Peter Hadden, Regional Secretary of the Socialist Party, echoed calls made by unions at the TUC Congress being held in Brighton for “the energy firms to be brought into public ownership and run democratically in the interests of ordinary people.”
Mr Hadden explained “These price increases are a direct result of privatisation. The only thing these companies are concerned about is protecting their profits at the expense of workers already struggling to make ends meet.
“Regulation has been devastatingly exposed as a cover for these companies ripping off working class families. The only way to provide affordable gas and electricity is to bring these companies back into public ownership, and run democratically in the interests of people not big business.”
At a time when the government continues to implement savage cuts on working people on the one hand it is still in the process of giving away billions of euro worth of our natural gas to private interests. Two onshore gas fields are next to being a gift. One in Clare and one in the North West. The closing date for the licence applications is 11 June.
Only a united struggle of the masses can defeat regime
As we go to press, the outcome of the general election is very difficult to predict. The Tories are ahead in the polls but their lead is slipping and a clear Tory majority looks increasingly uncertain. The Tories need to climb an electoral mountain to win enough seats to form a majority government. At the present time, opinion polls suggest they may do it but the memory of the Thatcher years has not faded for millions of voters, especially working class voters. Now that the Tories have taken off the mask and appear as they truly are, the outcome of the election is much more uncertain. A certain swing back to Labour, especially amongst working class voters, is clearly discernible.