Denationalisation and after
Sir: Your leading article on denationalisation and after makes some very pertinent points (20 September). However, you state that no industry can be sold into private ownership until it has first made a profit. Why? Boac was making a loss on its South American route and gave this up to a private airline (Bm) who now make a profit on it. Surely the right use of the nation's capital resources is to make sure they are used efficiently and profitably.
A point apparently not considered by Mr Ian Mikardo's committee is that one method of making sure that state industries are well managed is to allow private industry to com- pete with them on equal terms. Perhaps one of the first things a Tory government should do on its return to office is to repeal those clauses of the nationalisation Acts which speci- fically forbid competition with the state-owned industries. We would then be approaching a truly mixed economy.
Simon Bewlay Aims of Industry, 5 Plough Lane, Fetter Lane, London EC4
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