Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Marsh (Crossbench). It was answered on Tuesday, 20 March 2007.

Railways: Parliamentary Scrutiny

Question: My Lords, is the Minister aware that a group of us spent a lot of time discussing this issue with the former Prime Minister Mrs Thatcher and that she was warned in many of those sessions? The Government ought not, therefore, to be terribly frightened; the proposal did not come from them in the first instance, which is unusual. Do they not now agree that the decision to privatise the entire railway system was a major mistake and that such a measure is unknown in almost every other European passenger railway system of any size, yet we continue with it and everyone hears the complaints? Is it not high time that we had a serious examination? A long time has passed; there is a lot of experience. Perhaps the Government could start the examination witha survey of what passengers think of the current system.

Answer: My Lords, the noble Lord’s important and compelling statement about rail privatisation is absolutely right. I am sure that it will not have escaped the notice of most Members of your Lordships’ House that the Opposition themselves have begun to apologise for what they did to the rail network. We have a system of parliamentary accountability; it was our Government who ensured that it was maintained. Indeed, the legislation that followed the 2004 White Paper brought more issues back under parliamentary scrutiny so that the rail network could be held properly to account through Ministers.

Secondary information