Failure and the Tories

Welovelocalgovernment has accurate comment on why the Tories' policy of allowing failure becomes problematic for must have services.  They cite the example of Southern Cross, but examples can be found outside local government.  Surely, one of the problems around the London Underground is that the cost of a catastrophic failure would be so huge that a government would have to step in?  Similar arguments can be made for energy supplies (Remember the fuel crisis?) and our old friends (or at least David Cameron's old friends) the bankers.