The idea of privatisation of state-owned assets – such as energy, water and rail services – was originally ‘sold’ to us on the basis of more choice, better services and lower costs. A few decades on, it looks like these have entirely failed to materialise. Is that because privatisation is always a bad idea? Or is it because there were very good reasons why many services were state-run monopolies in the first place?

Choice is hardly a factor in rail travel, for example. Whether we’re racing for the evening commute or going to visit friends and family, we just get on the train that's going the right direction at the right time – just like we always did. We do get a change of operator when moving between franchise areas, but that's hardly a cause for joy. Then, of course, there are the regular rows over fare increases well beyond inflation, slow and inconsistent upgrades – and, of course, operating companies’ profits – to consider. As things stand, operating companies have to guess how much profit they’ll make. If they make less, the government tops it up, and if they make more, they pay the government back. This creates an obvious temptation to exaggerate profit forecasts, and profit is not all reinvested.

These problems aren't unique to rail. While not all of us use the network, very few can avoid dealing with the energy sector. Along with housing, both main political parties have routinely described the energy market as ‘broken’ – so what's wrong with it?

The bulk of the electricity and gas market in the UK is supplied by the ‘Big Six’ energy companies, whose job it is – in theory, at least – to deliver the choice, keen pricing and better service that we were promised. But, once again, the reality is that, in spite of regular encouragement by services like uSwitch, two-thirds of energy users have never switched supplier. Not only does this mean that ‘more choice’ has again eluded the majority of us; it turns out that these loyal customers are also paying more than they should, helping to maintain suppliers’ profits.