Orders of the Day — Railways Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 9:10 pm on 2 February 1993.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Mr Brian Wilson Mr Brian Wilson , Cunninghame North 9:10, 2 February 1993

We have had a good, if fairly predictable, debate for the most part. I was interested to note that paragraph 1 of the Conservative central office brief advised Conservative Members to emphasise that British Rail is not working well, and all the little parrots lined up to oblige on that score.

It strikes me as cheap and pretty miserable that people who have been in Government for 13 or 14 years—one Conservative Member who spoke held a central position advising Ministers on the policies to be pursued—take no responsibility for the consequences of their actions. Instead, as a political device, all they can do is denigrate the efforts of the people who have worked valiantly over the years to keep the railways going and to create what in many areas of Britain is still an excellent and socially responsible railway system.

Out of the clutch of press releases today—the Secretary of State managed six—perhaps the jewel in the crown is the one headed First lines to be prepared for franchising". We even have a helpful map to illustrate the final selection. That map will be of great interest around the country. It will not be of all that much interest in areas whose lines have been selected, where apprehension might be a better word, but people throughout Britain will notice that their lines are not on the map and it is they who will be asking questions.

Those lines and sectors that have been selected by the Government as the first to prepare for franchising will, during the next year, receive the kind of attention that will presumably make them fit for Mr. Branson, or whoever, to inherit. But people served by the rest of the network will wonder what will happen to their lines. I shall be pleased to give an answer to that tonight.

If money is to be poured into the Tilbury-Southend line in order to bring it up to the standard to enable it to be sold off, will that come from within Network SouthEast or British Rail's existing capital allowances? If so, will that not inevitably be at the expense of the rest of the network?

Take note, the lines on the map are the ones that have been selected and in which the Government have a vested interest in promoting as potential franchises. But that can only mean that the fragmentation has begun, along with the rundown of the rest of the railway.

I want to start with the question of safety, as I do at a high point in every speech that I make on this subject. Since we debated the matter a couple of weeks ago, much attention has been given to the Health and Safety Commission's report. I do not object to political point scoring, but I do object to the gloss that the Secretary of State has persistently put on the report because the subject is of such seriousness.

The Health and Safety Commission gave no clean bill of health to what is being done: let there be no misunderstanding about that. In case some Tory Members still do not understand what the Health and Safety Commission's report says, I quote it again. It says: The consequences of failing to achieve adequate systems of control will be seen in an increased risk in the railway system and the likelihood of an increase in the numbers and possibly also the severity of accidents. I desperately hope that will not prove true and that the number and severity of accidents does not increase. If the Bill is passed, I hope that the Health and Safety Commission's 38 proposals to ameliorate that risk will be sufficient and will be implemented.

Who in this country asked the Government to put in place a railways system that is inherently more dangerous to the extent that such safeguards must be taken? The answer is, no Member of Parliament, no one who works on the railways, and no one who travels on the railways. As the evidence given to the Select Committee proves, almost no one in the country wants the Government to do that. It is a unilateral act of irresponsibility on the Government's part to put in place a railway system that is less safe than that which exists.

We are already seeing attempts to rationalise irresponsibility. One of the alleged intellectuals of the Conservative party, the hon. Member for Havant (Mr. Willetts), produced a document that is of considerable interest to my right hon. and hon. Friends, though I suspect that there is less concern among Government Members to publicise it. Such is the way that ideas start. Soon, for reasons that we can well understand from today's debate, an explanation will have to be given as to why less money should be spent on safety, because that is the direction in which all the pressure will be applied.

The hon. Member for Havant's advocacy of rail safety deregulation confirms that the surest way to be hailed as an intellectual and thinker is to say something of such stupidity that no cautious mortal would dare to advance it. The hon. Member for Havant reached the momentous conclusion that railway safety is not cost-effective and wants a moratorium on new safety measures. He has a point when he says that safety costs money and that that is reflected in fares. However, if the hon. Gentleman thinks that rail safety costs money and drives passengers away, what does he imagine their perception of danger would do?

The hon. Member for Havant should say what is the cost-effectiveness of a rail accident—of a Clapham disaster.