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I think the number of people who even read the manifesto is tiny. And within that group, those who realised privatisation was going to result in something other

I think the number of people who even read the manifesto is tiny. And within that group, those who realised privatisation was going to result in something other than individually (and temporarily) saving some money, even smaller. A minority you might say... And given our low turnouts and small proportion of the country that voted for that party, saying it's what Britain wants is disingenuous.

madaxe_again 2y ago
Ok, well let’s say it’s what Britain voted for, even if they were generally wilfully ignorant as to what they were actually voting for. For what it’s worth, I remember ecological campaigns against privatisation of water - I remember a greenpeace chap giving a talk at school saying it would result in sewage on beaches and in rivers - and here we are. Information was available. A choice was made. We reap the consequences.
dmurray 2y ago
Wait, you're saying that British voters in 1989 couldn't reasonably have known the Conservative Party favoured water privatisation, because they wouldn't have read the small print of their manifesto? And also that voting margins and turnouts were so small that the election results might not be representative? This was the third successive Thatcher government, after the previous two had sold off Britain's nationalised companies in aerospace, telecoms, car manufacturing, oil and natural gas [0]. It got reelected in a landslide victory with 75% turnout. [1]. And then you call someone else disingenuous? The British people absolutely got what they wanted, and have only themselves to blame. [0] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/mar/29/short-history-of-privatisation https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/mar/29/short-... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_United_Kingdom_general_election https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_United_Kingdom_general_el...

madaxe_again 2y ago

Ok, well let’s say it’s what Britain voted for, even if they were generally wilfully ignorant as to what they were actually voting for. For what it’s worth, I remember ecological campaigns against privatisation of water - I remember a greenpeace chap giving a talk at school saying it would result in sewage on beaches and in rivers - and here we are. Information was available. A choice was made. We reap the consequences.

dmurray 2y ago

Wait, you're saying that British voters in 1989 couldn't reasonably have known the Conservative Party favoured water privatisation, because they wouldn't have read the small print of their manifesto? And also that voting margins and turnouts were so small that the election results might not be representative? This was the third successive Thatcher government, after the previous two had sold off Britain's nationalised companies in aerospace, telecoms, car manufacturing, oil and natural gas [0]. It got reelected in a landslide victory with 75% turnout. [1]. And then you call someone else disingenuous? The British people absolutely got what they wanted, and have only themselves to blame. [0] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/mar/29/short-history-of-privatisation https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/mar/29/short-... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_United_Kingdom_general_election https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_United_Kingdom_general_el...