Privatisation and the tarnishing of the Scottish public sector

Every government's activity is a combination of particular policies and a general strategy based on a view of society and government's place in it. The 1979 and 1983 Conservative governments have had a greater strategic grasp than most, and among their themes has been a faith in private sector consumption and ownership. Privatisation is a vague term, used in a variety of senses, but its main thrust is clear. It is the transfer of tasks from the public to the private sector, in the hope of increasing the range of consumer choice and reducing the load on public sector resources -legislative and administrative time as well as direct expenditure and employment.