Big news! Labour is bringing back nationalisation—with a twist. It’s just steel. Only steel. Everything else—like, say, your ability to affordably turn on a light without taking out a loan, or drink water that hasn’t done a lap of your local sewage works—remains a challenge worthy of The Krypton Factor.
They even rushed through a bill to save the Scunthorpe plant, much to the chagrin of an absolutely seething Nigel Far-right-age. (Maybe those forensic, 3D chess aficionados had a point after all!)
Meanwhile, your train is still operated by a subsidiary of an offshoot of a hedge fund registered in the Cayman Islands. And despite a shiny new “Great British Railways” logo slowly emerging from the festering lakes of austerity, the rolling stock—the actual trains—will remain in the loving arms of the private sector. (Well, you didn’t think they’d be willing to scare the markets, did you?) Private train-owning firms have already siphoned off £3.6 billion in dividends over the last decade. That’s not infrastructure—it’s one long gravy train heading straight to Bisto Central Station.
Polls show the public overwhelmingly support full public ownership of water, mail, NHS, energy, buses and rail. So naturally, none of the major parties will touch it.
Polling done by YouGov for We Own It in 2024 showed just how great that support was:
Water — 82%
Mail — 75%
NHS — 87%
Energy — 71%
Buses — 66%
Rail — 76%
Apparently, you can have steel back—but only if you pinky promise never to say “renationalise” while within earshot of Thames Water’s boardroom, where the toilet cistern flushes champagne and the CEO wipes clean on £50 notes.
But, back in the real world, our candidates have been out doing something wild: talking to people.
Holly Waddell and her team were out in force delivering campaign literature—1,000 letters to postal voters, all posted personally. Posters and boards are popping up across the ward now, and with postal votes landing, it’s so important to help get the message out.
Karen Weech and her team, meanwhile, have been out redefining politics in Rothbury—one conversation at a time. No party. No agenda. Just a deep belief that asking people what matters to them is, shockingly, a better strategy than guessing from a spreadsheet.
In a world of party lines and policy-by-focus-group, Karen and Holly are doing something refreshingly different: listening, showing up, and proving that community-led politics isn’t just possible—it’s already happening.