Your current location:HOME >sport >DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Nationalisation is no answer to rail chaos 正文
TIME:2024-05-08 01:00:13 Source: Internet compilationEdit:sport
With train reliability at a dire low, passengers forced to pay extortionate fares and often overcrow
With train reliability at a dire low, passengers forced to pay extortionate fares and often overcrowded carriages, few could deny that the railways are broken.
Some blame privatisation three decades ago. While this led to a remarkable increase in passenger numbers, the franchising model let profiteering rail bosses get away with running shoddy services.
Labour says the way to improve the network is to renationalise it. If the party wins power, nearly all train operating firms will be brought back into state ownership.
But although this Corbyn-era policy may delight activists, is it really the panacea the Left would have us believe?
Not judging by how Labour transport spokesman Louise Haigh struggled to explain exactly how it would be funded.
Labour says the way to improve the network is to renationalise it. If the party wins power, nearly all train operating firms will be brought back into state ownership (stock image)
Labour leader Keir Starmer with Labour's shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh. Will Labour be prepared to keep shovelling money into the railways at the current rate – at least £12billion a year? Leasing rolling stock would cost another £2billion a year
Will Labour be prepared to keep shovelling money into the railways at the current rate – at least £12billion a year? Leasing rolling stock would cost another £2billion a year.
In the fight for government cash, railways will always lose to the NHS and schools.
Ms Haigh claims savings can be made by modernising working practices and closing ticket offices. But Labour's union paymasters oppose such changes. Having punished the public with strikes for two years already, the militants won't hesitate to push a Starmer government around.
Anyone who remembers British Rail knows what a terrible idea renationalisation would be. Filthy, investment-starved, and even more unreliable and strike-bound than today, the passenger always came last.
As serious as the problems of our railways are, they certainly won't be solved by a return to the dead hand of state control.
The disintegration of the SNP's power-sharing agreement with the Greens must rank as the most humiliating U-turn in Scottish political history.
Only three days after praising the deal, Humza Yousaf pulled the plug on it – before his coalition partners got in first.
The Greens were appalled after the beleaguered First Minister ditched climate targets this week. They were also angry at the SNP being outwitted by Rishi Sunak on dangerous gender self-ID reforms.
Mr Yousaf now faces a no-confidence vote. On his party's watch, Scotland has got worse – on the economy, schools and the NHS.
Mr Yousaf now faces a no-confidence vote. On his party's watch, Scotland has got worse – on the economy, schools and the NHS. This melodrama is bad for Britain. With voters increasingly rejecting the SNP, Labour is more likely to win the general election
Scottish Green Party co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater. The disintegration of the SNP's power-sharing agreement with the Greens must rank as the most humiliating U-turn in Scottish political history
On one hand, this melodrama is bad for Britain. With voters increasingly rejecting the SNP, Labour is more likely to win the general election.
But every cloud has a silver lining. It means the appalling prospect of the Union being torn apart is further away than ever.
Shoplifting was once regarded as a serious crime. Not any longer.
Reforms introduced by politicians have all but decriminalised store thefts worth less than £200. As a result, the police rarely bother to investigate them.
So is it any wonder that shoplifting has reached epidemic proportions, with more than 1,000 incidents reported every day?
Meanwhile, violence against shopworkers has doubled – a statistic that should lay firmly to rest the insidious myth that shoplifting is a victimless crime.
Home Secretary James Cleverly insists the Government and police are taking this problem seriously. In that case, they should reinforce their words with tougher actions.
The crooks who brazenly sweep goods off the shelves must believe their crimes will be punished. Only then will this plague end.
No positive progress in Gaza truce talks: Hamas source2024-05-08 00:59
Flames beat NHL2024-05-08 00:47
A Nigerian chess champion is trying to break the world record for the longest chess marathon2024-05-08 00:17
UK's Princess of Wales says she is under cancer treatment2024-05-07 23:49
The UN says there's 'full2024-05-07 23:25
Chasing 5th straight win, Nelly Korda is 2 shots back at Chevron Championship after a first2024-05-07 23:04
ALISON BOSHOFF: Robert Downey Jr's got his Oscar2024-05-07 22:56
Tragic French toddler Emile Soleil may have been eaten by WOLVES: Shock claim after two2024-05-07 22:53
From Marseille to Mont2024-05-07 22:36
Longest ever case of Covid lasted 613 DAYS and turned into ultra2024-05-07 22:30
No, France did not deploy troops to fight with Ukraine against Russia2024-05-08 00:58
South Korea slows plan to hike medical school admissions as doctors' strike drags on2024-05-08 00:10
UK's Princess of Wales says she is under cancer treatment2024-05-08 00:04
Iran hints it will build a NUKE if Netanyahu carries out a strike on its atomic sites2024-05-07 23:59
Husband of Florida woman missing in Spain is charged with her disappearance2024-05-07 23:12
Tommy Fury heads out in his £180,000 Mercedes G Wagon for a haircut after his fiancé Molly2024-05-07 23:06
More human remains believed those of missing woman wash up on beach2024-05-07 23:04
High mercury levels in some Lake Maurepas fish bring meal restrictions, state officials say2024-05-07 22:45
Emerging trends for upcoming May Day holiday2024-05-07 22:24
Travis Kelce's favorite songs on Taylor Swift's new album REVEALED2024-05-07 22:21