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Privatisation doesn’t work — so why has Starmer abandoned common ownership?
Recent history is riddled with examples of public money going to private firms that mess up the services they were paid to provide — so why would Labour sideline itself from being able to call out these scandals? SOLOMON HUGHES explains
Labour leader Keir Starmer giving a speech at the Sage Gateshead culture centre

KEIR STARMER said he has abandoned his anti-privatisation pledge on “common ownership” when he was challenged about the issue during a recent speech in Liverpool.  

Starmer said his “approach here is pragmatic, not ideological.” But how pragmatic is it to accept privatisation, just as a new wave of privatisations and rip-offs wash over us all? It’s left Labour without a coherent approach to multiple crises.  

Starmer’s original pledge that he made as part of his leadership campaign was: “Public services should be in public hands, not making profits for shareholders,” and he would “support common ownership of rail, mail, energy and water; end outsourcing in our NHS, local government and justice system.”  

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