The Great Rail Privatization Myth

In 1945 the railways were seized and nationalized by the  Atlee Labour government. Previously they had been privately run and operated - there was no franchise system with the state as the franchisee as was created under John Major who is the chief architect of the present debacle.

The fact that the railways are still subsidized by the taxpayer, highly regulated and indeed that there is still a ministry for transport and a transport minister in the form of the ridiculous and hapless Chris Grayling, the fool guy who is wheeled out whenever the 'privatized' railways have yet another crisis testifies to the absurdity of the whole operation and the cynical deception perpetrated on the public.

The idea that the State can operate a franchise system and refer to it  as a privatization is Orwellian in itself, a misrepresentation which has only succeeded in smearing private enterprise by having it conflated with such an adulterated and bastardized  mixed economy shambles of  a railway system.

This has led to the Labour party opportunistically pledging to nationalize the railways system which may prove difficult as it already is nationalized, being  privatized in name only.

This mess is a perfect illustration of how the failures of the mixed economy, its inherent instability and internal contradictions will always lead to a clamor for a  return to full blown state ownership of industry which indeed is exactly what is happening with a far left Labour party waiting in the wings like a vulture ready to swoop on the wreckage and debris of the mixed economy in its final death throes.