Does Conservative Hypocrisy Know No Bounds ?

[Canary42]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57217853

When we raise examples the Tory's blunders within the life of this Parliament, we get the response "That's in the past, time to move on"

Yet now the Tory Cabinet are taking the moral high ground on something which happened over twenty years ago.

But I suppose any smokescreen will do to hide the utter incompetence of this Government.

[theshedman]

Sunk it was the way it was run that was a shambles not the thing itself.

[teacake44]

Well bobb, its a bit like going fishing, cast the line out, then have a long nod, wake up an hour or two later, and reel in the takers, its fun. And its never a disappointing catch on AB, is it?

[Spungle]

If you arent happy with the way things are, Canary, you will get to vote for the losing party again in 3 or 4 years time. However incompetent you think the Government is, it's electoral record speaks for itself- Win, Win, Win, Win, Blair, Blair, Blair, Win, Coalition, Win, Win.

[Sunk]

theshedman
The Government ran British Rail and the Government will run the new nationalised Great British Rail. Governments should not trying to run a commercial service because they are not good at it.
In theory the present system is the best of both worlds. Network rail working not for profit responsible for the infrastructure and safety. And then professional rail operators providing a service and competing with other private operators.
It should be great, but it isn’t because of the involvement of the Government. Instead of franchises to run services being awarded to the one with the best business plan and the best record of service, they are awarded to the company who will give the Government the most money. The result is company after company making no money and having to give up the franchise.
After 10 years of this mismanagement, the Government’s solution is to give themselves even more power, and things will just get worse.

[Togo]

//We just need the right people running it.//

I take it that you mean that it mustn't be the unions?

Defund the Biased Broadcasting Cabal and finally release the findings of the Balen report that have remained buried.

https://www.defundbbc.uk/

[theshedman]

As such it wasn't the government that was running it. It was state controlled and it was the people they had in charge that was much of the problem. Many of the railways in Europe are run by the state but manage to make them run efficiently. There is no reason that it shouldn't be able to happen in this country. All it has been about since they were privitised is profit and they don't care how they get it. I don't think the train service has got any better since they were privitised so maybe it's time to try a change. The old booking system was easy compared to what we have these days.

[youngmafbog]

They are not really nationalising it are they, it will still be franchised out to run the trains - as it is now.

Canary, what can I say about your OP? Nothing really, sheer drivel mate.

[teacake44]

Is this the new track and trace, god help us, if its trace the crack we should see a few more train wrecks. :0)

[mushroom25]

// it will still be franchised out to run the trains - as it is now.//

not quite, no. the new government agency will specify the timetable and set the fares. the private operators will run the trains but under service contracts, not franchises. fares they collect will go to the government agency, and the operators will be paid a fixed fee to do all that. pretty much how TfL currently operates - bus operators are private companies but they run the buses when TfL tell them to, and collect fare revenue on behalf of TfL.

[jno]

yes, I see ministers promising to act to restore trust in the BBC. But shouldn't they first try restoring trust in ministers?

[Sunk]

theshedman

UK rail privatisation ended 18 years ago with the formation of Network Rail. It was a considerable improvement on RailTrack which had the misfortune to oversee many fatal accidents on the network it controlled.
The main problem with the current system is that the Government keep awarding franchises to unsuitable franchisees, who keep going bust. As a reward for screwing up for the last 10 years, the Government are taking even more power to meddle and interfere.

[theshedman]

Why is it then sunk that we can't do something like I said at 13.18. There must be people in this country who are capable of running it properly. Under the current franchise system there are so many different prices to negociate and so many trains that you can't get on because you may have the wrong type of ticket that it is like a minefield working your way around it.

[emmie]

the government proposals are to simplyfy the ticketing system and not before time.

[Sunk]

Theshedman
What you are describing is a subsidised model. The state invest in track and rolling stock because citizens being able to travel efficiently is seen as a benefit to the country.
The British don’t believe in that. For us it is primarily a profit making scheme. Every penny that can be squeezed out of it, is squeezed out of it. Private Rail Companies were encouraged to pay over the odds for lines which meant they couldn’t cover their costs.
I too would prefer the rail network you alluded to at 13:18, but we are never going to get that in this country. The Government don’t want rail to be a minus on the balance sheet of the country’s finances, they want it to be a big plus, and those profits come from us users’ pockets.