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Labour risks placing itself directly in the political firing line under its proposals to bring the railways back under public control, former party grandee Ed Balls has warned.
Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh on Thursday unveiled wide-ranging plans to renationalise the rail system within five years of coming to power.
Under the policy, the party will take over the running of individual rail contracts when they expire over the coming years, handing control to an arm’s length body called Great British Rail.
But Mr Balls, a former Labour Cabinet minister and shadow chancellor, raised his fears that such a move could backfire politically for the party leadership in the future.
Speaking on his podcast Political Currency, he said when the London Underground is delayed passengers are more likely to blame the Mayor of London, rather than questioning whether sufficient funding has been invested into the system.
He added: “All of those issues which happen daily in stations across the country: trains delayed, ancient infrastructure, problems in network connections. From the moment you take control, from the moment it’s ‘Great British Railways’, it’s ‘Why can’t Keir Starmer and Louise Haigh run these railways?’
“And so, they take on an acute, daily, person-by-person, political accountability for the operation of a complex under-invested-in and rather in many places, kind of decaying system. And that is a big political choice.”
His assessment was echoed by former government rail adviser William Barter, who told i that Labour’s plans would mean a future Labour transport secretary would assume control over the timetables of all trains.
“It’s an age old saying that whoever controls the timetables, controls the railways. Up until now the Transport Secretary has allowed the train operators to take the flack for any failures, so under these plans it will be them having to answer, and so they should because they get paid enough.”
The comments came as Labour pledged to bring an end to the “boom and bust” cycle for the rail industry in the wake of two major train manufacturers, Hitachi and Alstom, warning of jobs losses in recent weeks.
Sir Keir Starmer said that as part of its renationalisation plans, Labour will provide greater certainty to train makers by ending the “stop-and-start” they face with their order books, which they say contributes to their financial situation.
It would also seek to bring down costs for taxpayers, support jobs across the industry, and help the sector decarbonise.
On a visit to train manufacturer Hitachi in Newton Aycliffe, Co Durham, Starmer said: “The workforce at Hitachi is staring down the barrel of devastating job losses. Communities and local businesses across the North East will be hit hard if our proud manufacturing base here is not preserved.
“This was not inevitable. Both in Co Durham and at Alstom in Derby, thousands of jobs are in jeopardy because this Tory government has refused to deliver a proper industrial strategy.”
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said Labour’s plans were unfunded, adding: “That means higher taxes on working people. But the real risk for rail passengers is Angela Rayner’s policy to bring back French-style, low threshold, zero warning strikes which will disrupt rail services. That’s because within their first 100 days Labour will reverse all the trade union laws we have passed, making it much easier for rail unions to strike.”
