Railway bosses give themselves average salaries of £1million as passengers face fare hikes

The Daily Mail reports:


Bosses of the five main companies that run the nation’s railways have paid themselves average salaries of £1million. 


Critics say the rises are ‘scandalous’ at a time when passengers face inflation-busting fare hikes.
Millions had to cope with fare rises of up to 11 per cent this year and more increases are in the pipeline for next year. 


The pay rises, before bonuses, pension contributions and share-options, come as taxpayer subsidies to rail top £4billion a year. 


You can read the whole article here.

Water, water everywhere, but its too expensive to drink

This column by CPO co-founder Neil Clark ,on England's great water privatisation rip-off, appears in the Morning Star.

The Crazy Gang. The Keystone Kops. The Marx Brothers. Just three of the all-time great comedy troupes. To which we need to add another name - the Institution of Civil Engineers. 


Last week this bunch of comedians issued a report which claimed that water in Britain is too cheap and recommended the introduction of compulsory metering. 


It would be a hilarious, side-splitting joke if only the subject under discussion wasn't quite so serious. 


In England water prices have risen by an average of 5.7 per cent since April, nearly double the rate of inflation. 


More and more people are finding it harder to pay their water bills. Research by the Consumer Council for Water has found that one in seven of all customers feel their charges are now unaffordable. 


Far from being too cheap, water in England is actually too expensive - and the reason is a simple one. It's called privatisation. 


You can read the whole of the article here.

Neil Clark: Why it's time to renationalise England's water

You can listen to an interview with Neil Clark, co-founder of The Campaign for Public Ownership, on BBC Radio Newcastle, here. The discussion starts at around 10 minutes into the programme.