Privatisation has failed for 40 years. From the rail rip off to Richard Branson suing our NHS, from academisation to polluted rivers and beaches - the public is sick of it. We want public services that work for people not profit.
To get that, we need innovative public ownership for the 21st century - public services that are efficient, effective, and democratic. That means public services operating in the public interest, enabled by the government and accountable to all of us.
We Own It has asked all of the Labour leadership and deputy leadership candidates to make 10 pledges on public ownership. You can see the pledges and their answers below, along with information about how popular public ownership is in each sector, and how much money it would save.
We will update this tracker whenever we receive new information from candidates.
Leadership
- Rebecca Long-Bailey
- Pledges: NHS, Schools, Water, Energy, Railways, Buses, Justice, Royal Mail, Council services, Broadband
- No pledges:
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Lisa Nandy
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Pledges: NHS, Schools, Water, Energy, Railways, Buses, Justice, Royal Mail, Council services, Broadband
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No pledges:
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Partial pledges:
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Keir Starmer
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Pledges: NHS, Schools, Water, Energy, Railways, Buses, Justice, Royal Mail, Council services, Broadband
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No pledges:
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Partial pledges:
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Deputy Leadership
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Dr. Rosena Allin-Khan
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Pledges: NHS, Water, Energy, Railways, Buses, Justice, Royal Mail, Council services, Broadband
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No pledges:
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Partial pledges: Schools
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Richard Burgon
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Pledges: NHS, Schools, Water, Energy, Railways, Buses, Justice, Royal Mail, Council services, Broadband
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No pledges:
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Partial pledges:
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Dawn Butler
- Pledges: NHS, Schools, Water, Energy, Railways, Buses, Justice, Royal Mail, Council services, Broadband
- No pledges:
- Partial pledges:
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Ian Murray
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Pledges: NHS, Schools, Water, Energy, Railways, Buses, Justice, Royal Mail, Council services, Broadband
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No pledges:
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Partial pledges:
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- Angela Rayner
- Pledges: NHS, Schools, Water, Energy, Railways, Buses, Justice, Royal Mail, Council services, Broadband
- No pledges:
For clarification on how we assessed responses to our pledges from Rosena Allin-Khan, please see here.
WE OWN IT PLEDGES
NHS
“I commit to end NHS privatisation and reinstate the NHS on the basis of its founding principles.”
Ending the internal market in the NHS will save £4.5 billion - enough to pay for 72,000 nurses and 20,000 doctors.
Schools
“I commit to ending the academies and free schools project, ensuring that all schools are under local democratic control and making them locally accountable.”
Water
“I commit to replacing the privatised water companies with a publicly owned system that is democratically run and accountable to the public.”
Public ownership of water will save £2.5 billion a year - investing this would reduce leakage levels by a third.
Energy
“I commit to replacing the privatised transmission and distribution companies with publicly owned national and regional companies which are democratically run and accountable to the public, enabling local authorities to develop renewable generation and supply, and enabling public investment and ownership of offshore wind.”
Public ownership of energy networks will save £3.7 billion a year - enough to buy 222 new offshore wind turbines.
Royal Mail
“I commit to reversing the privatisation of the Royal Mail and having it run as a publicly owned institution.”
Public ownership of Royal Mail will save £171 million a year - enough to open 342 new Crown Post Offices with postbanks.
Broadband
“I commit to rolling out full-fibre broadband for all through a publicly owned broadband infrastructure provider.”
Public ownership of broadband will save £500 million a year - enough to pay for full fibre broadband for 6 million households.
Buses
“I commit to giving all local authorities the powers to bring their buses into public control and supporting them and encouraging them to move to not-for-dividend municipal ownership”.
Public ownership of buses will save £506 million a year - enough to buy 1,356 new electric buses.
Rail
“I commit to bringing the railway in its entirety into public ownership, under a unified and democratically accountable network”.
Public ownership of rail will save £1 billion a year - enough to buy 100 miles of new railway track.
Justice
“I oppose profit-making in the justice system and commit to bringing all prisons and the probation service wholly back in house.”
Council services
“I oppose the outsourcing of local government services and commit to making it easier for local councils to deliver their own services in house.”