Tell us what you think

I would like to live in a caring society, where people are more important than profit, but I feel we are going the opposite way, encouraged by successive governments.

This is the organisation that the UK - and the whole world, by extension - desperately needs; one to counter the unfortunate myth of the greater 'efficiency' of the private sector, and the need for high-quality, fully-accountable public services. I mention the whole world because this facile and dangerous cancer has spread out from the US and UK and damaged the lives of ordinary people everywhere.

I believe that the pendulum of anti-public sector rhetoric is slowly starting to swing back, and We Own It has a vital role to play in that.

Recently I went on a trip across many countries from Sydney, Australia, Manila, Hong Kong, Beijing, Busan, Nagasaki, Osaka, Honolulu, San Fransisco, San Diego and even some of the Caribbean islands one things was common, cheap publicly owned transport systems. Not only that, many had tram systems, and San Fransisco had older trams from across the world including Blackpool. Several had tram, streetcar and trollybuses, hybrid buses and two of them had all electric road vehicles. San Diego's system was partly run by First and Stagecoach and also TDG had the biggest part of the share. Yet prices were lower than the UK. Everywhere I went I could all day tickets for a really reasonable price, Honolulu was $2.50 and travel for 6 hours on any bus, and the same kind of price structure in San Fransisco too. All the public transport systems were clean and efficient, the Hong Kong tube system was sardine tin rides though, always packed yet the trains were run like clockwork and appeared to be endless. Sydney's urban and underground trains were double deck and very smart, and China had bullet trains running at nearly 200 Mph and cost a mere £10 from Tianjin to Beijing. The craziness of the UK's privatisation policy allowing the companies who own the bus and train operations have made billions, and those companies have been able to spread across the world with the profits they make here supplying cheap public transport to other countries. Maybe 'We Own It' might like to use that in their campaigning.

Privatisation in & of itself is not necessarily wrong but the way in which it has been enforced in a compliant U.K. is completely against the interests of anyone who has to rely on such services. It is vital that some voice is given to those who have been robbed by successive oligarchies masquerading as democratic governments.

Simply relieved someone is finally doing something about privatisation!

Helps to counteract, the pro-corporate media. Public service has been demonised, but in reality privatisation has led to less efficient more fragmented services.

Time for Energy Democracy and Ownership! - There is a way of making this happen now, of giving ownership of the energy to the people of the UK. It is our future – it is our energy, and at Ourenergy we are passionate about making is possible for everyone to own it!

Our energy is a new gas and electricity supplier that gives back 75% of the profits to the customers in the form of a yearly rebate.

We also give ownership to customers, in the first instance through domecracy and influence – you are encouraged to get involved in decision making and be part of the board. We also want to transfer ownership to customers – Ourenergy is a supplier that is built for you and influenced by you. We only see ourselves as stewards of your energy. It is your company. You will own a share of it!

Honesty and transparency in big businesses and in the energy sector are sorely lacking. We are an open organisation that will ‘bare it all’, including financial information and salaries

Our mission is to move the power, dominance and control away from the big six suppliers and put power in your hands – nothing short of a social revolution!

www.ourenergy.com

You need to tell the People & the Government that these are Human Rights issues, which the UK has been party to since 1945 through its membership of the UN. However, despite that, and a UK Labour Government having 'Ratified' The International Bill of Human Rights in 1976, no successive UK Government has ever fully complied with it. #TIBOHR now and support the 2 campaigns to demand these Rights once and for all time.

As for State vs Private ownership.

The UN has also said in 1962 in its General Assembly Resolution 1803 (XVII)that "Recalling its resolutions 523 (VI) of 12 January 1952 and 626 (VII) of 21 December 1952. Bearing in mind its resolution 1314 (XIII) of 12 December 1958, by which it established the Commission on Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources " and later "Bearing in mind its resolution 1515 (XV) of 15 December 1960, in which it recommended that the sovereign right of every State to dispose of its wealth and its natural resources should be respected," that it declared in Article 1 of this resolution that:-

"1. The right of peoples and nations to permanent sovereignty over their natural wealth and resources must be exercised in the interest of their national development and of the well-being of the people of the State concerned."

So when and how have the people ever been truly consulted about the sell off of anything that their taxes have acquired or invested in, as the UN has also said in other documents that taxation is part of a Nations resources? And of course our 'Natural Resources' have been sold off willy-nilly to private individuals and Companies for decades without any thought for "the well being of the people" or respect for all of our Human Rights.

We don't even have Equality before the Courts in the UK, so how can they claim to comply with inalienable and inviolable human rights themselves, or be fit to judge when the State has complied with them in everything it has done too? Real people should form a Jury and set 'Legal Precedent', not the lackeys of the State.

None of the political parties have the courage to even discuss this principle. We, the people, will have to show them unmistakably what we want. That is surely what democracy ought to be about. We Own It offers an opportunity to demonstrate this clearly

The current political system, stitched up by the party machines, leaves no room for people to make their voices heard - particularly if one lives in a 'one-party state' as I do (Sheffield). Organisations like We Own It give us a voice

I like your determination in the face of the Tory obsession with profit and devaluing of local government and public transport.

With the kind of government we have today (and a 5 year fixed term) and a very biased media it is really important that there should be opportunities for the public to make their views known.

You bring to my attention things that might not make the news, or flash once and are never mentioned again, and also provide access to more global issues as well as the local items that should concern us all.

It's good to have a pressure group dedicated to the maintenance of public services

I like We Own It, because it draws attention to what the neoliberal revolution is trying to take away from us, and it invites discussion as to what it means to 'own' an enterprise. In my view, shareholders do not really 'own' corporations, in the sense that they do not and cannot make themselves responsible for what the enterprise does, which is obviously particularly important in public service: they are really thieves and parasites, and making profits out of other peoples' basic needs whilst also exploiting a workforce and robbing them of control over their work really is disgusting and yes, definitely a moral issue. The staff should control their workplace and be fully accountable to users and to funders.

We Own It is a sensible organisation which puts across a view which, ironically, is supported across the political divide since a majority of all voters do not want the country sold out to the Bransons and Sercos of this world

You give a voice to all similar thinkers who need to join up to be heard

Because public services are what they say - they should be accountable to the public.Since they are run for the benefit us all; the taxes which fund then come from us all. We are all shareholders.

There should not be secrecy about the accounts and financial decisions.

The quality of a nations life is seen in the treatment of its poorest members.

We Own It provides a good platform and voice for the many people who believe in this cause; serves as a good reminder to both media and politicians that a lot of us DO care about things more than profits for shareholders.

You are fighting injustice, whether it be because we built these services and now have lost them and their benefits or because corporations now have the ability to squeeze us for profit.

They were built by the people for the people and nobody else should have control, as far as i am concerned the gov't has committed a crime under common law.

I don't believe public services should be run for profit, Putting profit first means quality goes down, We need more say over our services, Once we privatise services, it's hard to get them back, We all paid to set up these services for the public benefit not for private enterprise to profit, so selling them is a dereliction of public trust

It's not just a worthy enterprise it's common sense. We need to act against an arrogant government that thinks getting about a quarter of the votes at a general election gives them a mandate to do what they want

You campaign on a vital issue that is otherwise lost in the long round of single issue campaigns and little fights

This should be the future for Britain , for the common tax paying Brit , not the crooked self centred out for what they can get MP'S . Keep them BRITISH . SAVE THE FAMILY SILVER