This article, by CPO co-founder Neil Clark, appears in the First Post.
Back in the 1990s, supporters of privatisation claimed it would lead to a reduction in the amount of government subsidy to the railways - in fact it has led to the very opposite, with private companies sucking in around five times more in public funds than the state-owned British Rail did. Effectively, taxpayers' money is going to help to boost the privately-owned rail companies' profits - no wonder Richard Branson is regularly pictured with a huge grin on his face.
If Ed Miliband were to move decisively to end this 21st century legalised version of the Great Train Robbery, he would reap a sizeable electoral dividend.
You can read the whole article here.
UPDATE: You can sign a petition to the government, calling for the renationalisation of the railways here. Please try and spare a minute or so to sign, and also tell your friends about the petition too.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Age of the £10,000 train season ticket: 'Scandalous' 30% fare increase will hit millions
Isn't rail privatisation wonderful?
The Daily Mail reports:
Rail fare rises of up to 30 per cent over the next four years were denounced today as a ‘national scandal’ that will price millions of people off trains.
The increases will herald the era of the £10,000 annual season ticket.
Passengers enduring overcrowded and late-running trains will face average rises of 8 per cent next January.
You can read the full story here.
The Daily Mail reports:
Rail fare rises of up to 30 per cent over the next four years were denounced today as a ‘national scandal’ that will price millions of people off trains.
The increases will herald the era of the £10,000 annual season ticket.
Passengers enduring overcrowded and late-running trains will face average rises of 8 per cent next January.
You can read the full story here.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
British Gas shareholders receive bonus while customers suffer
The Daily Telegraph reports:
Centrica, which owns Britain’s biggest gas and electricity company, announced profits of £1.3 billion for the past six months, including £270 million for British Gas.
The company is going ahead with a 12 per cent rise in payouts to shareholders, despite the price rise for its energy customers.
Centrica said that the rise, which comes into force in the middle of next month, was vital for the company to make a profit in the second half of the year.
Nine million residential customers are preparing for an 18 per cent rise in gas prices and a 16 per cent rise in electricity prices.
The rise will add about £190 to the cost of customers’ average annual bills, which will now be £1,286.
More on this story here.
Centrica, which owns Britain’s biggest gas and electricity company, announced profits of £1.3 billion for the past six months, including £270 million for British Gas.
The company is going ahead with a 12 per cent rise in payouts to shareholders, despite the price rise for its energy customers.
Centrica said that the rise, which comes into force in the middle of next month, was vital for the company to make a profit in the second half of the year.
Nine million residential customers are preparing for an 18 per cent rise in gas prices and a 16 per cent rise in electricity prices.
The rise will add about £190 to the cost of customers’ average annual bills, which will now be £1,286.
More on this story here.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Neil Clark: The Coalition's Public services proposals will not mean more choice
This article, by CPO co-founder Neil Clark, appears on the Guardian's Comment is Free website.
Neil Clark: David Cameron wants us to believe that rolling back state provision will benefit the public. The opposite is true.
Thirty-two years after Margaret Thatcher swept into Downing Street promising to roll back the frontiers of the state, the neoliberal drive towards a fully privatised Britain is entering its final stages. The government's new Open Public Services white paper, revealed by David Cameron last week, may have passed under the radar somewhat due to the scandals engulfing the Murdoch media empire, but it's an important document nonetheless.
You can read the whole of the article here.
Neil Clark: David Cameron wants us to believe that rolling back state provision will benefit the public. The opposite is true.
Thirty-two years after Margaret Thatcher swept into Downing Street promising to roll back the frontiers of the state, the neoliberal drive towards a fully privatised Britain is entering its final stages. The government's new Open Public Services white paper, revealed by David Cameron last week, may have passed under the radar somewhat due to the scandals engulfing the Murdoch media empire, but it's an important document nonetheless.
You can read the whole of the article here.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
‘A good day to bury bad news‘-full speed ahead for NHS privatisation
The Guardian reports:
The government will open up more than £1bn of NHS services to competition from private companies and charities, the health secretary announced on Tuesday, increasing fears that it will inevitably lead to the "privatisation of the health service".
Labour questioned the policy, which the shadow health secretary John Healey said was "not about giving more control to patients, but setting up a full-scale market."
His colleague Emily Thornberry, the party's health spokeswoman, added that "today is a good day to announce the policy because everyone is preoccupied with telephone hacking. (They) hope no one will notice it". This theme was picked up on Twitter with a stream of comments about "it being a good day to bury bad news"
The government will open up more than £1bn of NHS services to competition from private companies and charities, the health secretary announced on Tuesday, increasing fears that it will inevitably lead to the "privatisation of the health service".
Labour questioned the policy, which the shadow health secretary John Healey said was "not about giving more control to patients, but setting up a full-scale market."
His colleague Emily Thornberry, the party's health spokeswoman, added that "today is a good day to announce the policy because everyone is preoccupied with telephone hacking. (They) hope no one will notice it". This theme was picked up on Twitter with a stream of comments about "it being a good day to bury bad news"
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Neil Clark: It's time to renationalise British Gas
You can hear Neil Clark, co-founder of the CPO, make the case for renationalisation of Britain’s energy companies on the Emma Britton Show on BBC Radio Somerset.
The discussion comes at 32 minutes into the programme of Tuesday 12th July.
The discussion comes at 32 minutes into the programme of Tuesday 12th July.
Monday, June 27, 2011
British rail travel four times more expensive than on France's state-owned network
The Morning Star reports:
British rail passengers are having to fork out £4.6 billion a year more than travellers on France's public owned railways, transport union RMT revealed today.
Fares on Britain's privatised network are four times more expensive than their French equivalent, according to an RMT report by research firm Just Economics found that lower and middle-income families were being "completely priced out of the rail market" following years of fares rises.
Overcrowding on British railways was also far worse than in other countries, including France, Spain, Germany and Italy.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "Like the McNulty review, this study compares privatised UK rail with European services, but, unlike McNulty, it has not turned a blind eye to the huge social and economic cost of privatisation.
"We already knew that Britain's railways are the most expensive in Europe, but this study exposes the shocking degree to which UK rail users are being fleeced by the greed and stunning inefficiency of the rail privateers and made to suffer unnecessary overcrowding."
You can read the whole article here.
British rail passengers are having to fork out £4.6 billion a year more than travellers on France's public owned railways, transport union RMT revealed today.
Fares on Britain's privatised network are four times more expensive than their French equivalent, according to an RMT report by research firm Just Economics found that lower and middle-income families were being "completely priced out of the rail market" following years of fares rises.
Overcrowding on British railways was also far worse than in other countries, including France, Spain, Germany and Italy.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "Like the McNulty review, this study compares privatised UK rail with European services, but, unlike McNulty, it has not turned a blind eye to the huge social and economic cost of privatisation.
"We already knew that Britain's railways are the most expensive in Europe, but this study exposes the shocking degree to which UK rail users are being fleeced by the greed and stunning inefficiency of the rail privateers and made to suffer unnecessary overcrowding."
You can read the whole article here.
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