Reply to: Should we allow foreign investors to buy our utility companies ?

[original PM]

i was discussing with her indoors the cost of all our utilities over a year (think it came to about 5k or similar)

seems high but then

1) I turn on the cold tap and get cold drinkable water 24/7
2) I turn on that hot tap and get hot usabale water 24/7
3) I flick a light switch and I get light
4) I turn on the cooker and get heat
5) My food stays cold in the fridge and frozen in the freezer

and the list goes on

all in all for the cost of a semi decent holiday for two weeks I get all of the above and that is actually fooking good value in my opinion

[ZARDOZ]

You must live in the South West also then gj. My water costs are approx. £2k a year.
And it never stops fooking raining either!!

I know of someone who lives in a place so remote he has no water supply, they wont pipe one in as it's too expensive for just him. His foul water is via septic tank. He has a well for his drinking water. He still gets a water bill and has to pay it. Apparently they own the water that falls from the sky as soon as it hits the land.

[d000hg]

Vote UKIP.

"How much worse can it be?"

[AtW]

You must live in the South West also then gj. My water costs are approx. £2k a year. And it never stops fooking raining either!!

5 kids eh?

[AtW]

What is stopping them from charging exorbitant rates to make good their investment and hold the british consumers to ransom over water ?

Are you saying current water rates are not exorbitant???

Btw water companies are subject to price controls due to effective local monopoly on supply, so that's probably the safest utility to sell to some suckers who don't realise that some of the infrastructure used was build in Victorian times

[DimPrawn]

Change water company.

Oh, you can't. So much for freedom of choice.

[shaunbhoy]

My local water company is owned by the yanks, we have the most expensive water in the country.

You must live in the South West also then gj. My water costs are approx. £2k a year.
And it never stops fooking raining either!!

[lilelvis2000]

I think it's ridiculous, you only have to look at what's happened to other utility companies to see how it will go. Prices will rise, money will as per usual leave the country through some form of loophole and the companies will pay very little in the way corporation tax.

This is the "competitive advantage" that the British MPs go on about. Invest here, pay 0 tax and you can rip off the sheep and provide crap service. win win.

[istvan]

Get the government buy back the utilities, and if they want; they can privatise HMRC.

A powerful country like the UK can make the foreign owners of utility companies miserable, driving the profitability down by all kinds of taxation schemes that are within the EU regulations, so the foreign owners will eventually be happy to sell it back to the state at a reasonable price. Hungary is doing just that. However, their utility prices are the highest in the EU, and the foreign owned utilities pay hardly any local taxes. So they are being kicked out. About time. Nevertheless, utility costs in the UK are relatively reasonable in the EU. So keep it as it is. Besides it is good to have them owned by foreigners. When UK has a conflict with those countries, at least there is something with which UK can squeeze the balls of the other party.

[DodgyAgent]

Let us make sure that we hold on to these companies for the right reasons and that we know "where to stop". We apply the rules to all British companies (which would probably be an unintended consequence of regulation) then they would be wiped out as they would not be able to raise investment if curtailed by UK law. Furthermore this should not be for the sake of "preserving British jobs". I am afraid that anyone who works in a "preserved working environment" will be lazy an badly motivated *(as will any companies that have their markets protected).

Ring fencing companies that are vital to the UK infrastructure It is not a simple matter to enact.

[d000hg]

My local water company is owned by the yanks, we have the most expensive water in the country.

I'm not surprised, that's a long pipe.

[rd409]

Get the government buy back the utilities, and if they want; they can privatise HMRC.

[ZARDOZ]

If there will be a market with competitors then privatise it. If there is no choice who provides the service then keep it in state hands otherwise we risk extortion. Too late now though, private monopoly it is.

[DimPrawn]

Vote UKIP.

[VectraMan]

Well british companies while profit minded would always consider the consumer as important and try and give the consumer a good deal.

That sounds extremely naive.

Utility companies compete on price (and in theory service but I'm sure most just switch to whoever is cheapest), which by definition is giving the consumer a good deal. Just because one is foreign owned doesn't change that.