Covid 19 means a Conservative government has effectively carried out Corbyn's dream of nationalising the railways. Add this to the £400m investment in the OneWeb satellite business, the 62% stake in NatWest Group and paying people not to work via the furlough scheme and you have quite a socialist government!
Quote:
ONS says UK rail has effectively been renationalised during pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic and lockdown forced the government to take emergency steps to prop up train companies by assuming the financial risk of rail franchises, after passenger numbers dwindled almost to nothing.
The Office for National Statistics has now written to the Treasury and the Scottish government to inform them of its decision to reclassify train companies as public non-financial corporations in the light of the measures.
The change, backdated to 1 April, means rail companies’ borrowing will be factored into ONS figures on public-sector borrowing and the number of state employees.
At the same time, train companies are not allowed to make timetable changes or change staffing numbers without specific government approval.
State support for rail firms means almost all revenue and cost risk from the companies are “borne by the government”, the ONS said.
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https://www.theguardian.com/business...uring-pandemic