I think they tried that with the selling off of council houses and utilities - nothing left to sell so it is more borrowing or more taxation..........
Perhaps stop rewarding the housebuilders for banking land, not building truly affordable housing and doing a pretty poor job of the houses they do build.
Something else Mrs May isn't to be trusted on! (There, just kept on topic)
crab,
And that's the problem - flogging off utilities is a one time thing. Once they are gone, that's it - it's like selling the goose rather than the egg. Hence my comment about missing the boat on North Sea oil / gas; whilst not infinite, it was at the time offering a damn sight greater sustainability in terms of income generating potential. And is exactly what I would expect from politicians with no strategic vision and only an eye on the news & election cycles.
I'm certainly no bleeding heart liberal, but a living wage strikes me as a reasonable idea in this day and age; as noted by Vendee and Basil, too many of our illustrious private sector organisations like to pay more attention to share holders than they do employees, the result being very low pay and the state having to step in with social security measures and therefore reduced spending on other areas (like the RAF .. just to keep things relevant!)
I know the hard line capitalists would probably have a field day with such fluffy and compassionate thinking, but our expectations of social responsibility from all sectors of society are increasing. We aren't there yet, but in future I think those companies that are most successful will be the ones doing the right thing as well as the correct thing. In contrast, companies arguing for unrestrained growth at all costs will be seen to be arguing for, in economic terms, the same mechanisms by which cancer exists.