[Osem]

One of the reasons they were privatised was a desire by HMG to remove the huge cost of running these utilities from coming out of govt. coffers. Things were not better before - there was massive underinvestment, huge inefficiency and serious structural costs inevitably mounting up. Renationalising these utilities would not only cost a huge amount upfront but would simply pass the costs of what still needs to be done onto the taxpayer once again. Keeping prices artificially low would simply mean increased taxes.