Quote: tigertot "Why spoil a very good post by making a daft statement? I might be wrong (unusual I accept) but the only industries I have heard/read that Labour have said they will re-nationalise are rail, water, energy & Post. I deal with the first 3 in a personal & professional capacity every day & they are an inefficient disgrace. There is no argument for their privatisation.
As regards the main thrust of your post the countries that are happiest or most content (based on GDP per capita, social support, life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and corruption levels) are those with progressive taxation levels & less disparity between high & low earners. I would be interested in how many of the top 10 most content countries have state run rail, water & energy companies. A high proportion I would wager. A country that is obsessed with greed & instant gratification is not going to be happy long term.'"
The unions have been suppressed since Thatcher, Blair kept them in check and Cameron/May simply continued Blair's position. We see now on Northern Rail what happens - every Saturday is a strike day - when the unions get a bee in their bonnet. Do you see that getting better if the party they basically own with a leader who has promised to re-instate all their previous priviledges gets in power. It will be like Wilson in the early 1970's.
We need a solid mixed economy - transport infrastructure should be run by the government not sure utilities needs to be - I would against foreign ownership of our utilities but my own dealings in business/domestic have been good - supply never runs out and its a fair price - yes some get ripped off but that can be easily avoided with a little common sense. Looking at the number of holes in the ground they do seem to making up for all the lack of investment during public ownership.
To get back to the original point - how do you encourage and entrepeneurs that are needed to generate wealth with a need to have a more equal money disribution. Perhaps if we had a broader manufacturing base rather than a service economy that might even things up a little. It takes a long time and significant investment to get a manufacturing business to sing - unlike a banker who just places a bet - you also need to employ bodies to get stuff made.