ALEX BRUMMER: Betraying Margaret Thatcher’s Privatization Vision

Competitors to the Tory leadership love to quote Ms Thatcher. But no one has so far wondered what the late great prime minister would think of the fate of much of her privatization program.

The idea behind its public-to-private initiative was to expose utilities to free market disciplines and competition, eliminate inflated workforces, and encourage investment and innovation.

What she could not possibly have imagined was that within a few decades of privatization some of the companies that were split up and taken to the stock market would simply transfer their ownership from the British state to the control of the overseas government.

Nor could she have foreseen that crucial decisions about energy, transport and other services would be made in Paris, Berlin, Sydney and Madrid rather than in the UK.

The loss of command and control in vital industries and services is currently in the spotlight. John Holland-Kaye is the talking head at Heathrow. He is the prisoner of the Spanish owners Ferrovial, Qatar and others and together they have caused chaos and reputation damage at Britain’s main airport.

None of these distant owners seem to care about Emirates or BA, its passengers or Heathrow’s role in the UK’s service-driven economy.

Then there is the issue of our energy supply in the midst of a global crisis. The French government is currently taking full control of one of the UK’s five major generators, Electricite de France (EDF).

President Emmanuel Macron is eager to rehabilitate and expand France’s nuclear fleet, which has proved a source of national strength in the face of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Potential assets invested in the UK’s next generation nuclear could be returned to France.

This has been seen before. When the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan was damaged by an earthquake in March 2011, Angela Merkel’s government in Berlin decided to halt new nuclear investment in Germany and dismantle existing plants by 2022.

As a result, German power suppliers EON and RWE decided to cancel plans for new UK nuclear power plants at Anglesey and Oldbury, saying the economy no longer made sense. Britain had relinquished control of its electricity future to Berlin.

This year’s energy crisis has seen the loudest protests over utility bills and the need for bailouts for Scottish Power companies. The utility is owned by Spain’s Iberdrola, which has come under fire in Scotland in the past for sending surplus cash to Spain for investments in wind farms in North America.

At present, several UK water suppliers, including overseas Anglian, Thames and Yorkshire, are facing severe enforcement action from the UK Environment Agency over pollution.

Overseas and sometimes state owned British utilities have done enough damage. Nevertheless, the remaining private and listed UK bus and rail concessions are currently being targeted.

Stagecoach is bought by German investment fund DWS, Aberdeen-based First Group is targeted by private equity investors and Newcastle’s Go Ahead by Australian and Spanish investors. Other than a cash sugar rush for shareholders and executives, nothing positive can come from the loss of local property.

If leveling ever comes, the next Tory leader needs to get a grip — and fast.