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I agree with you Barry to an extent, but I am talking about the organisations and services that essential to the wellbeing of the society and those that exploit the fabric/resources of the space that society occupies. Interesting you mention BP, a partially nationalised organisation built on the concept of exploiting someone else's resources and getting the hump when those resources were nationalised by the very people that owned them. North Sea oil sold off to balance the books of a government; council houses built with public money and then sold to the public, with no replenishment; Tertiary services (such as BT/British Gas etc) constructed for the benefit of Britain with the ability to dig up roads and inconvenience for the greater good, sold off...the list goes on. And DHB, an entity that affects the town at a fundamental level and its privatisation only ensuring that any changes to infrastructure will primarily only service itself.
No I'm not saying that the state is (or has been) any good at running any of these things, in fact it's been pretty bad. However when people cite examples of excellence in other countries like 'clean streets' or excellent public transport, you can almost always guarantee that they are state run. Just because we have been so bad in the past (and I personally think this is down to us being the first to do many of these things and making mistakes) does not mean they are 'begging for privatisation'. I most cases they just need serious reform.
It sickens me to think about such things as the private sector feeding our children in schools, turning a profit on something that is a necessity to those that are without direct representation. Or hospitals breeding 'superbugs' because the level of cleaning has declined due to a profit margin devised by someone in an office, not the standards of a professional nurse (for instance). The port of Dover occupies a 'space' valuable purely by its location, a space that is run by DHB for the Government, who we are told to believe, work for us. As far as we should be concerned, by this reasoning, it is ours. On top of this it actually affects the very fabric of the town where we live, the day to day lives of Dovorians. If it is to be sold off it has to benefit us and not just in the short term.
Barry, you made references some time ago about conditions, ensuring the deal is right for us. Much in the same way council houses where sold off with no compensation, DHB will be exactly the same and this is what outrages me. Governments both red and blue are failing to represent us. I sincerely hope Mr Elphicke is championing our true position, but fear that once an MP he may just toe the party line.