In its 2017 general election manifesto the Labour Party promised to return the water sector, rail, energy networks and Royal Mail to public ownership.  In its May 2019 report Bringing Energy Home, it announced further details of its plans to bring energy and gas networks into state ownership, with the creation of a National Energy Agency to own and run transmission systems and regional energy agencies to own electricity and gas distribution.

How will Labour’s plans affect  each sector?  How will the new form of public ownership differ from past experiences and what new opportunities will it create in each sector?  What would be the cost and how would it be financed?  How will democratic control interact with commercial objectives?  How would future investment be financed and what would be the priorities of a new government? What opportunities would public ownership create in each sector?  Will direct political control mean the end of economic regulation as we currently understand it?

Speaker:  James Meadway, Former Economic Advisor to the Shadow Chancellor, Labour Party

Respondent: George Yarrow, Former Chair, RPI