Privatisation wastes billions year after year

Privatisation costs more because it means spending money on shareholder dividends and the higher cost of borrowing in the private sector (government can borrow more cheaply).

• Public ownership of water will save £2.5 billion a year - investing this will reduce leakage levels by a third.
• Public ownership of energy networks will save £3.7 billion a year - enough to buy 876 new offshore wind turbines.
• Public ownership of rail will save £1 billion a year - enough to buy 100 miles of new railway track.
• Public ownership of buses will save £506 million a year - enough to buy 1,356 new electric buses.
• Public ownership of Royal Mail will save £171 million a year - enough to open 342 new Crown Post Offices with postbanks.
• Ending the internal market in the NHS will save £4.5 billion - enough to pay for 72,000 nurses and 20,000 doctors.

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