The UK privatised whole swaths of industries in the 1980s and 90s. Telecoms, transport, manufacturing - all were owned by the government and then sold off. Taxe

The UK privatised whole swaths of industries in the 1980s and 90s. Telecoms, transport, manufacturing - all were owned by the government and then sold off. Taxes were lowered. The scope of out-of-work benefits was reduced. You can see the drop in the charts - https://ifs.org.uk/taxlab/taxlab-key-questions/how-have-government-revenues-changed-over-time https://ifs.org.uk/taxlab/taxlab-key-questions/how-have-gove... So it clearly can happen. Whether it should happen or not is a different question.