Thats my opinion.Read the book above.

My opinion is that Souter built his empire by aggressively undercutting local operators (at a loss) until they died, and then put prices back up, in clear opposition to the public interest and the interests of drivers who are now beholden to a single company. My opinion is shared by the Monopoly and Mergers Commission, which is rather more objective than your silly book link.

And he hates gays.

sounds like a run o the mill tory

project – Member

everyone of us is brainwashed

So that’s everyone of us plus the government then ? Remember…..

project – Member

the governmnet is run by brainwashed individuals

The chief brainwasher must be having a right laugh.

I don’t know. Is there?

Don’t ask me, I’m a pluralist.

everyone of us is brainwashed to believe certain morals and ideas in life,either by religion, parents, peer group, or family, they then become our rights and feelings, thats why some people mis guidedly voted conservative, and some liberal, why some buy german cars, and some have a fear of the working classes.

My mate’s baby drools a lot – can you recommend some napkins to wipe it up?
ta

Funny thing this railway lark, its twenty years since john major privatised the railway —- and what have we got, a subsidy four times grater than BR, a debt that is seven times bigger than BR, fares as high as ever, and now we have private bus and air firms squabling over the franchises, oh and the german and french state owned railways are coining it as well, can’t blame them— in all the developed world railways are treated as essential to economic activity, here its treated like a problem

UK plc want s to build a new line from london to Birmingham then oop north and the natives who live near the new line are all do the nimby dance of fear.

In France they just do it, for the benefit of the people and freight.

My opinion is that Souter built his empire by aggressively undercutting local operators (at a loss) until they died, and then put prices back up, in clear opposition to the public interest and the interests of drivers who are now beholden to a single company. My opinion is shared by the Monopoly and Mergers Commission, which is rather more objective than your silly book link.

AND thats what the books says as well, but thats capitalism, where bigger companies take over smaller comapnies, just reading a book now about the privatisation of the bus and coach market, and it appears that if a small local bus firm closed down , or was sold a local competitor would buy it, with no one from outside thwe local area bidding, Stagecoach changed all that, and built up a multimillion pound company.

Thats progress.

Thats progress.

Have you used Stagecoach?

Railways should be nationalised and subsidised so they are cheaper than car travel.

East coat Railway is.

Most train operating comapnies are subsidised as well some more than others.

Trains – virgin loses west coast mainline

Oh No They Didnt !

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19809717

how much more will this cost the taxpayer?

At least £60M !!

Ministers say there were “significant technical flaws” in the way the risks for each bid were calculated.

or in other words you were going to lose in court.

Omni-shambles again! Let’s see if anyone gets sacked.

sacked in this government?

if you get caught out you just ask for a promotion, simples!

Lets hope that those civil servants who were responsible for the “significant technical flaws” are kicked out on their fat useless f-eckin arses, along with their gilt edged pensions, or why not chain them to the west coast mainline as Branson gleefully pilots a pendelino towards them.

Any mistakes of this magnitude in my previous job and i’d get sacked no questions asked.

is “significant technical flaws” the new euphemism for corruption ?

Is ‘serious technical flaws’ government speak for ‘someone got caught with their snout in the trough’?

Total Shambles.

Oh. Very rich and successful businessman Branson in “Getting his numbers right” shocker.

Total incompetence.

is “significant technical flaws” the new euphemism for corruption ?

I thought that, especially after they announced on t’radio that the civil servants responsible have been suspended pending further investigation.

Looking forward to hearing the thieving Branson crowing about this one. 🙄

if the same “significant technical flaws” were present in all previous tenders it’s going to get very messy and expensive.

another failure of politicians a government department / quasi civil service and the technical advisors…

thieving Branson

Intriguing – care to elaborate?

Why is Branson/Virgin being criticised for this? If it wasn’t for Branson, the franchise would have been let weeks ago when the DoT insisted it was ploughing ahead regardless.

well he does have a conviction for tax evasion does that count as stealing?

And what has that got to do with the West Coast Mainline?

care to elaborate

Well, Branson has made £200m from rail privatisation, while you and I are subsidising his business more than ever. Add to this his slimy little deal over the “nice” bit of Northern Rock, and yes, in my opinion (which is that anybody who has profited to that degree from privatisation of our rail network is a thieving bastard), yes, he is a thief. Albeit, one with a great PR machine and lucky that he lost a completely **** up bidding process to an equally venal villain.

If I were you Deadlydarcy, I’d watch my mouth….. The person you are libelling has deep pockets and, well you know. Being cocky/mouthy on the Internet can have consequences….

The person you are libelling has deep pockets and, well you know. Being cocky/mouthy on the Internet can have consequences….

😆

@ Kimbers:

“He was charged with tax fraud and settled out-of-court with UK Customs and Excise with an agreement to repay the unpaid tax and fines. Branson’s mother Eve re-mortgaged the family home to help pay the settlement.
In his autobiography, Branson states that he had made the decision, in moments of desperation and youthful disregard for the rules, and that being cramped up in a jail cell was one of the most valuable lessons of his life.”

So not a conviction, he was caught exploiting a loophole in export tax relief, a very stupid thing to do. But when caught he did, at least, pay the money. As a tax payer I think I would rather have the cash than see someone banged up adding cost to lost revenue.

Perhaps we should bang up MPs and the Whitehall Civil Service for a few months apiece, it may refocus their thinking.

im all for banging up some whitehall types

how about Justine Greening ? she oversaw this

or her replacement who was saying a week ago that it was a fair and robust process

now its costing the taxpayer 40million to compensate the franchise holders/bidders

plus the cost of 2 reviews and then anther round of bidding

I’ll tweet Branson to see if he’ll be passing the compensation on to a worthwhile cause. I think he’s blocked me though. 🙂

I’m glad it’s going back to tender.

I’d like to see the department that oversaw this fired, all of them.

Then they could pay back the £40m from thier pensions (collectively) to cover the cokup.

£40m won’t go anywhere near covering the cost – it barely covers the costs of the 4 bidders, let alone re-running the franchise competition, getting the legal stuff sorted with whoever runs the services in the meantime; either Directly Operated or even if the DfT accepts Virgin’s ‘not for profit’ offer.

I can’t even begin to describe the ‘missed opportunity’ costs around the delays to new train orders / continuing lack of extra capacity on the most important rail route in the UK and the effects of stagnation of the franchise. The payments made to DfT from the West Coast actually pay for upgrades and investment across the whole country – it’s just about the only cash-cow for the DfT. The income from the 15 year franchise would be paying for the electrification of the West of England mainline and the Liverpool-Manchester route etc etc.

DfT: What a shower of incompetent fools.

“Endemic shower of incompetent fools” surely

As a tax payer I think I would rather have the cash than see someone banged up adding cost to lost revenue.

I think tax evasion should be treated as a more serious crime, banging more of them up might just help others be more focused on not being such theiving greedy scum.

I think tax evasion should be treated as a more serious crime, banging more of them up might just help others be more focused on not being such theiving greedy scum.

Agree in principle. But if the act of incarceration prevents them paying the debt that they owe, it just makes things worse by adding the cost of one more crim to the system. Perhaps we should be seeking a more fitting role. What about finding loopholes and cockups in government tenders – set a thief to catch a thief? 😀