TV-on-demand, economy-by-command
Virgin Media wants to “shut down” something called Project Canvas , a BBC-backed video-on-demand venture. Virgin Media aim to do this by complaining to Ofcom, the industry regulator.
Thus does the fate of business in Britain today hinge not on what the customer wants, nor on what entrepreneurs might provide, but on what officials decide.
And you thought there had been a free market, Thatcherite revolution?
Thatcherism decentralised control over economic things; privatisation, big bang in the city, union reform, council house sales. Yet paradoxically, Thatcherism also centralised political control, vesting regulatory power in central government institutions.
Decentralising control over economic things helped create whole new areas of economic activity – such as telecoms. Yet creating the architecture of central control to oversee them meant that long after the Thatcherites left office, their decentralising achievements could be unwound. Thus has much of the Thatcher revolution been incrementally reversed - in effect, if not by design.
Modern Conservatives should neither repudiate Thatcherism, nor seek to reheat it. Instead our post-Thatcher script should decentralise economic power, and disperse control over politics and public services.
Given that Virgin Media is being required to compete against a state-funded broadcast titan, one can fully appreciate why they might be appealing to Ofcom. Yet in doing so, they demonstrate that government regulator merely begets more government regulation. Either cull Ofcom, or make those that run a slimmed down regulator answer annually to the Commons select committee for their budget and jobs.
We, the customers, not Ofcom should be deciding the fate of Project Canvas.