The rail union RMT this morning slammed reports that the Government are planning to sell off a ‘gold-plated’ 30 year lease on the proposed High Speed 2 rail link.
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:
“The fact that the Government are planning to privatise for profit this important High Speed rail development is a scandal – the news that Goldman Sachs are reportedly in the frame as potential bidders should set the alarm bells ringing up and down the length of the route.
“Here we have a company right at the centre of the US sub-prime crisis that sparked the banking collapse, and a company being hauled into the courts in New York, being touted as bidders for a project at the heart of the future of the UK transport system.
“It just shows that when there is a fast buck to be made the usual suspects come crawling out of the woodwork.
“This Government has learnt nothing from the catastrophic, lethal and expensive failures of rail privatisation and through both High Speed 2, and the McNulty Review, they are lining up to repeat those mistakes on a massive scale.
“We will fight them with every means at our disposal.”
oh my how do you sell off a lease ?????? contradiction surely !!!!
Typical UK Government short sighted, short term greed. I wonder if some have a vested interest. Don’t any of them care about the future for our children and grandchildren – I despair.
Never thought I’d agree with Bob Crow!
One point to note though – the government’s and the HS2 apologists’ claims of ‘thousands of jobs’ being created – well not in train building anyway. The government’s latest lunatic anti-British decison wil surely see the death of Britain’s only train maker. Well, it’s true they didn’t say where these jonbs will be created – the fact isthe real jobs wil be created in Germany or Japan – or it it to be China now? We Brits will get a few jobs cleaning the carriages – although that will go to immigrant labour of course. All we can look forward to is the massive and long lasting debt, whilst some parasitic bankers trousers a fortune in our cash.