Because the Tories sold off these state owned companies on the cheap and we are now playing second fiddle to shareholder dividends and off-shore profit taking.
Here’s the list of public services sold off over the years:-
— British Telecom (1984, 1991, 1993)
— Sealink (1984)
— Jaguar (1984)
— Trustee Savings Bank (1985)
— British Shipbuilders (1985-1989
— British Airways Helicopters (1986)
— British Gas (1986)
— National Bus Company
— Rolls-Royce (1987)
— Royal Ordnance (1987)
— British Airports Authority (1987)
— Heathrow/Gatwick/Stansted/Glasgow/Edinburgh/
Aberdeen/Prestwick Airports
— Leyland Bus (1987)
— British Airways (1987)
— British Leyland (1987)
— Leyland Trucks (1987)
— Unipart (1987)
— Rover Group (1988)
— National Express (1988)
— Municipal bus companies (1988–present – sold off individually)
— British Steel (1988)
— Travellers Fare (1988)
— British Rail Engineering Limited (1989)
— Harland and Wolff (1989)
— Vale of Rheidol Railway (1989)
— Water companies
— Anglian Water (1989)
— North West Water (1989)
— Northumbrian Water (1989)
— Severn Trent (1989)
— South West Water (1989)
— Southern Water (1989)
— Thames Water (1989)
— Welsh Water (1989)
— Wessex Water (1989)
— Yorkshire Water (1989)
— National Grid (1990)
— Regional electricity companies
— East Midlands Electricity (1990)
— Eastern Electricity (1990)
— London Electricity (1990)
— MANWEB (1990)
— Midlands Electricity (1990)
— Northern Electric (1990)
— NORWEB (1990)
— SEEBOARD (1990)
— Southern Electric (1990)
— SWALEC (1990)
— SWEB Energy (1990)
— Yorkshire Electricity (1990)
— Girobank (1990)
— Liverpool Airport (1990)
— Independent Broadcasting Authority (1990)
— Scottish Bus Group (1991)
— National Power (1991, 1995)
— Powergen (1991, 1995)
— Scottish Hydro-Electric (1991)
— Scottish Power (1991)
— Severn Bridge (1992)
— British Technology Group (1992)
— Trust Ports (1992–1997 sold off individually)
— East Midlands Airport (1993)
— London Southend Airport (1993)
— Birmingham Airport (1993 – 51%)
— Northern Ireland Electricity (1993)
— Atomic Weapons Establishment (1993)
— Belfast International Airport (1994)
— British Coal (1994)
— London Buses (1994 – sold off individually)
— Property Services Agency (1994)
— British Rail (1994-97)
— 3 rolling stock companies:
— Angel Trains (1996)
— Eversholt Leasing (1996)
— Porterbrook (1996)
— 6 design office units (1995-1997)
— EWS (1996)
— Freightliner (1996)
— 6 track renewal units (1995 – 1997)
— 7 infrastructure maintenance units (1995 – 1997)
— 25 train operating companies (1996)
— British Rail Research (1996)
— British Rail Telecommunications (1995)
— European Passenger Services (1996)
— Railtrack (1996)
— Red Star Parcels (1995)
— Union Railways (1996)
— Cardiff Airport (1995)
— Bournemouth Airport (1995)
— National Engineering Laboratory (1995
— MoD housing portfolio (1996)
— AEA Technology (1996)
— British Energy (1996)
— Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO) (1996)
— Laboratory of the Government Chemist (1996)
— Chessington Computer Centre (1996)
— Natural Resources Institute (1996)
— Building Research Estab
— BBC Transmission (1997 – now Arqiva)
— Actis (2010 – 40%)
— High Speed 1 (2010)
— 75% of English secondary schools + thousands of primaries (2010- present)
— BBC Audiobooks (2010)
— BBC Magazines (2011)
— Forensic Science Service (2011)
— HMP Birmingham (2011)
— The Tote (2011)
— Northern Rock (2012)
— British Waterways (2012)
— Interpreter and Translation Services (2012)
— Remploy (2012, 2013, 2015 sold off individually)
— Air Sea Rescue (2013)
— Blood Plasma Service (2013)
— Fire Service College 13)
— Royal Mail (2013, 2015)
— Bio Products Laboratory (2013 – 80%)
— Manchester Airports Group (2013 – 35%)
— Student loans portfolios (2013 onward, numerous tranches)
— Lloyds Banking Group (2013, 2014, 2015)
— Behavioural Insights Team (2014 – 67%)
— Constructionline (2015)
— Defence Support Group (2015)
— National Probation Service (2015)
— Food and Environment Research Agency (2015 – 75%)
— Dr Foster Intelligence (2015)
— Royal Bank of Scotland Group (2015)
— East Coast Trains (2015)
— NEC Group (2015)
— Government Pipelines and Storage System (2015)
— UK stake in Eurostar International Limited (2015)
— Green Investment Bank (2017)