. Labour gained by default. Unlike the Blair government, it cannot continue to get more unpopular in government. It has to deliver better public services.”
He argued that championing public ownership of services would also take the fight to Reform, the leadership of which favours privatisation, while the base – as Hobbs highlighted previously – supports nationalisation.
So let’s build the movements for public ownership and take back our public services from the polluters and profiteers!
Labour Outlook’s Sam Browse reports on the Arise Festival and Morning Star discussion on why we need public ownership to tackle the economic crisis.
WATCH: Public Ownership & Control – Key to Tackling the Crises We Face hosted by Arise Festival on 3 December 2024.
Arise Festival and the Morning Star hosted an event entitled ‘Public Ownership & Control – Key to Tackling the Crises We Face’.
Kicking off the discussion, Jon Trickett, highlighted that “our modern idea of public ownership is far away from the old fashioned top down nationalisation that some of us remember from the 60s and 70s.”
“Our idea is much more expansive – there are lots of models, which are dynamic, exciting and fit with the current zeitgeist which is very much against bureaucracy.”
“It’s time we got out of our defensive mode and went on the attack” to talk about the failures of privatisation.
He said, “Private ownership seeks to provide enhanced shareholder value. All private companies seek to exploit their employees because you can drive up profits by driving down pay and conditions.”
He also argued that private ownership “seeks to reduce services… and drive up prices at the cost of consumers”, and gave the key example of the water companies.
“Utilities like water, gas, and electricity were created and paid for by the British people, paying tax or rates. All of those facilities were then privatised cheaply… now owned by shareholders that live abroad” and have no stake in the services they provide.
“If Labour wants to renew its mandate, it could do no better than announce it will take water into public ownership”.
The next speaker, Cat Hobbs of We Own It, drew attention to the Chancellor’s latest remarks denouncing the fraudulent contracts given under covid and highlighted that you could make the same remarks about the privatisation of public services.
She emphasised that “this government is completely inconsistent on public ownership. They’re just in the process of passing the legislation to bring rail franchises into public ownership, but not rolling stock or freight”
“You have Steve Reed saying that we’re going to review regulation on water companies – but that won’t include bringing them into public ownership.”
“Great British Energy is a public company, but it won’t have a retail arm so they won’t be able to bring down bills.”
“On the NHS, Wes Streeting says one day he wants to bring in private contractors but then says the next ‘NHS privatisation over my dead body.”
She continued: “public ownership is the only way that we can provide a tangible difference to people’s lives: you can’t stop the sewage in rivers and seas; you can’t reduce NHS waiting lists; you cannot bring down energy bills; you can’t have a Royal Mail you can be proud of; and you can’t have the public transport we need.”
Tom Griffith from Keep Our NHS Public, started by insisting that “it is simply a fact that a fully funded NHS, funded to succeed, rather than a defunded health service, works. The NHS is not a failed model; it’s been failed by successive governments committed to a free market model. The founding model of the NHS works, and works incredibly well.”
“Since 2013 the amount siphoned off by the private sector has grown by 25%, by over 200 companies. Outsourcing to private companies is associated with lower quality care. These are facts”.
He also emphasised the importance of supporting workers in their industrial struggles against outsourcing.
Highlighting the centrality of taking action, he said “it’s seductive to think that if we’ve got all the facts, we think we can win. But there’s a layer of our political class which is ideologically committed to the privatised delivery of public services.”
“We need to build as much pressure on politicians. We need to keep building the campaigns, the strikes and each other’s work.”
“Get down to the picket lines, and let’s get involved with campaigning organisations that support ending privatisation, a properly funded NHS, and a fair deal for NHS workers. That’s what’s going to build the pressure.”
Ben Chacko of the Morning Star was the final speaker and said “despite the Thatcherite mantra, privatisation has not improved the delivery of services… Britain has the lowest level of private sector investment in the G7”.
He reinforced points made previously that public ownership was popular and set out how it would be mistaken to believe that because the Starmer leadership of the Labour Party had taken it off the menu, it was not still in demand.
“We know that the British people want change”, he said.
“We saw in the last decade that political momentum has been with whoever wanted to break with the status quo.”
“The 2024 election is a castle built on sand. Labour gained by default. Unlike the Blair government, it cannot continue to get more unpopular in government. It has to deliver better public services.”
He argued that championing public ownership of services would also take the fight to Reform, the leadership of which favours privatisation, while the base – as Hobbs highlighted previously – supports nationalisation.
So let’s build the movements for public ownership and take back our public services from the polluters and profiteers!
‘Public Ownership & Control – Key to Tackling the Crises We Face’ was hosted by Arise Festival on 3 December 2024. You can watch or listen back on the Arise podcast.
No comments:
Post a Comment