The Tories have been accused of bringing the NHS close to collapse families needing GP appointments struggle for weeks to be seen and record numbers waiting for hospital treatment
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I don’t dispute this article and perhaps this form of privatisation is not the answer, but neither is the old-fashioned nationalisation we had prior to the prioritisation in 1994-1997.
I am old enough to remember the nationalised British Railways (1948), as I was born in 1949 and up to being 18 I and my family used the railways for every UK holiday we had as my father worked for British Railways and then for British Rail so we were entitled, as a family, free rail travel throughout the whole of the UK and also France and some other Europen countries, in fact, my father had free rail travel throughout the whole of Europe, while myself and my other mother had to pay a third of the costs, especially in Spain. For holidays in Europe we didn’t fly as in those days the ferries were owned jointly by the UK and French railway boards so we didn’t pay for cross channel ferries, except for what is known as a Port Tax, a tax ferries had to pay to dock at ports, which was, for passengers, including in the ferry costs charged to passengers and was not part of the free costs for railway employees.
In those days there was also a considerable lack of Government finance to invest in the railways so much of the rolling stock and infrastructure was outdated especially on the London Midland line from Sheffield to London. In fact, not until the privatisation of British Rail with the introduction of East Midland Railway did any new rolling stock arrive. Also, the Sheffield Midland Rail Station was considerably modernised and is now just known as Sheffield.
A much-needed passenger lift was installed as previously it was only a footbridge, which seriously impeded persons with disabilities who could only get to station platforms 2- 8 by using the goods lift, very far from desirable.
Yes, privatisation, while creating improvements in many ways could and should have been dealt with so much better, but is renationalisation the real answer, for, if it follows the last nationalisation then no, for that suffered from a serious lack of Government investment and the great decline in the Rail System in the UK. Whatever is to be done needs to be so much better but I have serious doubt that it will be for I have no faith in any UK government irrespective of the colour of the Party in control as politics gets in the way rather than the benefit of a UK population.
Yes, I am very cynical but that is from living for 73 years in the UK and not just the dealings with the Railways but most of the other aspects of the UK of which there is the NHS Social Care to name but 2 which again I have very much to say on the lack of Government financing, especially social care.