SO Harriett Baldwin called the Green Party proposal to renationalise the railways "a wacky far-left socialist idea".
Oh, dear, it must be an election year when such language is used, and, God help us, we have 114 days of this before polling day.
I will try to deal with the facts:
1. It will not cost billions of borrowed pounds to bring about. If our MP had studied the facts she would know that the plan is simply not to invite tenders for the various franchises when they come up for renewal. Cost to the taxpayer nil.
2. Since the East Coast line was returned to government control it has made a revenue contribution of £200m to the public purse and its approval ratings have risen sharply among its users.
3. A recent opinion poll showed that 54 per cent of the population were in favour of public ownership of the railways.
Clive Smith
Link ward
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