Only the best for NR's well padded directors!

Much excitement amongst the brothers.

The RMT has discovered that Network Rail is holding tomorrow's board meeting at the tres-piss-elegant Langham Hotel.

Obviously the "arrogant" infrastructure owner's brand new King's Place headquarters doesn't have a room large enough to squeeze in all those inflated egos and their wallets.

Meanwhile, back on planet earth, 1500 essential safety maintenance staff are facing redundancy as NR makes swinging cuts to maintenance budgets.

No matter.

NR's well padded board members have standards to maintain (if not infrastructure) as can be seen from the picture below, taken just before their last meeting.


However, mindful of the need to make economies, Eye wonders if NR's Chief Executive might like to pick up the tab for tomorrow's Langham jolly from his own £1,244,000 annual package?

UPDATE: This from Network Rail's Internet Rapid Rebuttal Unit...

This is not just a board meeting but a meeting for which over 100 of our members have been invited. And, no, our office at King's Place cannot accommodate a meeting of that size. Nobody from Network Rail is actually staying overnight at the hotel, we simply are using for a meeting.

We regularly have meetings with our members at locations all over the country and often use hotels. Mr Crow, before he allowed to let his membership lapse, used to be invited to these meetings.

Network Rail is not going to take any lessons from the RMT in hotel booking policy - recent RMT conferences have been held in Douglas, Isle of Man and Dublin.

Perhaps Mr Crow should stick to his comedy act. Viewers of HIGNFY will agree it needs some work.

The politics of thefactcompiler continue to puzzle this reader - one minute minor public school right-wing reactionary and the next a sort of anarcho-Poujadism!!!

UPDATE: This from 5741 Duck...

Is the Fact Compiler into some form of strange deviancy?

At best "swinging cuts" sound delightfully random and temporary.

We must be happy for the people affected that the cuts aren't also swingeing.

UPDATE: This just in from our man at 222 Marylebone Road...

Clearly new Chairman Rick Haythornthwaite is working on a shock and awe approach to his Public Members.

The Langham describes itself as "a veritable icon among London hotels, offering impeccably luxurious surroundings on Regent Street".

The ancien regime policy of schmoozing the public members to death amidst awe-inspiring luxury is now combined with the shock of a rolling information barrage include two meetings a year with Mr Angry.

UPDATE: This from a Mr Saltaire...

So Network Rail claims there was insufficient space at King's Place to host 100 Public Members and attendant NR schmoozers.

Could this be the same King's Place where Steer Davies Gleave recently held its High Speed Rail Summit, attended by over 200 enthusiastic railway industry people and one Secretary of State?


I think we should be told!

UPDATE: This, unbelievably, from former Prime Minister Tony Blair (allegedly Cherie, allegedly...)

Is that my old pardner President Bush sitting one away from the former head of the No 10 Policy Unit?

It was nice of Dubya to keep a seat for me. Shoulder to shoulder 'n' all that.

(Right. Stop this! It's now getting silly. Ed)