Call me naive but everyone seems to jump on the privatisation-bashing bandwagon these days without thinking about the alternatives. Gas prices, bank loans, train crashes, you name it – the government is responsible for ‘allowing it to get this way’. The thing is, in a big brother culture we fear so heavily (and are slipping into inevitably), if the government were in control of gas prices, the railway and the banks, I am certain that sections of the general public would criticise the its control over every aspect of our lives.

Yes, the banks went to pot, but it was a global problem which actually began in America. Undoubtedly, the greed and irresponsibility of the banks has hurt society inconceivably, and we will be picking up the pieces for a while yet. Yes, banks, railways, gas and electricity prices and indeed, the movement of money within these organisations might be monitored by a democratic government body to ensure costs are not boosted unnecessarily and pockets are not being swelled illegally. But undoing privatisation at this stage would be a chaotic attempt to appease the public without actually addressing the issues at hand.  Independent price comparison sites exist to provide the cheapest gas and electricity prices for the public. While National Rail has countless problems with its service and staff, there is nothing to confirm that the situation would be better handled by the government. Meanwhile, wars are being waged and soldiers are dying. We’ve seen the economy fall to its lowest ebb and unemployment is only just beginning to pick up after a frightening low in the British recession. Let the politicians fight out amongst themselves how best to get the economy back on track, appease the public with a reasonable immigration policy and get the soldiers out of Afghan, rather than add gas prices to their list of concerns.