Renationalising utilities would not necessarily improve them - Yorkshire Post Letters

Jon Trickett has, perhaps unwittingly, made the strongest possible case for not electing a left wing Labour Government.

Many of us would like a £15 an hour minimum wage. However it's not likely to happen anytime soon as it would be a bridge too far for many small businesses which are already struggling to make ends meet in difficult circumstances.

By 'public' ownership of utilities one assumes he actually means 'state' ownership which is something else entirely. I'm old enough to remember the days when if it moved it was nationalised and, based on my memories of those days, I'm not convinced that renationalising the utilities would necessarily improve them. As an ex Railtrack shareholder I still remember the bitter fight we shareholders had to get back in compensation a tiny fraction of what our shares were worth, when the last Labour Government nationalised it.

Mr Trickett wants a repeal of what he calls "anti trade union laws." However he neglets to mention why most of those laws were brought into force. Do we really want a return to wildcat strikes and flying pickets? The Government's current bill to guarantee minimum service levels is designed to limit the impact of strikes on long suffering members of the public and keep essential services going, nothing more. Other developed countries have minimum service level guarantees in place. Why shouldn't we?

Finally, Mr Trickett should know better than to believe that a 'wealth tax' would generate a meaningful amount of money for public services. It would merely drive wealth creators, entrepreneurs and significant employers out of the country. Furthermore it would be a divisive measure, calculated to set rich against poor? Do any of us really want that?