An essential public service teeters on the edge of collapse. Mired in debt, caught up in scandal, and definitely too big to fail – many believe it is only a matter of time before the government steps in. The year could be 2001 or it could be 2024. It could be Network Rail’s privatised predecessor, Railtrack, or the company that provides water to a quarter of the UK population, Thames Water.
Much of the commentary around Thames Water’s mounting difficulties has reached for the recent comparison of the collapsed energy supplier, Bulb. Bulb was not taken into public ownership, but allowed to go into administration in the wake of the energy crisis in 2022, with customers transferred on to new tariffs managed by alternate providers. But for those interested in protecting households, the environment and the public purse, New Labour’s handling of Railtrack would be a more instructive case study.
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