Andy Burnham: 'The country is ready' for 'full nationalisation' of railways
4 May 2022, 15:40 | Updated: 19 October 2022, 11:31
The Mayor of Greater Manchester tells LBC the privatisation of public services has proved a failure and should be reversed.
Shelagh Fogarty was speaking to Andy Burnham after he announced plans to re-nationalise buses in Greater Manchester by September 2023.
He went on during the conversation to make a wider point about the failure of privatisation in public services, citing the current cost of living crisis as proof that drastic action on the operation of services is needed.
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"The mantra that Labour bought too much into in the past that the market solves everything, it really doesn't."
He went on: "People can see clearly now that these things we were sold have not delivered affordable public transport [or[ secure public housing for people."
The Mayor of Greater Manchester insisted that "the economics of transport are just fundamentally in the wrong place" following mass privatisation.
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"I would say full nationalisation of rail is the way to go", he told Shelagh, telling listeners he thinks "the country's ready for it."
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Shelagh prodded the Greater Manchester Mayor, stating that his proposal "sounds like a very Corbynista manifesto". He countered by pointing out he had the same policy in his 2015 campaign to be Labour leader.
"We need some real change in the way things are run."
"I'm not saying nationalise everything, definitely not. I'm saying the essentials people rely on for a good life do need to be under more public control."