Tag Archives: railways

Mark Corner

The case for restoring your railways

By Mark Corner | Fri 6th September 2024 - 7:04 pm

On September 4th The Independent ran a story on the problems that have beset the HS2 railway project to connect ‘major cities’ in England. It reported that the figure for total cost of the project, was something like 67 billion pounds, one new station at Birmingham alone costing half a billion, an extraordinary figure even if one accepts that it is spread over 15 years.

But now let’s take another figure, another one of half a billion, the Restoring your Railways Fund which for the same amount as that new station at Birmingham would help to breathe new life into several new railway lines and dozens of new stations. The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has decided to scrap it. She won’t save 500 million – probably something more of the order of 100 million – but this money was designed to restore several small lines that were closed during the Beeching cuts sixty years ago. Compared to the cost of HS2, the savings are minimal, and it’s hard not to think that Reeves has just done it in order to demonstrate that she’s not going to repeat the over-spending of the previous government.

These railway lines were designed to connect not major cities but small towns across the country. Yet their importance should not be under-stated. I would recommend anyone who doesn’t feel that such lines can be important to look at the website of one that because it’s nearly finished has escaped the Reeves cuts, the Northumberland Line. Look at the stories of the construction work, the extra roads, bridges and pathways built, the meetings with local communities, schools and civic associations, the enthusiasm of local businesses for the opportunities provided and the sheer excitement at what is effectively only restoring a line still used for freight to passenger use, and you get a sense of how far communities have been invigorated by a sum of money which in the case of HS2 would do no more than pay to modify the platforms to fit the height of the new trains.

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Posted in Op-eds | 35 Comments
Mark Valladares

11 May 2023 – yesterday’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 12th May 2023 - 12:05 pm
  • TransPennine: Another broken Conservative promise
  • EU law bill: Conservative Party “devouring itself” while families struggle
  • Bank of England: If Hunt doesn’t meet inflation target then he must go

TransPennine: Another broken Conservative promise

Responding to the news that TransPennine Express will be brought under Government control, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Transport in the Lords, Baroness Randerson said:

The Government have been forced to take over another rail company. Passengers are angry that services are being cancelled and the Conservative’s failure to stop industrial action is making things worse.

Years ago the Conservatives promised to fix railway services, promising that the new “Great British Railways” would

…

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Posted in News and Press releases | Also tagged , , and | 12 Comments
Mark Valladares

23 November 2022 – today’s press releases (part 2)

By Mark Valladares | Wed 23rd November 2022 - 11:15 pm
  • Senedd Member Calls for Action on the Cambrian Line
  • Raab bullying inquiry: Sunak must sack him if allegations upheld
  • Debate on Nurses Pay – Liberal Democrats Back Calls for Higher Nurses Pay Offer
  • Conservative MPs break manifesto pledge by voting against business rates review

Senedd Member Calls for Action on the Cambrian Line

Concerns have been raised today in the Senedd over the rail service on the Cambrian Line which runs through Mid Wales.

Speaking in the Senedd, Welsh Liberal Democrat Member for Mid & West Wales Jane Dodds raised delays in the much anticipated hourly service between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury, stating that the delays were just another sign of Mid Wales being forgotten about by the Labour-Plaid Cymru partnership in Cardiff Bay.

An hourly service between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury was announced in 2014, but has faced repeated delays since, with the latest delaying the introduction from 2022 to 2024.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have stated that an hourly service stopping at all stations along the Cambrian Line is essential to encourage more passengers to use the railway instead of cars and for businesses given it will also play an important role in making connections from Shrewsbury easier.

The Party has called on the Welsh Government to prioritise the introduction of the service and tackle delays head-on.

Commenting Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS said:

We really need the Labour-Plaid Cymru partnership in Cardiff Bay to prioritise this route, it is essential for businesses and the public in Mid Wales.

The fact it has been continuously delayed for almost a decade shows that once again Mid Wales is being forgotten about by Labour.

With Transport for Wales now fully nationalized and owned by the Welsh Government, there is no excuse.

If Labour wants to put a ban on all new roadbuilding the least they can do is ensure we have well-functioning public transport networks.

I am calling for the Welsh Government to prioritise the rollout of this service and put an end to repeated delays once and for all.

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Posted in News and Press releases | Also tagged , , , , , and | 1 Comment
NewsHound

Farron: Avanti Oxenholme lock-in an “unacceptable farce”

By NewsHound | Thu 18th August 2022 - 10:48 am

On Tuesday night, around 30 passengers alighted from the Avanti West Coast service from London Euston to Glasgow at Oxenholme. Alas, the station was closed. One of the passengers described the situation . They could scale the 8ft high gate, walk across the live tracks or “pick somewhere to try and sleep on a pavement until the morning”. Some reports suggest some passengers “took to climbing the 7-foot spiked gates and fences surrounding the station in order to get out.”

https://twitter.com/helenpidd/status/1559951453610991618

The hour was late but one passenger has the wits to ring Tim Farron, who got onto Avanti. “It was only when someone contacted Mr Farron that any help came, with a Network Rail worker opening the gate 45 minutes after the passengers arrived.”

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Mary Reid

Great British Railways?

By Mary Reid | Thu 20th May 2021 - 8:05 am

Embed from Getty Images

Late last night the news broke about the wide-reaching Government reform of the railways. In a couple of years time we will see the establishment of Great British Railways – which sounds more like a reality show, or a travelogue that features Michael Portillo’s yellow trousers.

According to the BBC, Great British Railways “will set timetables and prices, sell tickets in England and manage rail infrastructure”, that is, have control over both the physical network as well as the train operators.

I think we can all agree that the privatisation of the railways has not been a success. Quality has been inconsistent across the franchised rail networks, the fare structure has been a mystery to most travellers and there seems to be little central accountability for failures.

Are we really to believe that a right-leaning Conservative Government is planning to re-nationalise the railways? Undoubtedly the devil will be in the detail, so if you have had a chance to dissect the White Paper, known as by the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, do please offer your comments or write us a post.

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 40 Comments
Mark Valladares

Liberal Democrats call for a rail fare freeze

By Mark Valladares | Sat 22nd August 2020 - 12:15 pm

Liberal Democrats call for a rail fare freeze

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a freeze on rail fares following the announcement that the Retail Price Index rose by 1.6% in July, which will be used to calculate the increase in fares at the end of the year.

The Liberal Democrats suggest that any increase in fares would be “a slap in the face” for consumers. Given the significant drop in passenger numbers due to COVID-19, the Party is calling for fare freezes to help restore confidence in the railways.

The Party want to see additional funding to increase capacity and build a …

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Posted in News and Press releases | Also tagged and | 3 Comments
Ruth Bright

Statues that work

By Ruth Bright | Tue 16th June 2020 - 3:00 pm

No-one could call Eastleigh Town Centre a pretty place.

But something that Eastleigh gets exactly right is its statues. There is the generic son of industrial toil: the Railwayman, tribute to the town’s railway heritage. Then there is Charlotte Yonge, a Victorian novelist who named the town. Charlotte is very unusual in England – a female statue who isn’t Queen Victoria, a minor nineteenth century royal or a mythical angel type figure on a war memorial (though Eastleigh has one of those too).

Here they both are (above), Charlotte and the Railwayman, …

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Posted in Photo feature | Also tagged and | 6 Comments
Mark Valladares

Mayor Dave slates East Midlands Trains

By Mark Valladares | Mon 28th May 2018 - 5:05 pm

Dave Hodgson, Mayor of Bedford since 2009, has this week condemned the new timetable changes on East Midlands Trains;

“‘It sucks’. That was the verdict of a commuter I spoke to at 7:30 this morning getting off a delayed rail replacement bus, on the first day of the loss of peak-time intercity trains from Bedford. These buses are a testament to the Government’s utter betrayal of Bedford over the new rail timetables.

While the Government boasts of ‘modernisation’, commuters I spoke to this morning are dreading theprospect of at least two and a

…

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Caron Lindsay

WATCH: Vince Cable on LBC talking homelessness, brexit, being a puritan on drugs, knife crime and Nick’s knighthood

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 3rd January 2018 - 1:32 pm

In case you missed it yesterday, here is Vince Cable’s start of year phone in with Nick Ferrari

He got the chance to talk about the scandal of so many young people sleeping rough while there were so many empty properties. He highlighted the role of Universal Credit in causing homelessness among young people. He also talked about the need to build more houses.

Nick Ferrari actually raised the issue of homelessness among veterans which led to a discussion of how veterans with mental ill health don’t get the support and treatment they need.

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Mary Reid

Weekend engineering works?

By Mary Reid | Mon 31st October 2016 - 10:58 am

 

“Weekend engineering works” – a phrase that makes the blood run cold just when you thought you had that visit to relatives, trip to the seaside or weekend meeting sorted.

This year we will have the triple whammy of weekend engineering works plus Christmas and New Year engineering works. Indeed, it is difficult to find any rail companies that are not announcing some scheduled improvements over the long weekend and through to the New Year.

The people most inconvenienced by these interruptions to service are those without cars, especially those in poverty and the elderly, who perhaps are most in need of a bit of cheer from friends and relations over the Festive Season.

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 22 Comments
Newsmoggie

Plaque to commemorate cycling councillor at new railway station

By Newsmoggie | Thu 27th October 2016 - 11:53 am

Here’s a lovely story from the Bromsgrove Advertiser:

A renowned campaigner for cyclists who died in 2007 will live on in a commemorative plaque to be unveiled at Bromsgrove railway station, marking a new facility that would have been close to his heart.

Gordon Selway, described as a “larger-than-life” character and who was also a Bromsgrove district councillor, was transport spokesman for the Worcestershire branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and volunteered for many charities.

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Renationalising the railways is trendy but not smart

By Eddie from Edinburgh | Fri 26th August 2016 - 9:46 am

Virgin trainWho should own the railways? Both contenders for the Labour leadership, Owen Smith and Jeremy Corbyn, believe it should be the public sector. They point to rising ticket prices., widespread industrial action and a lack of seating (or so Corbyn claims.) as evidence that privatisation has failed. The public seem to agree, with 62% now in favour of renationalisation. But is it worth it?

It certainly wouldn’t be progressive. Households in the highest real income bracket make up 43% of yearly rail journeys, with those in the lowest income bracket making up only 10% of journeys. Nationalisation would mean that low-earners who very rarely use the train would be funding through their taxes reduced ticket prices and the maintenance of rail travel for the highest earners in the country. Such large amounts of public sector finances would be far better spent on services which low earners need most.

Nor would nationalisation eradicate large scale industrial disputes. Look no further than across the Channel: in the run up to Euro 2016 the French railways endured huge strikes. Even under a Socialist government the railways were not immune from clashes with the unions.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 91 Comments

Points and crossings

By George Stephenson Junior | Mon 2nd November 2015 - 11:14 am

 

Pretty much everyone seems to have an opinion about the railways, even those who don’t travel by train.  I’ve worked in the railway for quite a long time now, spanning the nationalised British Rail and the current privatised structure.  The current structure often frustrates me, but there have been some good things in recent years as well.  The growth in passenger numbers over the last 15 years couldn’t have been dreamed of when I started work, for example.

However, what frustrates me most is that no-one, as far as I know, has ever evaluated whether the benefits of the current structure are outweighed by the disadvantages (I realise that this is a more general fault in public policy making).

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 28 Comments
Jenny Randerson

The future of the railways – a Liberal view

By Jenny Randerson | Mon 28th September 2015 - 9:50 am

Jeremy Corbyn’s proposal for a People’s Railway has sparked interest and support, tinged with more than a little nostalgia for a past that really didn’t exist. Those who hanker after British Rail were clearly not there. It was the butt of national jokes about punctuality, cancellations, strikes and stale sandwiches. It was also serving a transport market very different from today. Rail journeys in Britain have doubled since 1997 and are set to continue rising rapidly. Freight traffic increases every year too. Our rail lines are the busiest and most intensively used in Europe if not the world. Britain has the only growing rail market in Europe. So when people adversely compare our structure with that in France or Germany it is worth remembering that they are declining businesses while every aspect of Brtish railways is growing fast and needs to do so, because of our growing population and if we are to have a successful economy.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 48 Comments
Charles Lawley

The People’s Railway is a train crash – the people need more liberal rail routes

By Charles Lawley | Thu 24th September 2015 - 11:34 am

I need to be in Cardiff Bay next Thursday morning by 10:00. I don’t drive and I live in West London. You guessed it, I have to get the train. So I look on the National Rail website for train times and prices. The only route for me to go is from Paddington to Cardiff Central, then change at Cardiff Central. Only First Great Western operate the Paddington to Cardiff Central route, so I am at the mercy of their prices and service (I’m not picking on First Great Western, I’m from the North West originally and often get Virgin trains and they are just as bad). If I want to go Thursday I can either pay £26 for a train from Paddington at 05:19 (before the first Tube and I don’t drive remember) or any train later than that, but will still get me into Cardiff before 10:00, will cost £106. And that’s not to mention that I have to pay a minimum extra of £46 for a return if I fancy going home at some point, as well.

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Posted in Op-eds | 60 Comments
Paul Walter

Liberal Democrat policy on railways

By Paul Walter | Thu 24th September 2015 - 10:45 am

Liberals must be on the side of business – ambitious for business – tearing down the barriers that stop businesses from fulfilling their ambitions. It is unambitious for the government to power down the Northern Powerhouse by stalling promises to electrify the Transpennines route. Instead, we say – invest in the best rail links in Europe.

Tim Farron, 23rd September 2015

This is the first of a couplet of articles on the subject of the railways this morning.

In August, on a comments thread, I outlined the Liberal Democrat railways policy, in response to a commenter.

I notice that commenters are still asking what our policy is on the railways, so I thought I’d set it out in a post.

First of all, here is a statement from the BBC news magazine from March 2015:

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | 25 Comments
Nick Perry

Opinion: A south coast main line railway

By Nick Perry | Wed 14th January 2015 - 1:35 pm

The deadline for policy motions to the party’s Spring Conference in Liverpool has now passed.

As always, it will be up to the Federal Conference Committee (newly elected at the end of last year), to select the motions to be debated on the Conference floor, and no doubt the imperative of the General Election will focus minds as to which motions to pick; and there may even be a little direction from HQ as to which motions best suit the messaging!

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 20 Comments
The Voice

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: And now for something else… Childcare, Lobbying and HS2

By The Voice | Sun 8th September 2013 - 3:45 pm

Last week, Syria dominated. This week Nick Clegg uses his Leader’s letter to promote a just-announced initiative – 15 hours’ free nursery care to children from the poorest families – and defend another two currently under attack: the Transparency and Lobbying bill and HS2. On lobbying, he dismisses as ‘nonsense’ the idea the Government was ever wanting to gag charities and says the Coalition will accept amendments that make this crystal clear. While on HS2 he argues it is vital to increase capacity, and adds it’s just one of many improvements planned to the railways.

libdem letter from nick clegg

A few weeks ago I asked you to let me know what you wanted me to cover in this letter and one message came back more clearly than any other: anything and everything! The winning choice, by far, was “something else” – with suggestions from bees to tax avoidance.

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Stephen Tall

Full steam ahead for high speed rail, say 55% of Lib Dem members

By Stephen Tall | Sat 10th August 2013 - 10:55 am

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum  to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. More than 600 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Lib Dem members back HS2 by 55% to 31%

There are plans to build a new high speed rail link (called HS2) between London and Birmingham, and then on to Manchester and Leeds. This is currently expected to cost around £42 billion. Do you support or oppose these plans?

    55% – Support

    31% – Oppose

    13% – Don’t know

…

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged , , and | 53 Comments
Mark Valladares

This week in Europe – 28-31 January(ish)

By Mark Valladares | Fri 1st February 2013 - 4:22 pm

Attempt to introduce the British model to European railways fails

Virgin trainGermany has succeeded in changing the content of a European Commission proposal on the liberalisation of railways before the proposal was even published. The intention, to introduce greater competition in rail passenger services by separating infrastructure owners from passenger service operators failed after stiff resistance from Deutsche Bahn and SNCF.

Ironically, SNCF is run as a separate entity already but it is intended to merge the two companies once more. Instead, vertically integrated rail companies will have to erect firewalls between their …

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Also tagged and | 7 Comments
Stephen Tall

I apologise for my lack of enthusiasm for HS2. It’s been unavoidably delayed owing to the lack of evidence

By Stephen Tall | Tue 29th January 2013 - 9:45 am

HS2‘All aboard!’ exhorts the email I received last night from Lib Dem transport minister Norman Baker, hailing his announcement of the Coalition’s plans for Phase Two of Britain’s High Speed Rail Network (aka HS2). I’m afraid, though, I’m going to have to apologise to Norman for the delay in arrival of my goodwill owing to what I suspect is the wrong type of investment on the lines.

HS2, we are told, will cut journey times, help the environment, heal the North-South divide and boost growth. Each of these arguments is less …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , , and | 45 Comments
Richard Shaw

Opinion: Renationalising the railways is not the solution – devolution is

By Richard Shaw | Thu 22nd November 2012 - 11:23 am

David Thorpe recently wrote a Liberal Democrat Voice piece advocating the (piecemeal) renationalisation of the railways and the latest LDV survey found more than 40% of members want the railways fully nationalised. I wish to provide some historical context and offer an alternative solution.

Nationalisation in1948 was the culmination of a process started by the First World War. During the war, the railways were taken over by the government, run-down and eventually consolidated

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Posted in Op-eds | 20 Comments
Stephen Tall

4-in-10 Lib Dem members want to see the railways fully nationalised

By Stephen Tall | Tue 20th November 2012 - 7:45 am

Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum recently to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 550 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Just 1-in-20 Lib Dems opt for full privatisation

LDV asked: In general, would you like to see more or less government involvement in running the country’s railways?

    41% – I would like to see the railways fully nationalised

    34% – I would like to see more government regulation than there is currently, but

…

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged and | 22 Comments
David Thorpe

Opinion: Now is the time to re-nationalise the railways

By David Thorpe | Tue 13th November 2012 - 4:10 pm

Virgin trainAs the 2015 General Election approaches, the principle challenge for Liberal Democrat policy makers will be to come up with distinctive policies which don’t trade in our party’s radicalism while allowing us to trade on our experience as a serious party of government.

One policy which we can be confident won’t be pursued by either of the other two parties is that of re-nationalising the railways.

Readers familiar with my previous posts on this site would be surprised to see me advocating nationalisation as a policy.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 34 Comments
Jon Hunt

Opinion: How contracting fiascos, such as West Coast, threaten localisation dreams

By Jon Hunt | Mon 8th October 2012 - 9:54 am

The fiasco over the West Coast Mainline contract has exposed a long-running sore at the heart of government: the problem of public/private contracting.

Rail and Information Technology are merely prime examples of the troubled and costly contractual relationships that often exist between the public and private sector.

The Liberal Democrats have a policy review of public services under way – but will it tackle the real issues? For if contracting at

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 19 Comments
Mark Pack

News snippets from the Conservative conference: tax, Europe, migration and more

By Mark Pack | Sun 7th October 2012 - 10:28 am

Conservative Party logoTrouble ahead on tax as Osborne opposes a mansion tax:

We are not going to have a mansion tax, or a new tax that is a percentage value of people’s properties.

Before you rush to spot the loophole in that – what about adding extra higher bands to Council Tax? – he opposed that too. Given Osborne made much of his reputation as was by opposing changes to inheritance tax, perhaps it is on capital gains tax that there will be room fro an agreement with the …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , , and | 13 Comments
Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert MP writes… Britain deserves an affordable railway

By Julian Huppert | Thu 23rd August 2012 - 11:20 am

Our rail fares are among the most expensive in Europe, and they keep going up. Between 1997 and 2010 rail fares went up by an astonishing 66% – well above inflation.

If next year’s planned rail fare rises go ahead, some passengers will hand over up to 15% of their wages for the pleasure of travelling to work.

Since the Labour party introduced above inflation fare rises in 2003, these increases have become a yearly occurrence. Indeed, Labour Party policy is still to have above-inflation rail fare increases every year.

We say that rail fares are already too high. We would cap rail …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 14 Comments
Prateek Buch

Opinion: Are we being taken for a First(Group)-class ride?

By Prateek Buch | Thu 16th August 2012 - 10:55 am

As someone who has used the west coast mainline regularly for the past fifteen years (and would have done so more if the cheaper fares were more readily available), I can testify to a significant improvement in reliability and levels of service in recent years. Much of this was of course down to the £9bn and more of public investment in upgrading the line, and much was down to Virgin themselves – I carry no torch for Sir Richard but there’s little denying that Virgin trains, expensive though they undoubtedly can be, ran what became a reliable, punctual, comfortable service.

But …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 19 Comments
NewsHound

Major railway modernisation announced

By NewsHound | Mon 16th July 2012 - 2:15 pm

From the BBC:

A £9.4bn package of investment in the railways in England and Wales, including £4.2bn of new schemes, has been unveiled by the government.

The plans include electrification of the Midland Main Line between Bedford and Sheffield.

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 17 Comments
Paul Walter

PMQs: Opposition leader asks: “Can I agree with the Prime Minister”?

By Paul Walter | Thu 12th January 2012 - 9:25 am

2012’s first Prime Minister’s Questions started with a bit of a score draw about rail fares. It got rather heated as Ed Miliband said the government had allowed fares to go up by 11%. He said:

The last Labour government saw that the train companies were taking advantage of consumers…we took away that power from them

David Cameron retorted that:

The power (to increase fares well above inflation) was given to them to do that by the last Labour government.

Channel 4 News FactCheck, as usual,has an excellent analysis of this spat, concluding that they couldn’t give either men a “Fact” or “Fiction” …

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Posted in PMQs | Also tagged , , , and | 1 Comment
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