Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester Mayor who was previously served in Cabinet under Gordon Brown, has called for key services to be brought back into public control, blasting the “pretty disastrous policy” of the 1980s and 1990s privatisation-era. Burnham wants to see “life’s essentials” brought back under public control.
“I’m talking about water, energy, electricity, busses, trains. They were broken up and sold off, and I think that’s left the country in a really difficult position where people are paying much more for their energy here than elsewhere in in Europe.”
“We see the sewage and the rivers and in our in our seas, and here in Greater Manchester, when it comes to busses, routes were cut year after year. Fares went up year after year, the number of passengers went down. That is what happened as a result of selling off life’s essentials.”
Since returning to power in July, Labour has introduced legislation to renationalise Britain’s railways and set up a publicly-owned Great British Energy. However, Starmer’s government has declined to nationalise the country’s water companies. Burnham added:
“Greater Manchester has actually brought through a major change to public services at a time when it has felt llike the country has gone backwards. Well, we’ve bucked that trend, and we’ve delivered on time and on budget.”
