Privatisation Follow

HARINGEY COUNCIL in north London got a shock from the results of its roadshow to promote housing privatisation.

MEMBERS OF the Bectu broadcasting union at the BBC have voted overwhelmingly for strikes against the privatisation of the corporation’s information technology operation, BBC Technology.

WHEN PATIENTS come to me, the one thing they want is to get better.

NOWHERE IS New Labour’s hypocrisy over "choice" in public services clearer than over housing.

New Labour's policy of Public-Private Partnership or Private Finance Initiative (PPP/PFI) is second only to the war on Iraq as a source of anger and disillusion among its traditional supporters.

CAMPAIGNERS against council house privatisation were cheered to see New Labour forced into another U-turn last week. The government has pledged to get all council homes to a decent standard by 2010.

COUNCIL TENANTS in Kingston in south west London have voted against the sell-off of their homes. In another blow to the government's attempts to blackmail tenants to accept privatisation as the only way of getting improvements, 63 percent of tenants voted against the sell-off on a 65 percent turnout.

What we need in London is a voice for all the people who feel that we need fundamental change in the way the city operates. These people feel there is something wrong with a society which sees its priorities as spending money on war and privatisation rather than helping the poorest people and public services.

COUNCIL TENANTS in Wrexham have delivered another hammer blow to the government's drive to privatise council homes. Over 13,000 tenants of the North Wales council have decisively rejected privatisation in a ballot.

PORTERS AND domestic staff at Bolton and North Manchester general hospitals (part of the same trust) have voted to strike. They work for ISS Mediclean, a multinational which has profited from the privatisation of the NHS.

OVER 400 people gathered in London last weekend for a conference organised by War on Want on "Privatisation, Power and Poverty". At the opening session author Susan George said that in addition to the "three Ps" of the conference title, we needed to add another one-profits.

Public sector reform has problems in store for Blair.