Michael Meacher - Labour's Future

On 14th March of this year, Southwest Trains (SWT), who operate the busiest railway routes in the country, announced a £700 million dividend for its shareholders. SWT’s parent company, Stagecoach, is owned by Brian Souter. He netted a £1 million windfall.

On 20th March – just six days after the shareholders’ wealthy reward – SWT announced a new ticket rate for commuters travelling between 10am and 12pm. The price hike? 20%. Adding insult to considerable injury, those travelling into London after 12pm will pay a further 3% - that’s on top of the inflation-busting New Year rise of 5.4%.

The next day, on 21st March, Gordon Brown announced a rise in fuel duty of 2% in his final budget. So much for encouraging us to quit the car and take the train.

Whilst the railways remain in the hands of profit-hungry companies, it is impossible to make train travel an affordable option. Yet we all now realise that climate change poses a horrendous threat and that urgent action is needed. Politicians of all sides agree that the status quo is unacceptable, and that much has to be done.

David Cameron says he will put railways at the heart of his environmental policies. Quite what that means is anybody’s guess. Once again, Mr. Cameron grabs a headline without grabbing the initiative – he offers no coherent or plausible policy on the future of our railways.

Michael Meacher has a plan, and it involves putting both environmental and passenger concerns at the top of the agenda. We currently have one of the most expensive and least efficient railway services in western Europe. By taking the railways and train companies back into public control, Michael would allow the government – who currently pay higher subsidies to the railway industry than before privatisation – to make trains a pivotal part of an integrated green strategy.

Michael Meacher wants to increase investment in the railway network, allowing more trains to operate on more routes. Ticket prices must come down. As soon as the railways are once again owned by the public, you remove the profit incentive – which is the key reason fares rise by such astronomical rates each year.

Our railways should not be dependent on a small group of people making huge sums of money at the expense of the millions of Britons who rely on trains, and who want to make a difference to the future of our planet by leaving their cars at home.

Posted by Eddie at 02:43 PM | Permalink

A shorter version of this article was published in the Financial Times.

Should a third runway be built at Heathrow? This collision between the needs of the economy and the environment focuses one of the most contentious decisions facing Parliament for a decade as the Government prepares to issue its White Paper on air transport policy to 2030. It will require wholly new thinking if this decision is not to go badly wrong.

For BAA the case for a go-ahead is clear. The number of airline passengers using British airports will triple by 2030, and quintuple in the South East. It will give a huge boost to the economy. And we should not deny new, lower-income passengers the right of access to air travel if they wish. But all these premises are seriously flawed.

The demand projections are based on the assumption that air fares will continue to fall by 1% in real terms per year. They also assume that aviation will continue to benefit from substantial tax breaks. They ignore any proposals that there should be a significant switch to high-speed, long-distance rail. And they are built on the presumption that the airlines continue to avoid their full external social and environmental costs. All four of these bases should be challenged and altered.

Continue reading "The false arguments for airport expansion" »

Posted by Michael Meacher at 03:05 AM | Permalink