Charles Ellson wrote:
On Sun, 01 Jul 2012 15:42:21 +0100, Bevan Price
wrote:
On 01/07/2012 00:15, Charles Ellson wrote:
On Sun, 01 Jul 2012 00:05:25 +0100, Bruce
wrote:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jun/30/labour-railway-network-state-control

Labour backs plans to return railway network to public control

Sweeping reform would begin with renationalisation of key routes and
end franchising of services

Plans to bring the national rail network back under public ownership
in order to halt big fare increases and prevent private companies
siphoning off huge profits will be considered by Labour as part of its
policy review, the Observer can reveal.



I'll believe it when I see it. Maybe they've conveniently forgotten to
mention how they will achieve it without tripping over EU rules which
will come as an "unexpected surprise" when they try it ?



Yes, it is just as believable as Harold Wilson & co. saying they will
halt the Beeching closures. But as for the EU - sooner or later, we will
get a UK government that will tell EU precisely what to do with their
policies. A lot of people are getting fed up with EU meddling in what
they consider to be matters for our own government.

Swings and roundabouts. That "lot of people" conveniently forget about
the amount of exports enabled by "EU meddling" and seem to be more
concerned with turning the UK into a remote-controlled satellite of
Uncle Sam than with re-establishing any kind of self-sufficiency.


On the contrary, most people now recognise that over 50% of British
exports go to other EU countries and that only a tiny fraction of our
exports go to the USA. The UK is also a major market for goods from
other EU countries.

What people here don't want is a United States of Europe. The
ever-closer monetary, fiscal and political union that is being touted
as the solution to the crisis in the Eurozone is exactly what most
British people don't want.

In 1973, the UK joined a Common Market with a view to increasing trade
with other European countries at a time when our markets in the
Commonwealth were diminishing. However, our politicians were less
than honest with us because the treaty we signed also pointed the way
to an eventual political union which is now getting ever closer
because of the Euro crisis.

The UK needs to take a step back from those countries that want
political union, but at the same time both the UK and the rest of the
EU need free trade. The answer seems obvious: the UK should rejoin
the EFTA/EEA countries including Switzerland, Norway, and Iceland and
remain in the Single Market while not being a member of the EU.