IMGpapers 1980–83

Newspapers of the International Marxist Group and its forerunners, 1980–83

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Socialist Challenge No. 259, 4 September 1982 · p. 6 of the scan · 235 words

The scan: sc-no259.pdf (PDF, Marxists Internet Archive, opens at this page)

Uncorrected machine reading. This text was read by machine (Apple Vision OCR) from a scan of a newspaper page, and the page was cut into articles by machine, at the headlines found by their type size. Nothing has been corrected: expect misread words, text from a neighbouring article, and titles that are the machine reading of the headline, some of them only fragments. Quote from the scan, not from this page.
How this article was cut and titled: headline found by type size in the OCR geometry (split_tabloid.py); 1-2 of 7; machine-segmented newspaper page; uncorrected Vision OCR.

page 6 of the scan

THERE ARE basically four ways in which the state sector will be carved up and cut to ribbons:

Here the profitable side of a nationalised industry is sold off. This was done to 51 per cent of the assets of the British National Oil Corporation, a fate awaiting British Telecom. examples are British (BP); National Enterprise Board holdings in ICL and Aerospace; Cable Wirless; Amersham tional; Rail hotels and Hoverspeed. The same treatment for Board; British Airways; British Steel; National Coal Board open cast mines; National Bus Company; British Leyland. The selling of gas show-rooms was only stopped by threatened strike action.

Here the monopoly status of the nationalised industry is ended and a private firm is given a license to compete for the same customers. Examples the monopoly has been relaxed are found in British Telecom (licenses given to Project Mercury); Post Office (licenses for express mail); Central Blectricity Board; National Bus Company and British Gas.

Here, jobs like cleaning, catering and transport of materials given to outside contractors. nas happened in local authority services, too, with contracts given to private refuge, cleaning and building firms. 4. Alternatives for those who can pay.

Here an alternative and improved service is provided by firms for those who can afford it. The most obvious example is private medicine.

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1. Direct sale of public assets.

2. Licensing private petitors.

3. Contracting Out.

← Emergency Service OnlyPRIVATISATION-WHA →

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