ON TOP of its threatened one-off "windfall" tax on the privatised utility companies, Labour now plans to force them to share their profits with customers - in the form of price cuts - if they rise above "normal" levels.

Driven perhaps by instinctive antipathy to Tory-inspired privatisation, Labour might be going a step too far - in damaging employment and investment in these firms.

At least, that may be so in the case of the utilities that have - unlike the water companies with their monopolies - been exposed to competition.

It may have come in at a creep, but there is already evidence that customers are getting better price deals from the competing companies.

Thus, Labour's bid to give them even better ones must depend on what a "normal" profit level is determined to be.

This new threat hanging over the companies' heads may not be as great an incentive to offer value for money and efficiency as real and healthy competition between the utility providers is proving to be.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.