PARLIAMENTARY COLUMN

Parliamentary column 9 www.rmt.org.uk :: june 2006 :: RMTnews One of the most intriguing things to come out of the Tory Party head office recently was their bout of self- loathing over their chaotic privatisation of the railways ten years ago. New Tory leader David Cameron now maintains that splitting operations from infrastructure was a disastrous mistake. While this admission is welcome, only the Conservatives could plan to further fragment our railways. One of the more positive steps this government has taken was to allow the re-integration of railway maintenance back “in house” under Network Rail which has reduced costs and improved punctuality. The Conservative proposals would once again break up our rail infrastructure and hand it over to private Train Operating Companies. As we saw in the past with Railtrack, these companies would seek to make even more money out of the infrastructure by cutting corners and sub-contracting, a situation that led to disasters like Hatfield. A better idea would be for Network Rail to take over the running of the train services as a first step towards a publicly-owned and accountable railway. With railways back in the public sector, independent reports have already estimated that such a move would save the taxpayer a least £500 million a year. The railways need to be publicly owned which is why RMT’s Parliamentary group is lobbying the London mayor to retain the East London Tube line in the public sector. As a Hackney MP, I welcome the fact that we will finally become part of the London Underground network. Not least because of the important role that the extension will play in creating a world class transport infrastructure in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games. However, if the extension is put into the private sector when it opens in 2010 this will mean that much of the public subsidy and fares will be used pay for shareholder profits which could otherwise be invested in further improvements to London’s railway system. I would also like to remind RMT seafaring members that the campaign to remove section 12 of the Race Relation Act, which allows ship owners to discriminate against foreign ratings, is not over. We are expecting a new government consultation on this issue and we will be returning to this pernicious ‘opt-out’ in order to get it abolished once and for all. Finally, I would like to congratulate RMT and other unions who are working to highlight the complete lack of argument for replacing Britain’s nuclear weapons system, Trident. Such expenditure would not only be immoral but a scandalous waste of money that could otherwise be invested in health, education, pensions, transport and manufacturing. I would remind the government that Britain is a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has made ‘an unequivocal undertaking’ to accomplish the total elimination of its nuclear arsenal. At the very least it is important that the government does not to reach a final decision on Trident before issuing a consultative Green Paper on all the options for replacement, including non-replacement and a policy of arms diversification, followed by a White Paper and a vote in Parliament. Let that debate begin. Diane Abbott Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington CAMPAIGNING FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT Findings by Passenger Focus confirm RMT’s view that fares are too expensive and act as a disincentive to rail travel. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that fare regulations introduced following privatisation are being eroded, allowing fares to rise above inflation. He called on the government to institute a review to reduce fare levels, simplify ticketing structures and encourage a shift from private car use to environmentally- sustainable rail use. “Season ticket prices can now increase by RPI plus one per cent and the restrictions on the use of saver tickets continues to grow, leaving rail users out of pocket and not out of their cars,” he said. A House of Commons Transport Select Committee report on fares released in May also concluded that the present fares system was driven by profit rather than the needs of passengers. *More information on Passenger Focus research website: www.passengerfocus.org.uk public at exorbitant rates. “The banks that own our trains have sweated assets paid for by taxpayers, made hundreds of millions of pounds at rates that would make the mafia blush and have helped push rail fares to ludicrous levels. “The notion that there is any sort of healthy competition or functioning market among the Roscos is absolute nonsense, as is the idea that they have been investing their own money in new rolling stock,” he said. Bob pointed out that if the hundreds of millions the Roscos have taken out of the industry had been invested in building new stock, the thousands of people who had lost their jobs at Eastleigh, Crewe, Washwood Heath, and Derby might still be building and maintaining trains. There are about 12,500 trains and carriages on lease, with roughly 60 per cent pre-dating the privatisation of British Rail. Last year’s Railways Act was supposed to hand back control of the rail industry to ministers, but the government effectively ducked the opportunity even to regulate the Roscos. HIGH FARES DETER RAIL USE