Have you ever been locked into a contract with an agency or phone company, or any other service provider or commercial supplier, then wish that you could get out of it because of poor or defective service? And then found yourself having to wait until end of contract because you are a small fish against a company with resources which you can’t afford? Well imagine this situation being forced upon us by a Government intent on breaking up the public services (accountable through local and national elections) into a fragmented service provision by commercial companies with contracts appointed by government but totally unaccountable to the clients of that service. Some areas have already seen that with Councils farming out for example refuse collection to private firms, and no amount of complaints or voting out changes it because the private firms have contracts that live beyond elections.
This state of affairs is a scenario that we could end up with if Prime Minister Cameron and his party succeed in forcing the break up on us with the aid of their captive LibDem partners. It is a scenario that has been the fantasy of Tories since Thatcher. It is a privatisation scenario which they held privately but failed to disclose to voters prior to the 2010 general election. Neither coalition party had disclosed support for such a fantasy, but now it is being hailed as a ‘fait accompli’. Dictatorship? Stitch up? It certainly feels like it!
What is the motivation behind privatisation? Money of course, money in the pocket of rich Tory voters who run corporations wanting to run the services on long contracts and with profit and shareholders (not the clients, nor employees) in mind.
I hope that as more details emerge, the worst aspects are not implemented. But, as has so far happened with this amateurish yet ideologically driven government, we are likely to get a policy which will be deeply unpopular and challenged in Courts by some councils and end up with one u-turn after another.
