After 15 years of profit taking and fat bonuses, private sector hands back the corpse of East Coast rail service to British taxpaying chumps

July 1st, 2009 by stacyherbert

Stacy Summary:  Big surprise.  Not.  The remaining rail lines will also be nationalised as will all the other services privatised by Thatcher and Blair.  Once the taxpayer restores them to health, these too important to fail services will then be sold off to cronies to remove the organs and suck the blood out before handing back to chump taxpayers.  And on and on and on and on.

Tags:   24 Comments

24 responses so far ↓

  • Phil
    Jul 1, 2009 at 1:12 am

    @Stacy .. good comment !

    People used to complain about British Rail … now they really do have reason to complain IMO !

    a) the prices have sky-rocketed
    b) the service is bad – standing room only most of the time
    c) in the name of safety , they should close some of them down IMO

    I remember my last trip London to the South during the late evening.
    The train rocked from left to right … and BTW I’m no scary-cat, but even ” I ” was worried we would derail !

  • Phil
    Jul 1, 2009 at 1:13 am

    @Forgot to mention …

    … I hope they cut the salaries of “management” back to reality while they’re at it !

  • stacyherbert
    Jul 1, 2009 at 1:19 am

    @Phil – yes, I had gone through the trouble once of reserving a seat, which at the time required I actually go down to the station and pay the £1 reservation fee for me and the three friends I was traveling with; when it came time to board the train, however, there was standing room only and some fat woman and her three fat friends were sitting in our seats and refused to move; the train was packed beyond belief; the conductor asked the fat people to move from the reserved seats but they refused because they didn’t want to stand, so he told us there was nothing he could do; we moved up to first class and found a seat. Later I wrote a letter to the private owner of the line (which I used to take when it was owned by govt and never had a similar problem); anyway, I told them that if they wished to run their railway like in India with people sitting on the top of the train and hanging off the windows, it may be their way of competing but then at least they should start charging us a handful of rupees and not the doubling in the fare that had happened

  • Danny
    Jul 1, 2009 at 1:32 am

    @Stacy

    Good story. I feel like writing a strongly worded letter myself after being at too concerts this week. (Oasis at Slane and ACDC at Punchesown) People are treated like cattle; its disgusting. And if you complain you’re branded a ‘moaner’. For the money I paid I was expecting grapes to be dropped lavishly into my month!

  • Mike2liverpool
    Jul 1, 2009 at 1:37 am

    Morning Stacy
    Did you find the clip?
    Did you get your pastie?
    Mike

  • Danny
    Jul 1, 2009 at 1:41 am

    This morning I have mostly been been reading…

    Cynthia Mckinney being Held in Israel
    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/30/cynthia-mckinney-aboard-boat-seized-israeli-navy-demands-immediate-release/

    Color Revolutions, Old and New
    http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14168

    The Coup in Honduras. Obama’s Real Message to Latin America?
    http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14161

    Obama could mull second stimulus if needed: adviser
    http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE55R12120090628

  • stacyherbert
    Jul 1, 2009 at 1:42 am

    @Danny – good morning! Forgot to welcome you back from your hols. Did you relax? Or was being away from us too stressful ;)

  • Dedo
    Jul 1, 2009 at 1:52 am

    Not unlike the Dartford bridge, formerly run by Essex and Kent councils,.now run privately.
    I remember when the thing was opened and there was contention about the toll, folk were told that as soon as the project was payed for it would cease. (150,00 vehicles per day) nice earner!!

  • Danny
    Jul 1, 2009 at 2:12 am

    @Stacy

    Thanks. Yeah i was very relaxed. I travelled all the west and northern coast of Ireland, it was great to finally discover my own country. Coudn’t get broadband out in the wilds so it was difficult to keep up on the news – which is probably a good thing a for a week or two. And of course i missed the Herbert/Keiser banter! :)

  • Brandon
    Jul 1, 2009 at 2:30 am

    Reagan and Thatcher weren’t perfect but the UK and the US basically had lost economic decades before they came to power. The Heath, Wilson and Callaghan governments failed badly in the UK. The UK was on the brink of insolvency and needed a bailout from the IMF. The UK has 25% inflation and the US was also in double digits. In the US we had the nightmare of Arthur Burns running the FED and Nixon and Carter in the White House failed presidents both. We also had President Ford who was a klutz.

  • sharon
    Jul 1, 2009 at 3:07 am

    @ Stacy,
    You’re summary is very depressing, mainly because it’s probably true, not just because we have scumbag politicians that have sold their souls to the devil but also because most of the population are comatose.

  • sharon
    Jul 1, 2009 at 3:34 am

    @ Danny,
    Re: your link to Global Research regarding the Honduras problem. The best bit imo is the remark make by Chavez:-

    “Chávez then derided Honduras’ interim president, Roberto Micheletti. “Mr. Roberto Micheletti will either wind up in prison or he’ll need to go into exile… If they swear him in we’ll overthrow him, mark my words. Thugetti–as I’m going to refer to him from now on–you better pack your bags, because you’re either going to jail or you’re going into exile.”

    ‘Thugetti’……….What I like about Chavez is his ability to call a spade a spade and his lack of pomp and ceremony. Remember he used to call George Bush ‘Mr Danger’. Brave and princiipled………..and funny.

  • sharon
    Jul 1, 2009 at 3:41 am

    @ Brandon
    Re: your comment – “Reagan and Thatcher weren’t perfect but the UK and the US basically had lost economic decades before they came to power. The Heath, Wilson and Callaghan governments failed badly in the UK.”

    It matters not who the prime minister/president is/was as they do not make the decisions, they’re just front men. And as far as the UK going to the IMF – In my view that is probably why we ended up having to privatise; it was part of the deal with the IMF, you borrow from them and next thing you know you’ve lost your country.

  • Mike2liverpool
    Jul 1, 2009 at 4:00 am

    STACY!
    Where the clip?
    Mike

  • M
    Jul 1, 2009 at 4:43 am

    Alright guys, now we’re at it: there is more on Honduras in the link below. Be sure to read it!

    http://deepjournal.nl/p/7/a/en/2080.html

  • M
    Jul 1, 2009 at 4:44 am

    And Chavez indeed seems to be one of the “good” guys these days.

  • M
    Jul 1, 2009 at 4:45 am

    [i]Here are some facts to consider: the US is the top trading partner for Honduras. The coup plotters/supporters in the Honduran Congress are supporters of the “free trade agreements” Washington has imposed on the region. The coup leaders view their actions, in part, as a rejection of Hugo Chavez’s influence in Honduras and with Zelaya and an embrace of the United States and Washington’s “vision” for the region. Obama and the US military could likely have halted this coup with a simple series of phone calls. [/i]

    Well, guys we shouldn’t be surprised, this is how it happens.

    It’s a crime

  • M
    Jul 1, 2009 at 4:47 am

    Perhaps this is what that so called “individualism” is all about.
    The guys in charge commit crimes in plain sight, but we only care about ourselves these days, and henceforth are not willing to invest too much time and resources in protesting and bringing positive change that would affect everyone. We are not willing to do anything for others these days, unless it’s paid for.

    So there we sit and twitter.

  • M
    Jul 1, 2009 at 4:50 am

    I even prefer chatting here, with somewhat likeminded people, over trying to make my friends see the light. They really try hard not to see.

    Luckily I do find some people in my environment beginning to wake up.

    And I’ll put in new effort to wake up some more. It’s probably the best I can do anyway.

  • Dedo
    Jul 1, 2009 at 5:07 am

    Here’s something to ponder,………Have you ever wondered, how come it’s possible to travel half way around the world and meet folk you’ve never met,…and they can still parrot the same news, perspectives,..etc
    Try inputing something that hasn’t bin normalised and watch the reaction.

  • Gerry
    Jul 1, 2009 at 7:50 am

    At least Britons aren’t afraid to call nationalisation, nationalisation. Now all they’ve got to learn is that ‘privatisation’ won’t make public services anymore efficient, just profitable for a select few, if briefly.

    AND

    What’s ‘too big to fail’ deserves to be properly nationalised!

  • sharon
    Jul 1, 2009 at 8:46 am

    @M

    All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. …