MPS BACK PUBLIC OWNERSHIP

Parliamentary column MPS BACK PUBLIC OWNERSHIP RMT helpline 0800 3763706 :: july/august 2009 :: RMTnews 9 Since the government’s announcement that National Express would lose its East Coast franchise a growing number of Labour MPs have used parliamentary debates, motions and questions to call for the line to be kept in public ownership and for the company to be stripped of its other franchises. In response to the ministerial statement Chair of the Transport Select Committee Louis Ellman said: “Can we have a public sector operator to act as a comparator with the private sector franchise operators?” While Edinburgh North and Leith MP Mark Lazarowicz argued: “the decision to re-let the franchise will inevitably lead to a lot of uncertainty for the passengers and staff of National Express. “Would it not be much better if we decided either to keep the franchise in public ownership or to have it operated by a not-for-profit mutual, so that the customers’ interest came first, not the interest of shareholders?,” he asked. Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn agreed, saying, the whole episode proves “that only the public sector can be relied on to maintain and run the railway system”. “Can he therefore give us the good news that the line will not be handed back to the private sector but will remain a publicly owned, publicly run and publicly accountable railway, so that we will not have such debacles in future?,” he asked. Blaydon MP David Anderson praised the workforce. “The only people to come out of this with any real respect are the staff, who have tried to hold the service together. “Will he ensure that when he talks to people, he asks the staff and their unions what they want to see? They will say that they want public railways in this country, and they will be right,” he said. In a subsequent special parliamentary debate York MP Hugh Bayley said: “This is the second time within three years that the franchise has gone belly up. “It is not a quirk or a technical problem; I believe that it is a signal that the franchising model is not robust enough and not fit for purpose for a railway of such great strategic and economic importance,” he said. John Grogan the MP for Selby agreed. “I would be absolutely confident, as a Labour MP in Yorkshire, that that would be a popular policy. “We could go into the election saying that we would keep the line in public sector hands, and presumably the Conservatives would oppose that,” he said. RMT Parliamentary Group convenor John McDonnell MP said: “National Express has taken the Government for a ride. “It has made £500 million profit out of a public subsidy of £2.5 billion. It has increased the fares this year as follows: regulated at 6 per cent. and unregulated at 7.4 per cent. On the east coast and the East Anglia lines, it has laid off 750 workers. Cannot we get the message that we are being ripped off?,” he asked. Labour Transport Select Committee members Graham Stringer and Angela Smith have tabled a parliamentary motion supporting public ownership while Labour MP for Morley and Rothwell Colin Challen said: “If it can be shown that public ownership, of one form or another could offer better value for money for passengers and taxpayers then there is no reason why this option need be excluded”. RESIGNED: Richard Bowker, the chief executive of transport group National Express, whose resignation sparked government moves to renationalise the East Coast Main Line. Bowker invented the dysfunctional rail franchise system when he was at the Strategic Rail Authority where he maintained a self-styled FIFO management line – Fall In Or F**k Off. This is similar to the approach of the unelected government of the United Arab Emirates, where he has debunked to run their railways, so he should feel at home. number of parliamentary debates (see right) and a delegation from the RMT Parliamentary Group will shortly be meeting the Secretary of State for Transport. The union is in discussion with a contact group of Labour MPs and other unions to build broad support for public ownership. The RMT group will also holding a special seminar on the future of rail franchising in the Autumn, watch this space.