Railtrack - New Labour's U-Turn

"RAILTRACK IS finished", said transport secretary Stephen Byers, announcing a huge government climbdown.

By Christine Thomas

Just two months ago, New Labour were saying they couldn't possibly take back control of Railtrack because it would be "too expensive" and contravene the Human Rights Act. Now they've called in the administrators and are taking the company out of private hands! .

At last New Labour have had to admit what everyone else already knew; privatisation on the railways has been a total disaster.

Since privatisation Railtrack has received billions in public money. Fat-cat shareholders have been raking in the profits - yet still they've come back begging for more.

"Profit before safety' seems to have been Railtrack's slogan. Seven people died in the Southall train crash, 31 at Paddington and four at Hatfield. Cost-cutting and mismanagement linked to privatisation were implicated in all three disasters.

New Labour have backed off on Railtrack because it's the most hated of all privatisations. They don't want it threatening the rest of their privatisation agenda, which they're determined to push ahead with to please their big business friends.

It's no accident that they've climbed down now, while all eyes are on the war in Afghanistan.

They don't want workers in other privatised industries to demand that they should be nationalised too!

But as rail worker Bill Johnson explained to The Socialist: "How can New Labour possibly justify the Public Private Partnership (PPP) in London Underground when it's been forced to admit that the private sector can't run Railtrack?"

"It's the same contractors employed by Railtrack - Balfour Beatty, Jarvis etc. - that are leading members of the consortium , taking over the tube."

"We need to organise now to defeat privatisation. The anti-privatisation conference, called by union broad left activists for 24 November, will be an important step in that direction".

Nationalise the whole of the rail industry under democratic workers' control and management.

Stop privatisation in health, education and other public services.

Bring all privatised services back into public ownership.

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Finance appeal

The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.

The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.

The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.

The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.