'You should have told Darling to get stuffed'

Published in the Morning Star

(Wednesday 20 April 2005)

by MALCOLM BURNS in Dundee

SCOTTISH trade unionists urged Labour yesterday to follow its own policy and end the rail privatisation nightmare.

The STUC congress unanimously backed a motion calling for renationalisation and also called for specific powers for the Scottish Executive to take the country's passenger services back under public control.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow told conference that he felt that he had to lie down in a dark room after hearing Transport Secretary Alistair Darling's speech on Monday.

"Yesterday, Alistair Darling told you he wasn't going to renationalise the railways - and you applauded him at the end of his speech," noted Mr Crow.

"You should have told him to go and get stuffed," he added, to laughter and applause.

Rail nationalisation was agreed at Labour conference last year, the RMT leader pointed out.

"If it's Labour Party policy, how come it doesn't go in the manifesto?" he asked, stressing that it would help Labour's other policies too.

"If you want the NHS and education brought back to decency, save the billions being spent on the privateers in the railways and reinvest it in schools and hospitals."

Mr Crow pledged that the unions would continue to press for renationalisation, up to and including balloting members for industrial action if necessary.

"ASLEF won a ballot on the rail safety issue and we won the CalMac ballot to stop tendering," he said.

"If there is no progress, we can come back shortly to say there will have to be industrial action to bring railways back into public ownership."

TSSA general secretary Gerry Doherty also referred to Labour's manifesto, noting that it included a policy supporting the public ownership of light rail networks.

"If public ownership is good enough for light rail, why is it not good enough for heavy rail?" he asked.

"Those who say we can't afford it are making a bogus argument. What matters is what works.

"The trains don't work in private hands, so let's get them back into the public sector where they belong," suggested Mr Doherty.

Supporting the motion, T&G delegate Vic Downs insisted that "all transport unions should resist any attempts to play rail and bus industries off against each other."

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