As ever, politics abhors a vacuum!
With the Shadow Transport team adopting an almost Trappist-like silence on NR nationalisation, an erstwhile rail minister has stepped in to fill the policy void.
This EDM from Tom Harris MP:
That this House notes that the Office for National Statistics is to
reclassify Network Rail as a central government body from 1 September
2014, adding Network Rail's £30 billion debt to the national debt;
recognises that since Network Rail's creation, Ministers have respected
the company's status as a private company by not exercising executive
authority over Network Rail's management or operational activity;
further recognises that the reclassification of Network Rail as a
central government body offers the opportunity for a new relationship
between the company and ministers; and believes this new relationship
should begin with an instruction from the Secretary of State for
Transport to Network Rail's directors that any future proposal for
executive bonuses must be approved by Ministers.
And so it begins...
Friday, 17 January 2014
NR - the temptation to tinker is irresistable...
Friday, 15 November 2013
The last word on Pacers...
This from the Shadow Minister for Transport...
A bus pretending to be a train. & not one of @alextrentbarton's classy ones. But its warm ta @northernrailorg #pacer pic.twitter.com/r4Emt9FoIn
— Lilian Greenwood (@LilianGreenwood) November 15, 2013
Yep, seems about right.
Now all that's missing is an undertaking to replace them!
Thursday, 24 October 2013
Labour responds to changes at RDG
This from Lilian Greenwood MP, Labour’s Shadow Rail Minister...
“This announcement underlines the case for further reform. The Rail Delivery Group is not fully representative of the wider rail industry and it is lacking in transparency, despite its increasing influence over Government policy.
“Ministers must now ensure essential decisions that affect passengers are subject to proper levels of scrutiny, not hidden away behind a cloak of commercial confidentiality.”
Looks like the new RDG communications and policy teams will be busy...
Tuesday, 8 October 2013
Labour reshuffle - final scores on doors
This via Labour List...
Transport
Mary Creagh MP
Lilian Greenwood MP
Gordon Marsden MP
Richard Burden MP
Lord (Bryan) Davies
Lord (Richard) Rosser
Eye notes a blast from the recent TSSA past...
