Leela I lived in London in the 1970:1980s when private enterprise was not allowed to provide competitive commuter services because British Rail operated a legal monopoly.

After decades of different “experts” of every hue and variety, trying to get some “efficiency” into and “value” out of the “rail network”, with no success at all, Margaret Thatcher came along and removed the railways “monopoly” status.

With the stroke of a pen, my daily travel costs from the commuter belt into Mayfair dropped to one third of what they were when the “monopoly” Fix was operating.

“Essential services”, I see only one, water (without it we all die). Everything else is discretionary, including the health service (another “sacred cow” of socialism) and education has always supplied on a pluralist basis, so cannot possibly be “essential” in the “socialist” context of a government monopoly.

“just ask anyone living in Somalia how good that feels.”

Using polemic examples illustrates a paucity of real argument, I suggest you smarten your posts a little. Somalia and most of Africa has turned into a charnel house of failed communist/socialist governments since the Europeans disbanded their empire colonies.

If you were to ask most Africans, they would sooner be a colony of a European power than an independent state run on African “Tribal” nepotistic lines, Rwanda, Uganda, the Congo being prime examples of failed experiments in socialist government.

One of the major problems of socialism is it relies on the central controls which become the opportunity for despotic tyranny.

As Lenin said “the goal of socialism is communism” and the Russian people suffered abuse for ¾ of a century as a consequence.

Regarding “Treasury Estimates” – exactly, and “Treasury” has never been that good when tested on matters of “probable accuracy”

And regarding believing ..

I believe there are “fairies at the bottom of the garden”, who produce more accurate fiscal estimates than Treasury.

“and would not exist if some purpose was not served.”

Using “tax” as the distributor of economic resource

is not a “purpose”,

it is simply an abuse of power