Is everything in this country(U.K.) up for sale?

Oreo

There could be provisos put in place to ensure they do use British workers.
There could well be too many companies that are foreign owned, but how many is too many?

I think it's very disquieting ,same with housing, especially in London where huge swathes of properties belong in foreign hands, and left empty.
Others countries manage to hang on to their utilities, Germany for example. Investment yes, takeover no. Now I see another company, UK, sold out to America for huge profits. Who does this help, only the shareholders.
We need strong leaders who put this country first,not allow it to be swallowed whole by China, and the Gulf States to name a few of the vultures.

Just wondering where El Al are going to land!

I cannot imagine an Israeli air company being thrilled at the prospect of using an airport owned by an Arab state!

I agree wholeheartedly with your comments !!

Well,if you voted for Thatcher in 1979 and have voted tory ever since this is what you voted for.

grandtanteJE65

Just wondering where El Al are going to land!

I cannot imagine an Israeli air company being thrilled at the prospect of using an airport owned by an Arab state!

Who is wrong EL Al, or Qatar for funding Hamas,

Personally I’d ban both they are both extremists and unwelcome as is Russia and Iran probably a few others too

The Saudis own most of the country anyway

Evidence???

We have a company that sells a product all over the world. Bringing money into the country and making the pie bigger for everyone. All you get in this country is jealousy. When one does well, the government tax you over over. Capital gains and personal tax. There is loads red tape. My husband and his partner have worked relentlessly to make it a success. And still keep it relevant, so no sitting back and watching the money coming in. Why in this country is the attitude, it’s alright for you, instead of celebrating entrepreneurs.

China pretty much owns Australia now !!
So little forethought by our greedy politicians

Tamayra

China pretty much owns Australia now !!
So little forethought by our greedy politicians

Why 'greedy politicians'? What do they make out of the sale of a nation's assets to foreign powers?

Thatcher started it

To allow foreign companies to own our water and power utilities seems to me to be the height of stupidity. Also to have allowed our agriculture and manufacturing industries to become so run down, resulting in the UK having to import to many essentials.
However I honestly don't give a stuff about the airport as I rarely fly and wish that other people would stop flying too as I live under a Heathrow flightpath.

MaizieD The directors of the companies selling off to the chinese etc and making huge profits on the deal are the people financing the Conservative party.

Not just straight up front dollops of money to the party, but they set up think tanks that produce research papers that support right wing policies and thinking they infiltrate aall kinds of committees and groups.

I recently read a book Democracy for Sale: Dark Money and Dirty Politics The author, Peter Geoghegan, is Sunday Times journalist, no loony lefty from The Guardian.. The book explains exactly what is going on behind the scenes. It is very clear why politicians sell our assets down the river and what they get from it.

MaizieD The directors of the companies selling off to the chinese etc and making huge profits on the deal are the people financing the Conservative party.

I presume you're answering my question about 'greedy politicians', MOnica. I assume you are talking about the funding of individual MPs by businesses. Are MPs allowed to use that funding for personal gain, though?

What I was thinking of was more along the lines of 'Is there evidence that MPs are gaining personally from sales of the UK's assets to foreign entities'?

Maizie I do not suggest that politicians are directly filling their pockets with cash direct from funders, but city interests, big funders and close friendships between these politicians and these funders results in an 'I scratch your back and you scratch mine' relationship. Politicians leave politics and need to earn their livings when they leave. It helps if there is someone likely to think of you when a job needs filling.

I am sure George Osborne is as straight as a die, but he is a very able man and had all the right contacts when lots of lucrative jobs came up after he left politics. Tony Blair hasn't done too badly.

And some donors do directly 'help' politicians. Boris Johnson has had a helping hand a number of times, including redecorating the PM's flat at No 10.

There is , as they say, more than one way to kill cat.

True M0nica

The UK is one of the most corrupt countries in 2023. This has not always been the case but the malign influence of the right-wing press, national newspapers read by over *80% of newspapers readers, by foreign billionaires and tax exiles who have their own agenda has been utterly poisonous.

As a newspaper reader. I do find it rather galling the way people assume that readers are not capable of making critical judgments when reading those papers and are not capapble of knowing the political biasses of a paper and taking those into account.

Newspapers are important only to themselves and most people do not read them and get most of their news from elsewhere.

I was really wanting Tamayra to explain their 'greedy politicians' statement. I feel that the explanation would not have been as coherent and rational as yours, MOnica

I get quite tired of people trotting out these meaningless statements...
So basically, we have established that a post politics career can be lucrative, but active politicians aren't on the take...

I was under the impression, BTW, that Osborne was a very wealthy man before he entered politics... In fact, I doubt that any of those you named were short of a bob or two...

Most countries are self interested and corrupt when it comes to the bottom line. Not sure the UK is any different or worse than any others.

Those who think the UK is corrupt should take their blinkers off and look at many other countries where have pay someone off to get anything done. Our polititians are not perfect and some are wealthy but that should not disbar them from office as long as they follow the rules involved, and we have seen several dismissed for breaking them, the system is working.

Newspapers and other Media have a large influence on politics, not just party politics but policy as well, they need to sell their product so they dramatize any issue and publish articles that are biased in one direction or the other according to editorial policy.

On the contrary, Katie59, I think that anyone who doesn't think that the UK is corrupt needs to take their blinkers off. I refer specifically to the government, which is spectacularly corrupt, though I'm sure it goes on at lower levels.

MaizieD

On the contrary, Katie59, I think that anyone who doesn't think that the UK is corrupt needs to take their blinkers off. I refer specifically to the government, which is spectacularly corrupt, though I'm sure it goes on at lower levels.

Disagree with you, the worst aspect in my mind is they have to follow the party line wether they agree or not
It certainly used to be corrupt at Local Government level where if you knew the right person things got done, not now, everyone has to declare their interests, so the dodgy councilors have dropped out.

It still happens in local government - developers very friendly with planning officers for instance.

Which members of the current government do you consider to be corrupt Maizie, and why?

It still happens in local government - developers very friendly with planning officers for instance.
In this area it’s councillors that have the upper hand, regularly overruling planning officers - it’s a Liberal majority

At least there’s the chance of success on appeal, especially if planning officers have been supportive, and costs may be awarded against the council. I really dislike the system of planning applications being decided by totally unqualified people.