JOHN PHELAN called for public utilities to be part-nationalised (Echo, Nov 1). This seems like an excellent idea but I can’t help wondering why nationalisation is a dirty word these days.
From my experience as a miner it worked well, especially with regard to safety.
In the days of British Rail if a locomotive broke down in Newcastle the solution was simple: hitch it to the back of a train going the same way and tow it back to the repair shops.
Cost? Negligible.
Today, however, Network Rail has to be paid for the use of the track. Unbelievably, it is cheaper to load the locomotive on to a lorry and transport it by road.
Politicians of all shades do not see that essential services such as transport, energy, water, education and health should be run as a service to the public, not to make money for a few.
“By the people, for the people,”
as the old slogan goes. As Oscar Wilde put it: “They know the cost of everything, but the value of nothing.”
Bill Bartle, Barnard Castle.
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