Match of the Day Century: public v private
ONLY ONE CAN WIN!

What are public or private entities?
Private entities are owned by individuals or groups, whereas public ones are owned by the government. Public entities are popularly linked to communism and socialism as systems of governance that were based around an ideal of a fully publicly owned economy. Neo-liberalist governments in the 1970s, spearheaded by Reagan in the US and Thatcher in the UK, started to aim towards an ideal of a fully private economy not just at home but for the world.

The move from public to private
Popular political economic discourse in Britain and the US has been based around recognising faults in a fully publicly owned economy and hence aiming for the opposite, a fully private economy. In the UK, starting with British Coal, Steel, Sugar to name a few, also privatised (sold to companies owned by shareholders) were British Telecom, Water, Rail and Power. These industries changed from acting in the interests of the majority (as they do when owned and run by the government) to acting in the interests of shareholders (as they own the company).

What about somewhere in the middle?
What is not recognised is the possibility of operating a mixed economy successfully. The theory behind total privatisation is that the 'free hand' of the markets will make each industry more competitive, based on economic models, and hence lead to lower prices and better products (has this happened?). Included in these models is the key assumption that private companies will act in the interests of the majority (if the majority own a share of the company) rather than the minority (that actually own most of the shares).

What is the Private Finance Initiative [PFI]
The next phase of privatisation in the UK involves education and health. This has been off the agenda for discussion and contrary to popular belief the Labour government has actually accelerated the Private Finance Initiative, the start to privatising our entire country. Virtually none of this has been discussed either in parliament or in the media.

Under the Private Finance Initiave, our schools and hospitals are being sold off bit by bit to private companies that act in the interests of their shareholders. Contracts for building work are awarded to building firms that have the closest links to Labour Party members that DO NOT act in the interests of the majority, let alone the end-users of their services. Local rural hospitals are closed to build 'super-hospitals', making people travel further, using taxpayers money to fund the profits of the building contractors at a much greater cost to us taxpayers than a simple total refurbishment would have cost.

How does it work?
PFI means going to the private sector to take out loans on which interest rates are higher than normal for government borrowing, and then paying private sector profits on top. These repayments have to be made just like a mortgage over 20 or 30 years out of income - whether that's a hospital's revenue that might otherwise be used to pay doctors and nurses, or the school budget, which might otherwise pay teachers, or a council's income that could be used on other services. Ministers argue that savings made by more efficient private-sector managers will more than offset the costs, but the evidence so far is unconvincing. However, when the contractors standards do not meet all of the requirements, or the deal becomes not profitable enough, the contractor can pull out of the deal, leaving its mess behind it. The government (taxpayers) are left to pay for it to be refinanced and meanwhile the school/uni/hospital must carry on.

Like hire purchase, the government ends up paying several times the original bill. This government is now building up debt for future governments to carry. Firms can walk out at any point if they decide on their own grounds, if they want to. Furthermore, the new services are only designed to last for the contract period - expecting that in 20 years time, another contract must be made. The full effect of the PFI will not be felt until 20 years time - when it will be FAR TOO LATE to do anything except regret mistakes whilst private companies bleed our public services dry and the politicians that made the mistakes will be long gone.

Well documented are the mishaps of PFI, and are beginning to emerge onto our newsscreens. So too are Public Private Partnerships [PPP], most notably the London Underground. Despite profits of £2 million per week, the private firms still failed on 87 out of 181 performance measures. Business elites cite the many successes of PFI as a reason to continue with the sell-off of our country to private firms. They take for granted a certain proportion that goes wrong. But when people's health and education are at stake, can we afford for a few projects to go wrong?

And where does the G8 fit into this? The crucial thing to consider is WHOSE INTERESTS ARE THE GOVERNMENT ACTING IN. Are they acting in the interests of the people, as they have a democratic mandate to do, or do they act in the interests of business? Are they acting in your interests? Is the government making it easier or harder for private firms to get hold of OUR (taxpayers) money? These are questions we must never stop to ask ourselves.

We must also think about how far the UK is willing to go along with the Project for a New American Century. This forms the stated aims of neoliberalism - private ownership of everything. Stop to consider how far this can go if pursued to death, and whether we want anything and everything to have an 'owner'. This goes from material goods to ideas. Where will this stop? Who is going to stop it?

But surely, this privatisation has nothing to do with G8 because they're not talking about it? EXACTLY. It OFF the agenda. WE do not feature in any part of the decision making process on key issues such as this. It all happens behind closed doors. They set the agenda to talk about issues we have been talking about for years. When the leaders talk at G8, think about what assumptions they have made and what they are NOT talking about but is implicit in their rhetoric.

We all have the power to do something. Use your voice, your brain, your body, your wallet and your vote wisely. And let them know at Gleneagles!