Prevent the closure of Vestas Blades UK, wind turbine blade factory.

Sign the petitions on the 10 Downing Street site <http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/SaveVestas/>  and the FoE site http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/vestas_petition_20414.html ,
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We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to prevent the closure of Vestas Blades UK, wind turbine blade factory, on the Isle of Wight.
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/SaveVestas/

Save Vestas Blades UK

On Monday 13 July, while opening an onshore wind farm in the south of England, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband confirmed the government's commitment to expanding wind energy. Expansion can help the UK to meet its target of 15% renewable energy by 2020 and can also help to create – and save – jobs.

To show that it is earnest about this commitment, we urge the government to do all that it can to prevent the closure of Vestas Blades UK, a wind turbine blade plant on the Isle of Wight, which is scheduled to close on 31 July with the loss of 600 jobs. There will also be knock-on job losses on the Isle of Wight and in Southampton.

We support nationalisation of this facility if that is what it takes to keep it open. We believe it would be a travesty for the plant to close at this time, laying off skilled workers who are already making the products that wind energy expansion will require.
________________________________

Friends of the Earth   http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/vestas_petition_20414.html http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/vestas_petition_20414.html

Call on Lord Mandelson to save wind energy jobs

The UK has the best wind resources in Europe. Wind power can help us radically transform our energy networks to achieve a low carbon future.

It is a key technology to help us meet our target of 15% renewable energy by 2020.

Closures ahead

But England's only large-scale wind turbine manufacturing plant is set to close.

The Vestas facility in Newport on the Isle of Wight is due to close at the end of July. This will mean the loss of over 600 jobs with production being transferred to China and the USA.

Joint forces

Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to save our country's wind power jobs.

Investment is needed in the renewables industry to ensure it survives the recession.

    The Government talks about how green jobs will help the country climb out of the recession, so we hope they will take action.

Jack Dromey, Unite deputy general secretary

Action needed

The Government must provide: 

*    A secure future
    For the Vestas plant.
*    Investment to expand the electricity grid
    both on and offshore.
*    Innovation in electricity networks
    to allow more decentralised generation.
*    Solutions to promote
    greater acceptance of onshore wind.
*    A long term vision
    for green jobs in the UK.
*    Development
    for skills for renewable energy.
*   
Please ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to act now and save the UK's wind power industry.

Click or copy the link below to your browser to Call on Lord Mandelson to save wind energy jobs http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/vestas_petition_20414.html

National Express East Anglia strike rock solid

RAIL UNION RMT confirmed that today's strike action on National Express East Anglia has been solidly supported across the franchise with the vast majority of services at a complete standstill and with managers running only a few token, ghost trains as a publicity stunt.

RMT members have shown their all-out determination to secure a fair deal on pay and working conditions from a company which has sucked in billions in public subsidies in the past ten years.

The first of eight days of planned strike action on National Express East Anglia coincides with publication of the company's interim results. Despite bullish statements earlier this month in the wake of their spectacular collapse on the East Coast route, Nat Ex have today resorted to pleading poverty, reporting a loss of over £30 million in the first six months of the year.

The company, which has been subject to a barrage of takeover speculation, are begging to hold on to their East Anglia and C2C franchises despite clear cross-default clauses which mean that their impending default on the East Coast should see them stripped of their other contracts, a position supported by the Transport Select Committee earlier this week.

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, said today:

"This strike has been caused by greedy National Express bosses who have soaked up £2.5 billion in taxpayer subsidies in the past 10 years and who have milked every penny out of this franchise while offering their staff peanuts this year.

"Despite making half a billion in profits out of their workforce and the travelling public over the past ten years, today National Express have resorted to pleading poverty. RMT wants this company off the tracks as soon as possible with all of their franchises returned to public ownership.

"Today on the picket lines I heard that managers were spreading rumours that there are fresh talks on Monday. That's the first that RMT had heard of it. We are available for negotiations at any time but we've had no formal approach from the company and we are waiting to hear from them in light of today's clear demonstration of workplace anger."

RMT announces a month of action on Arriva Cross Country

RAIL UNION RMT announced today that members working for Arriva Cross Country will take a month of action short of a strike running from 00.01 hrs on Monday 3rd August to 23.59 hours on Wednesday 2nd September 2009 in a dispute over a breakdown in industrial relations around pay and a series of issues relating to working conditions.

Earlier this month Arriva Cross Country RMT members voted by four to one for action on a turnout of 55%.

The action will take the form of:

• A total ban on overtime working
• A total ban on volunteering for rest day working
• A total ban on Sunday working with the exception of booked Sundays
• A total ban on litter-picking on trains

Arriva Cross Country runs rail services over a wide geographical area stretching across England and into Wales and Scotland.

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, said today:

"Our members have shown their anger at the divisive approach taken by Arriva Cross Country in respect of pay and a wide range of issues relating to working conditions and this action is aimed at forcing the company back to the table to negotiate a fair deal for all staff.

"This is just another example of a rail franchise company looking to maximise its own profits at the expense of the workforce and RMT members have demonstrated in the ballot just how determined they are to secure justice."

RMT slams “circus” as Stagecoach consider takeover bid for National Express

RAIL UNION RMT today called on the government to end the rail franchise circus as reports suggested that Stagecoach are considering a takeover bid for National Express just weeks before the company are due to have their East Coast Mainline franchise renationalised by the government.

Today, the Transport Select Committee branded the whole franchise system "a mess" and warned of more companies going bust in a mirror of the National Express East Coast fiasco.

On Thursday, the day that National Express are due to publish their interim results, RMT members on the companies East Anglia franchise will begin the first of four 48 hour strikes over pay, working conditions and the companies reorganisation.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today:

"The suggestion of a Stagecoach takeover bid for National Express shows that the big players are still playing with the rail franchises like they are some giant game of corporate pass the parcel with the travelling public and the workforce left holding the torn paper while the companies milk the system for all it's worth.

"National Express have made nearly half a billion in profits out of the railways in the past ten years and have sucked in £2.5 billion in public subsidies over the same period. With the collapse of their East Coast franchise that is reward for failure on a massive scale and it's no wonder our members on the East Anglia franchise are so angry that they are prepared to strike over a pitiful pay offer.

"Today's Transport Select Committee should signal the end of the rail franchise circus which rips off the travelling public and treats its workforce with contempt while raking in fat dividends for the shareholders.

"The franchise mess is beyond reform and the only serious solution is a return to public ownership of the entire rail system."

Release of Network Rail Expenditure and Investment Plans

To: - HO Officers, Executive, Regional Organisers, Regional Councils & All Branches

Circular number: NP/105/09/AG

Our reference: R3/2

22nd July 2009

Dear Colleague,

Release of Network Rail Expenditure and Investment Plans

Attempts by your RMT negotiators at Network Rail to secure the release of the Company's crucial expenditure and Investment Plans, which directly impact upon your jobs, have been continually frustrated. Our legitimate appeal has been treated with disdain and this follows the similar stance taken by Network Rail towards our request for publication of risk assessments relating to the deferral of 28% of track renewals.

We have requested the investment papers on which the Investment Panels base their decisions and the Capital Expenditure and Business Plans for the Network Rail Areas. It is a disgrace that Network Rail, an organisation sustained by public money, is withholding important information concerning employees' jobs from the trade union representing staff. This information is essential for our collective bargaining purposes and has already been supplied to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR). It is incredible that the RMT has been excluded.

The RMT has written to the Chairman of the ORR asking for her to intervene to ensure the disclosure of this vital information to the RMT and the Union will also attempt to force a disclosure through an application to the Central Arbitration Committee.

I will keep you advised of developments.

Yours sincerely,

Bob Crow

General Secretary

RMT pledges full support to Vestas occupation Bob Crow to visit factory tomorrow

TRANSPORT UNION RMT today pledged full support to the workers occupying the Vestas wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight and confirmed that RMT general secretary Bob Crow will be making a solidarity visit to the occupation at 6pm tomorrow evening (Thursday 23rd July).

The Vestas factory is the only unit in England manufacturing wind turbines. The Dutch company which owns it are trying to close the factory down with the loss of 625 jobs blaming the British government's lack of commitment to renewable energy. The company is reported to have made profits of $56 million in the first quarter of this year alone – a rise of 70% on last year.

The factory has been under workers occupation since Tuesday. Communication lines into the factory have been cut and deliveries of food and water have been blockaded by private security guards. This morning, those involved in the occupation have been threatened with summary dismissal.

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, said today:

"Nothing underlines the attack on job and communities that has been unleashed in the UK by greedy bosses and incompetent politicians better than the occupation at Vestas.

"Here you have over 600 skilled workers in the only wind turbine factory in England, delivering sustainable and green energy for the future, threatened with the dole because of a row between the company and the government.

"We know from workplace reports that this company is aggressively anti-union and RMT salutes the courage of those who have taken the brave decision to occupy the factory. They deserve the full support of the whole trade union movement.

"There's a simple solution to this dispute. The government should nationalise the factory, protect the jobs and show that they are walking the talk when it come to green and renewable energy."

RMT steps up pressure on government over National Express

RAIL UNION RMT today stepped up their pressure on the government to remove National Express from their rail franchises as new research shows that the company has made nearly half a billion pounds in profits from their rail operations in the past 10 years while sucking in nearly £2.5 billion in public subsidy over the same period.

Just under two weeks ago Transport Secretary Lord Adonis announced that he was taking the failed National Express franchise on East Coast Mainline back into public ownership. Since then, the company have made bullish noises that they will fight to retain the rights to run the service and have also thrown down a gauntlet to the government over National Express East Anglia and c2c which they should be stripped of under the "cross-default" clause.

Today, Tuesday July 14, a parliamentary adjournment debate will take place under the title Rail Services on the East Coast Mainline led by York MP Hugh Bayley where a growing number of MP's will be applying pressure on ministers for National Express to be stripped of their rail franchises.

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, said today:

"It's now two weeks since the government announced that they would be taking decisive action over National Express on the East Coast and we are stepping up the pressure for the company to be dumped as a matter of urgency and for their franchises to be nationalised on a permanent basis, not as a short term, crisis measure.

"National Express have been taking us all for a ride. Not only have they milked the best part of half a billion pounds out of their rail operations but they have sucked in £2.5 billion in public subsidies in the process.

"Now National Express are leaving a potential rail funding gap of £1 billion behind after their chaotic performance on the East Coast Mainline and once again it's the travelling public and rail workers who are left to pick up the pieces. National Express, along with the rest of the rail privateers, should be kicked off the tracks for good."

RMT warns of staffing and safety dangers over swine flu pandemic

TRANSPORT UNION RMT warned today of severe pressures on staffing levels and serious safety risks across the transport system as experts advised that up to 40% of the population could become ill with the swine flu over the coming weeks.

Transport workers are known to be at greater risk of infection as they tend to work in close contact with the public and colleagues, and often in confined spaces like trains, buses, the Underground, ferries and offices.

Reports today suggest that a meeting between the government and emergency services has raised specific concerns about the impact on transport services including trains, airports, ferries and bus services. RMT are demanding to see the contingency and safety plans that have been drawn up and to be included in future discussions on coping with the pandemic.

The London Underground is identified as being a high risk area. RMT today dismissed claims from Transport for London that they would simply run a reduced service as there will be less people travelling as "dangerous nonsense that's miles out of touch with the safety implications of running services with inadequate staffing levels."

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, said today:

"We are demanding to see the contingency transport plans that have been drawn up in Whitehall and to be involved in future discussions on dealing with the flu pandemic. RMT members are seriously concerned about the safety implications of so many staff being off sick at the same time.

"If the predicted development of the swine flu is accurate it will have a devastating impact on transport services and will expose both the shortage of staff and the inadequate planning across our fragmented system.

"London is expected to be hardest hit and it would be a dangerous gamble to try and run services without adequate staffing levels," Bob Crow said.

BAA DELAY HEATHROW MINI CAB PLANS BUT FIGHT STILL ON

Taxi union RMT have sent out a warning to BAA that they will not fall for stalling tactics after the company announced late on Friday that they are delaying their plans to undermine the black cab trade at Heathrow by allowing minicab company's Addison Lee and One Transport to operate what is effectively a rank system at the airport.

RMT held a mass consultation with cab drivers at the feeder car park at Heathrow last week at which Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, pledged an all-out fight with BAA over their plans to deregulate taxi services on the airport.

There is no doubt that the big, angry gathering of taxi drivers at Heathrow on Thursday has forced BAA into this short-term climb down.

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, said today:

"RMT knows every trick in the company book and we can spot delaying tactics a mile off. BAA have made it crystal clear that their plans are only "delayed" and not scrapped. This is not unusual when a company is forced on the back foot and we won't fall for the old "rope-a-dope" tactics.

"We will now be strengthening our organisation and our campaign in the weeks ahead to ensure that this temporary delay in opening the door to Addison Lee and One Transport is turned into a long-term victory with the plan killed stone dead."

RMT warns of £6 billion funding gap for transport in London

TRANSPORT UNION RMT warned today that services in London are staring down the barrel of a £6 billion funding gap which threatens to wreck modernisation schedules and plans for the 2012 Olympics while leaving thousands of jobs under threat.

The warning comes on the day that a new London Assembly report points to a £1.7 billion transport income gap as a result of the recession which it predicts will open up between now and 2018.

This latest funding bombshell comes on top of TfL's existing £2.5 billion savings programme and is in addition to a £2 billion finance row between TfL and the Tube Lines consortium. With the costs to the taxpayer from the failure of the Metronet privatisation added in the total cash gap racks up to over £6 billion.

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, said today:

"This £1.7 billion cuts bombshell takes the total black hole facing transport in London to over £6 billion. In the run up to the Olympics, it puts the entire future of services across the capital on the line.

"RMT have warned repeatedly that the threat to jobs is part of a wider package of savage cuts to the transport budget in London which can all be traced back to the failure of privatisation. These figures prove that point conclusively. The modernisation of the tube is under serious threat and the ability to deliver in time for 2012 is left in serious doubt.

"The solution is simple. Bring Tube Lines back under public control and draw a line under the privatisation disaster and then demand government investment to protect London's transport services. If the government can find billions to bail out the banks then they can find the cash needed for world-class transport services. The alternative is real cuts in jobs and services and transport chaos."

Absent Friends!

RMT warns of new PPP collapse on Tube as £2 billion funding row erupts.

Tube union RMT warned today of another potential privatisation collapse on the Tube as a £2 billion funding row broke out between Tube Lines and Transport for London which could put essential works and thousands of jobs at risk in the run up to the 2012 Olympics.

Tube Lines, which holds the contract for the repairs and refurbishment of the Piccadilly, Northern and Jubilee Lines, has attempted to hack £2 billion from it's estimated costs of £ 7.2 billion on the work programme for the next seven and half years with a significant scaling back of the scope of the planned works.

TfL have estimated that the full scope of the essential upgrading and modernisation programme could be delivered for £4.1 billion and the government arbiter concluded it should cost no more than between £5.1 billion and £5.5 billion - leaving a £2 billion black hole on the Tube Lines budget.

Bob Crow, RMT General Secretary, said today:

"It is clear that there is a £2 billion stand off between Tube Lines and TfL on the works programme on the Piccadilly, Northern and Jubilee Lines with tube users and tube workers caught bang, smack in the middle.

"This row all stems from the botched PPP privatisation of the Tube and it is not out of the question that we could see another failure similar to Metronet or National Express on the East Coast with Londoners left to pick up the pieces.

"Meanwhile, jobs and essential works on these lines are left at risk in the run up to the 2012 Olympics. Our advice to Boris Johnson and TfL is to seize this opportunity to get rid of Tube Lines, take these works back into direct public control and work out a funding programme which protects jobs and the upgrade programme in the run up to 2012 and beyond."

Jarvis Redundancies

To all Jarvis, Network Rail Maintenance, Balfour Beatty, Babcock Rail, Amey, Colas, Carillion members

 Dear Colleague,

REDUNDANCIES – JARVIS

Our Jarvis members put on a magnificent show of solidarity during the strike action they took last weekend. This industrial action had a huge impact on the company as it had to cancel a large number of work it had planned during that time. 

As it stands, there has still been no progress made on our demands for no compulsory redundancies and for a full 90-day consultation period. That is why our Jarvis members will once again be taking strike action next weekend and I am asking them not to book on for any shifts which commence between 06.00 hours on Saturday 11^th July and 06.00 hours on Monday 13^th July 2009.

I would urge everyone to do all they can to support this strike action and to make sure that members at other on-track and renewals companies do not take on the work which our Jarvis members would normally carry out. I would also hope that non-RMT staff at Jarvis would respect their colleagues who are taking industrial action and not carry out the work usually done by RMT members. 

Everything possible should be done to support our Jarvis members through this very troubling time and to help them get the message to management to enter meaningful and constructive discussions with your union. We have to put a stop to the jobs massacre taking place in this company and, by taking industrial action, I am sure our Jarvis members can help to achieve this.

Yours sincerely

Bob Crow

General Secretary

RMT CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION INTO USE OF MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS

Transport union RMT today called for a full National Audit Office investigation into the use of management consultants by Transport for London after new figures showed that over £15 million has been spent in one section alone, congestion charging and traffic enforcement, in the past two years. The union are also referring the matter to the Transport Committee of the GLA.

RMT has today submitted Freedom of Information requests demanding details of the consultancy spend in another nine sections of TfL opearations.

The bulk of the congestion charging and traffic enforcment cash has been spent on a consultancy contract with Deloittes whose partners charge TfL an incredible £2,761 a day.

Transport for London are currently looking at a multi-billion pound cuts programme and thousands of jobs are known to be at risk across TfL and the Tube.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said today:

"While TfL staff face the prospect of being thrown on the dole in a jobs massacre, the sky's the limit for the management consultants who appear to be able to charge what they like when they like with no serious accountability to Londoners. That's why RMT are demanding a National Audit Office investigation into the use of management consultants right across Transport for London.

"Some of these management consultants earn in a week what some TfL staff would struggle to earn in a year , yet we get lectures from the same managers who are signing off these grotesque fees about how RMT members should take a hit on pay and job security to help them balance the books.

"We are going to fight for a forensic examination of the use of management consultants at TfL We want to know just who is signing off these millions of pounds of taxpayers money and why they are doing it while thousands of TfL staff face the threat of the sack."

Tory claims £57,000 to rent flat from own company.

Brian Binley claimed £1,500 a month to rent the flat for more than three years, despite House of Commons rules forbidding MPs from renting properties from themselves or their companies.

The Daily Telegraph can disclose that Mr Binley’s rental claims were first flagged up by parliamentary officials in April 2006, but the payments were not stopped until April of this year.

In 2006, he was told that the claims were not allowed. But he was permitted to continue claiming after appealing to Michael Martin, the Speaker of the House of Commons. Mr Martin only ruled in April 2009 that the claims must stop but Mr Binley has not had to repay the £57,000 he improperly received while the Speaker deliberated.

The latest disclosure concerning MPs’ expenses will cast further serious doubts over the policing of the system by the parliamentary authorities.

The House of Commons is expected to publish details of each MP’s expense claims tomorrow. However, the information is expected to be heavily censored, with addresses and other key details blacked out. With only this information, questionable claims — such as those made by Mr Binley — would be very difficult, if not impossible, to uncover.

The latest disclosure comes as:

The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner began an investigation into the expense claims made by Shahid Malik, the Communities Minister. The Daily Telegraph disclosed last week that Mr Malik received thousands of pounds to rent “office space” which was actually on the ground floor of his constituency home.

It is not clear why Mr Binley, the MP for Northampton South, was permitted to continue receiving substantial sums of taxpayers’ money for more than three years despite being in breach of the rules.

Mr Binley was elected to the Commons in May 2005. He at first used the “second home” parliamentary allowance — the additional costs allowance (ACA) — to stay at the Carlton Club in London, a gentleman’s club for Conservative supporters.

In February 2006, he began claiming rent at £1,500 a month for a flat in Pimlico, close to the Houses of Parliament. Land Registry records show that the flat is owned by a company called BCC Marketing, which had purchased the property in December the previous year for £345,000.

Mr Binley is the chairman and founder of BCC Marketing and currently owns 20 per cent of the shares in the company. His wife Jacqueline holds a further 20 per cent of the shares while his son James works for the business.

Initially, the arrangement for Mr Binley to pay his own company may have been within MPs’ rules. In 2005, the Green Book, which sets out parliamentary rules, stated that MPs were barred from claiming for “the costs of leasing accommodation from yourself”. However, in April 2006, the rules were tightened specifically to bar MPs from paying rent to their own companies. Following the change, the House of Commons fees office contacted Mr Binley to inform him that his arrangement was outside the rules.

Mr Binley appealed and, when Mr Martin rejected it two months ago, Mr Binley says that he moved out of BCC Marketing’s flat and into nearby premises.

He has insisted that the rent he paid to the company did not fully cover the costs of the mortgage on the flat. However, had he bought the flat directly himself he would only have been able to claim for the interest on the mortgage, which is substantially less than the full cost of repaying the loan.

After The Daily Telegraph began disclosing information about MPs’ expenses last month, Mr Binley held a public meeting in his constituency and handed out copies of his expenses, with addresses redacted.

“I have dealt with my expense claims honourably and honestly, and will be handing out a full breakdown of my claims, year by year,” said Mr Binley at the time. “Anyone who wants to tar us all with the same brush should be ashamed of themselves.”

Mr Binley’s actions are likely to put David Cameron under pressure to discipline him. It is understood that the MP’s controversial arrangement had not been disclosed to the Conservative Party’s scrutiny committee, which is examining expense claims made by the party’s MPs. The committee is now expected to re-examine Mr Binley’s expenses.

Mr Binley defended his decision to pay rent to BCC Marketing. “I am an MP from a working-class background who knows that most of his constituents don’t earn much above the average wage and therefore treats taxpayers’ money with the care it deserves,” he said.

“I did rent a flat for the reasons that I have stated from a company that I founded. The rent charged included council tax, water rates, electricity, gas, and all the furnishings and white goods in the flat. In addition, I paid the cleaner, rightly and properly, from my own pocket.

“When the mortgage was taken out, it was totally cleared by the Fees Office and when the rules were changed which stated that I could not rent from a company that I had an interest in, I appealed that decision. I sadly lost that appeal, accepted the decision and found another flat which unfortunately costs the taxpayer more money because that is the going rate.”

Brian Binley and how his conscience is clear, this is just a witch hunt

Happily, I have never lived in a totalitarian state. But this week I was given an insight into what it must have been like in the dark days of East European Communism to receive the infamous knock on the door from those delightful individuals who once did the dirty work of the Stasi and the KGB.

In my case, it came in the form of an email from the Daily Telegraph, informing me that I had "questions to answer" about my living arrangements in London in the three years after I was elected to Parliament in 2005.

My conscience was perfectly clear, and after reading the "accusations", I knew there was nothing for which I had to answer and duly contacted the reporter to explain the situation.

But frankly, I might not have bothered. Sadly, such is now the Telegraph's thirst and hunger for making mischief since obtaining the records of MPs' expenses, that it has long since abandoned the idea of fair and honest reporting.

Of course, some MPs have deservedly been exposed for the misuse of public funds, be it claiming for non-existent mortgages, "flipping" between homes, or claiming a fiver for a wreath they bought for Remembrance Sunday.

But now the newspaper has turned it into a McCarthyite witch-hunt for the sake of a circulation increase. It is doing the reputation of British journalism a lot of damage.

Anyway, I phoned the reporter, and began to explain the situation, but it did not take me more than a few seconds to realise that she had no intention of engaging in a fair and proper conversation. She – or rather the Telegraph's newsdesk – had already decided that they were going to run a story about me and whatever I said was not going to change that. Her attitude was aggressive and sometimes downright rude, and it left a sour taste once I put the phone down.

I then waited with baited breath for Wednesday's Telegraph to come out, and when it finally did, I was stunned.

Stunned that my story had made its front-page lead; and stunned by the insidious implications, like referring to me as a millionaire. What on earth is the relevance of that, whether I am or not? It was a grubby way of insinuating that I was some hard-nosed capitalist out to make an easy buck at anyone's expense, and I deeply resent that.

For the record, the Telegraph implied that I had broken the rules by renting a flat in London that was bought by a company I founded, and ran, before becoming an MP, and that, essentially, I was paying rent to myself. Bunkum.

My company did buy a property near Westminster, but it was a commercial decision agreed to by the board of directors. It was the property of BCC Marketing, and it was perfectly correct that I pay rent. And let me make two points here: if I didn't pay rent to BCC Marketing, I would have had to pay rent to another landlord and the rent I paid was all inclusive (council tax, utility bills, and so on), and cheaper than I would have paid for similar accommodation I might have rented privately.

And the company was about £38,000 down on the deal over the three-year period. So much for implying that I had diverted taxpayers' money for my own personal benefit.

I had cleared my living arrangements with the Fees Office at Parliament, and then the rules changed, so I had to move out, though I appealed against the changes before I did so.

All in all, it is a non-story. My Northampton South constituency executive have always been aware of the situation and were perfectly at ease as I featured in news bulletins during the day. I obliged with all interview requests, because I was angry at what the Telegraph had done, the way it had ignored my explanations, and the damage to my reputation.

Thankfully, the local media in Northampton have been extremely professional in their treatment of the story. So much so, that constituents who were initially angered after first reading, or hearing, the "allegations" about me, and said so, have since been in touch to apologise and admit that further investigation reveals nothing. Exactly.

And this is the point. The Telegraph is doing enormous damage in its hunger to exploit the expenses scandal to its own commercial profit. Of course it did some good initially, and of course the expenses system needs an overhaul. I have been saying that since I first arrived at Westminster.

But this has gone too far, and it is about time someone stood up to them. They have taken it upon themselves to become judge and jury, without any thought to seeking the truth before they publish.

It reminds me of Rudyard Kipling's famous quote for Stanley Baldwin: "What the proprietorship of these papers is aiming at is power, and power without responsibility – the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages."

Renationalisation of East Coast Route

Dear Colleague,

RENATIONALISA

TION

OF EAST

COAST ROUTE

"RMT welcomes today's announcement by the Government on the renationalisation of the East Coast route but this shouldn't be a short term, crisis measure. It should be a long term solution to the chaos that privatisation has brought to the UK's most lucrative rail franchise. 

RMT's national AGM will send a clear message to the Government today that they should strip National Express of their other franchises and use this opportunity to begin the process of renationalising the rail network"

Bob Crow

RMT General Secretary

Renationalisation of East Coast Route

Britain's biggest rail union RMT today welcomed the renationalisation of the East Coast route.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "RMT welcomes todays announcement by the Government on the renationalisation of the East Coast route but this shouldn't be a short term, crisis measure.

"It should be a long term solution to the chaos that privatisation has brought to the UK's most lucrative rail franchise.

"RMT's national AGM will send a clear message to the Government today that they should strip National Express of their other franchises and use this opportuinity to begin the process of renationalising the rail network," said Bob Crow.

John McDonnell MP, RMT Parliamentary Group Convenor, said:

"The public control of the East Coast Mainline franchise should be a stepping stone to full and permanent public ownership.

"This East Coast franchise should be used as a public sector benchmark - and if the public sector performs better then let's have other franchises back in public ownership too."

Lodging Away?

I have recently become aware of feeler's being put out from management on the subject of lodging away for work, I beleive it is in connection with work that's likely to be taking place shortly in the Wigan area.

Apparently the driving force behind it is Network Rail, and their reluctance to see continue the high levels of non-allocated time. So it appears that Network Rail are turning the screws abit on AmeyColas, and they are exploring possible solutions to the problem, lodging being one.

I know the PSM staff are in the process of a reorganisation at the present time, and that us in the gangs were unaffected. But these signs would seem to indicate that it could soon be otherwise.

It hasn't taken too much thought to reach a decision upon the matter, for myself it is an enphatic "NO THANK YOU!". Now the downside may not be to my liking whatsoever, but then the prospect of being part of what is effectively a gypsy workforce, working anywhere in the country isn't to my liking either.

I started as a depot based worker, and I wish to remain so, I have no interest whatsoever in becoming a mobile worker. If I had then I would have worked for an agency a long time ago.

Lodging away has always been something that is a rarity for us, not the norm. something you did when you had an ES course or a Crane controller's course. As such the frequency has always been extremely low and tolerable.

The frequency that it looks like it is being envisaged would have a dramatic and major impact on my work-life balance, and as such would be an intolerable scenario.

I remember one former colleague who was classed as a mobile worker, said to me that in some eighteen years on the job, the longest period that he had spent in his own bed at any one time during that eighteen years was about three weeks in total.

So for me it's NO! all the way.