Fracking???

[rovermadman4825]

Now i dont know loads about this, but what ive read i think "crack on anything to help britain to become self reliant" but no as usual their already letting forietrn companies or company invest......

If we had control of the gas and the companies or a company we could keep it in house and try and stop all of these price hikes.....

As soon as we have a chance to be self sufficient we flog it......

[stefaclese]

The real elephant in the room is why on earth we let utilities fall in to the hands of private companies.

[rovermadman4825]

Thats sort of what am getting at.....

And by the looks of it were doing it again.....

[maestrovdpt16]

The state is owned and ruled by the private corporations. That is why.

[Marty]

Don't get me started


Steps away from computer

[rovermadman4825]

Don't get me started


Steps away from computer

[Marty]

Don't get me started


Steps away from computer

With regards to this country selling of our resources like they did north sea gas ect..or then being ran by other countries.

[rovermadman4825]

Don't get me started


Steps away from computer

With regards to this country selling of our resources like they did north sea gas ect..or then being ran by other countries.

Go on

[Neilbaker86]

I saw on the news today that Birmingham Council are to sell off the NEC along with other assets.

Once you start selling assets to pay bills you are on the slippery slope.

There wont be much left in Britain to sell before long...

Keep voting for LibLabCon so we get more of the same folks

[jase]

imo its the system thats the problem.
Politicians have no interest in the welfare of the country or its future. By its very nature a politician will do all he can to maintain power - today.

So it stands to reason they will sell off anything they can as soon as they can.

The real elephant in the room is why on earth we let utilities fall in to the hands of private companies

Ive have also always wondered why utilities are privatised. It makes no sense to me.

[peteT16]

Selling off the utility companies was one of Thatchers great ideas.

[Marty]

They have even sold of our postal service just mad

[Punx0r]

I have a suspicion that most, if not all, utilities started off as private ventures. Electricity certainly did.

[stefaclese]

I have a suspicion that most, if not all, utilities started off as private ventures. Electricity certainly did.

1882 The Electric Lighting Act 1882 (repealed 1989) — allowed the setting up of supply systems by persons, companies or local authorities

So, private companies AND local authorities. The first modern high voltage power station (Deptford, London) was private, but this was of course in the Victorian era, long before a national grid and when most things were private ventures.

If privatisation actually worked, i.e. competition drives down prices, then great, but it doesn't, it just creates monopolies. Water being the most obvious one and one that can't work as far as competition is concerned.

[Punx0r]

Oh, yeah. I was refering to the Victorian era

Doesn't water work just like electricity, in that one company ends up using another's wires?

[stefaclese]

Nope, just 1 company with a regional monopoly - you're stuck with what ever the supplier is for a particular area.

[harkins77]

I don't just think it's the matter of the energy companies getting a grip of it that is concerning some people where this is being planned it's also down to environmental issues as there has been previous occasions of it causing earthquake side effects from what I've read about it being done abroad

[Nom]

Another problem it looks to be creating is water pollution.

[stefaclese]

Yeah, the flammable gas coming out of peoples water taps over in America doesn't fill one with confidence!

[Din]

Yeah, the flammable gas coming out of peoples water taps over in America doesn't fill one with confidence!

Yeah.. i question that somewhat tbh.

[peteT16]

I'm not too keen on the idea tbh, they have been granted some licenses down this way, so if there are any earth tremors or flames out of water taps there'll be trouble at mill.

[Din]

so if there are any earth tremors or flames out of water taps there'll be trouble at mill.

I would say its relatively unlikely

[peteT16]

I certainly hope so Dan, remember kids just coz it's on You tube doen't mean it's true

[mar-TI-n]

Yeah, the flammable gas coming out of peoples water taps over in America doesn't fill one with confidence!

Just another day in Cardiff then..

I work for a plumbers merchant, I've heard worse.. Water plumbed into the hob ! And the best one was a boiler mounted on the side of the house with the flue pointing 45deg into the air.. The manual stated the boiler should be mounted on an outside wall . Lol

[Din]

I certainly hope so Dan, remember kids just coz it's on You tube doen't mean it's true

Exactly

[Sheaf]

If they weren't privatised, people would just be moaning about the prices and blaming the goverment about NOT selling them off because they want the profit for themselves etc etc.

TBH, privatising makes sense to me. Private companies are generally run a lot more efficiently and with less money wasted than government institutions. It promotes competition and survival of the fittest.

Plus, people then don't generally strike....

Pretty sure the prices are usually determined by the cost of the fuel. And, if you shop around you can get a good deal. I saved about 20% this year by switching and fixing, which basically made it the same cost I've been paying for the last few years. I bet most people don't bother to shop around but still moan about the cost.
I don't think my bills have really increased much for the last 6 years.

[HA54SYM]

On a serious note, does anyone know anything about it, or involved in the process directly?

I am looking to gain more info, and possible work within the sector.

Dave

[stefaclese]

If they weren't privatised, people would just be moaning about the prices and blaming the goverment about NOT selling them off because they want the profit for themselves etc etc.

People moan about everything ever anyway. Though I don't recall mass public demand for privatising stuff, it's usually mass public protestation at selling stuff off, usually far too cheaply and for no real gain to Joe public.

TBH, privatising makes sense to me. Private companies are generally run a lot more efficiently and with less money wasted than government institutions. It promotes competition and survival of the fittest.

This is total nonsense! Pretty bloody inefficient at the place I work, excessive levels of pointless management and bureaucracy, only reason they make any money is because the products are good and customers pay what ever the price is. Serious investment by the parent company also helped, something state owned institutions traditionally have lacked in the UK.

Plus, people then don't generally strike....

Lol, nothing remotely to do with very anti-striking laws and very low union membership in the private sector....

Just because something is state-owned incidentally, doesn't mean it has to operate as some stereotypical archaic institution. When they privatised the railways in Austria and Germany, they didn't dream up some ridiculous franchising system that costs the tax payer 3 times as much as the nationalised system, they made it a private company with the state retaining a majority of shares iirc.