Rail must go public
Northern Rail stands as a testament for all that is wrong with privatisation.
Passengers were let down by a private company that overcharged and under-delivered.
The new timetable was a disaster, delays a daily occurrence, overcrowding routine and cancellations commonplace. The Tories have finally realised this could not continue and have taken the service back into public ownership.
Northern Rail’s customers will only really notice a difference if the Government starts to invest in new track, electrification and signalling.
The demise of Northern Rail should sound the death knell for rail privatisation. The policy, rammed through by John Major, is a total failure.
It is not just in the North that passengers have been fleeced by train operating companies, as bosses have grown fat from public subsidies while providing an appalling service for ever-higher ticket prices.
The only thing preventing the Tories from ending this fiasco is their ideological blindness.
It is time for the blinkers to come off.
If it makes sense to take Northern Rail into public ownership then it makes sense that the rest of the railways should be nationalised.
The loyal mint
Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls in Wigan has made a special edition to honour a former employee who served in the Second World War.
We can’t think of a sweeter tribute.
It’s not justice
The Grenfell Inquiry has already heard that firms which made and installed the cladding knew it was a potential fire risk.
Now these companies are demanding immunity from prosecution before staff give evidence.
This is deeply insulting to the survivors and the families of the victims, who deserve the truth.
Anyone who withholds evidence adds further stress and anguish to people who have already suffered unimaginable trauma and grief.
If justice is be done then all witnesses who are summoned must take the stand and be held accountable for their actions.
Anyone who fails to do so undermines the inquiry, shows contempt for the victims and prevents lessons from being learned.
