TUC votes to push for expansion to rail nationalisation plans

Delegates at the TUC’s annual congress in Brighton have voted to push for an expansion of rail nationalisation, calling for an extended review of the railways.

The motion supported Labour’s rail nationalisation policy but described it as a “first step” and also cautions that “there are vested interests seeking to dilute and delay these policies”.

The proposed review backed by the TUC includes rolling stock and freight operations.

Speaking on the composited motion, RMT president Alex Gordon paid tribute to the work of Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and said that forthcoming legislation would “reverse a swathe of rail privatisation legislation”.

“There will be further legislation to end the disastrous and dangerous fragmentation” of our railways, he added, before arguing that we need to “end the scourge of outsourcing on our railways” and “protect our environment” by taking freight into public ownership.

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Addressing the substance of the motion, Gordon called on Congress to support an end to “the egregious rolling stock racket”.

“We welcome the progress on rail but we need to finish the job”, he said, calling for ferries and buses to also be made public.

“We don’t just want the cake – we want the whole goddamn bakery”, he concluded.

ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan also spoke in favour of the motion, saying we should seek “further employment through green and better trains”, as did executive director of Nautilus International Martin Gray.