Renationalisation is a distraction we can't afford

The Labour leadership’s plans to renationalise utilities, railways and Royal Mail have been met with dismay across industry, with companies concerned about how such a policy would damage the UK’s reputation as a place to invest. While services across these sectors can continue to improve, all the evidence shows that their quality and reliability has been transformed across the board while in private hands:

• In the water sector investment is double that of pre-privatisation levels and leakages have reduced by a third since the 1990s
• In rail, services have increased by nearly a third and the frequency of services on many long-distance routes has doubled since the franchise system began
• In energy, £100bn has been invested since privatisation and the number of powers cuts has halved since 2000
• And the Royal Mail has transformed its loss-making operations to financial sustainability, higher productivity and better pay for its staff.

So there are clear reasons t