‘Don’t forget how bad British Rail was!’ Tory strategist’s dire warning over Labour plans

Sir Keir Starmer and a British Rail-era train in the National Railway Museum in York (Image: GETTY/Wikicommons)

Labour’s renationalisation plans overlook the widespread deficiencies which plagued commuters the last time Britain’s rail network was in public hands, a Tory strategist has warned.

The party’s Getting Britain Moving document, published by Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh MP last week, confirmed the party’s long-term ambition to bring both the track and the rolling stock back under public ownership within five years.

Labour has pledged “to create a unified and simplified governance structure that places passengers at the heart of the goal”.

But Mark Littlewood, chairman of the Popular Conservatism faction, of which former PM Liz Truss MP is a member, was sceptical.

He told Express.co.uk: “It might be a vote winner on the grass is always greener approach.

Sir Keir Starmer and Shadow Transport Minister Louise Haigh at last week's launch (Image: Getty)

“I mean, I'm a big supporter of privatisation but the way the way the railways were privatised was botched.

“They should have sold the track and the rights to run rolling stock together.

“They are saying that they will only do it when the franchises run out.

“But do we genuinely think a state operator will run the railways any better?

Liverpool Street is Britain's busiest railway station (Image: Getty)

“With the British railways, I think we've got a much more systemic problem than the one of ownership.

“You need to be old enough to remember how bad British Rail was with its nationalised monopoly and I fear that they're falling for what the great economist Friedrich Hayek calls the fatal conceit.

“Just because something isn’t working very well in the marketplace it really shouldn't lead to the assumption that it will work really well if you put politicians in charge of it. Just as likely, it will work even less well.”

Mr Littlewood, who has called Rishi Sunak’s Tories to be more radical in their approach generally, acknowledged that Labour’s plans “may have caught the public imagination”.

Transport Minister Huw Merriman (Image: GETTY)

He added: “I don't drive so I use rail a lot myself and I can understand on a retail level why customers are irritated by the rail system.

“But I don't see what Labour’s plan will do to end industrial unrest, or improve investment or any of the rest of it, because if you want to achieve any of that, you have to throw a vast amount of money at it.

“And already it's the most colossally subsidised form of transport we have.”

Ms Haigh, speaking last Wednesday (April 24), said: "With Labour's bold reforms, a publicly owned railway will be single-mindedly focused on delivering for passengers and will be held to account on delivering reliable, safe, efficient, accessible, affordable and quality services.

"Labour's detailed plans will get our railways back on track; driving up standards for passengers, bringing down costs for taxpayers, driving growth and getting Britain moving."

Rail minister Huw Merriman was likewise unconvinced, insisting only the Tories had "a plan to continue investing record amounts in our rail network".

He added: "Labour have confirmed they would push forward with their pointless, unfunded rail nationalisation that will do nothing to improve train reliability or affordability for passengers.

"Just like their unfunded £28 billion a year decarbonisation promise, they don't have a plan to pay for the bill attached to their rail nationalisation. Without a plan to pay for this, it means one thing: taxes will rise on hard working people."