Back On Track

"The East Coast rail franchise will be terminated three years early, avoiding the embarrassment of another private firm handing back the keys to the government but potentially forfeiting hundreds of millions in premiums due to the Treasury."

The "anyone old enough to remember British Rail" argument is obviously not true, as most people are old enough to remember British Rail. Privatisation did not begin until 1994, and it did not end until 1997. All polling for years has shown clear majorities in favour of renationalisation, including among Conservative and UKIP voters.

On This Week, all that Michael Portillo could manage as an argument against renationalising the railways was the antique joke about how bad British Rail sandwiches were. We are winning this one.