In the BBC report you won’t find a single reference to the fact that Network Rail is an “arm’s length” public body of the Department for Transport with no shareholders or that the Minister responsible at the time was Grant Shapps.
Indeed you won’t find this information in any of the MSM reports.
Nor, will you see this from 2020:
The horrifying train wreck near Stonehaven, Scotland, last week, was the result of the dilapidated condition of Britain’s rail infrastructure. Starved for decades of essential maintenance funding, the railways have been transformed by successive governments into state-subsidised cash cows for private corporations.
Network Rail’s cost-cutting: It carried out a reduction of its maintenance staff by 12 percent between 2009/10 and 2013/14, down by 2,169 to 15,813. Then it set a target of 2019 of further cost-cutting of 20 percent.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/19/ston-a19.html
Talking-up Scotland 
Typically John Redwood says that the Schools, Hospitals and public buildings RAAC problem is NOT the current governments responsibility.
Cut the staffing and repairs budget.
Listened to the prison’s minister on how the prisoner escaped, then an ex-governor, staff reductions, newly recruited staff, older staff taking early retirement.
The system is the same for electricity, one company runs the infrastructure, others get to use the infrastructure.
At least Network Rail seems to have pled guilty.
LikeLiked by 3 people
O/T Breaking News
“A police investigation is to be launched into dozens of baby deaths and injuries at a hospital trust.
The maternity units are at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust”
This is now another (potential) scandal linked to an English hospital re deaths of infants so when will the respective minister whose remit is Health in the UK government , be challenged ( and yes I know we have had what is a ‘musical chairs’ or revolving door re this post – and too via other UK ministerial changes- in the TORY UK various governments led by various TORY PM’s)….
However , in Scotland, we too have seen changes re this ministerial position so why then , when we too have had different people as our Health Secretaries (not as much as UK Tories though)…. does the Scottish government and the CURRENT Scottish Health Secretary always get blamed and be asked to FIX any and all ‘problems’ within our NHS (past, present and future) while their UK respective (current) one does NOT….why indeed…..
LikeLiked by 3 people
I noted DDross was on about a trial going on in the NE by police regarding minor crimes,seeing people died re train crash would he like to see Grant Sharps charged with culpable manslaughter as he is the person in allover charge of Network Rail.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Aye, and still not the slightest squeak of an apology from the Scotland Editor for BBC News James Cook for their/his Mathieson interview of the time attempting to lay responsibility at SG’s door, although it’s possibly in one of his infamous vanishing emails.
Instead of a personal apology, James delegated it to Megan Bonar & Ken Banks to sanitise whilst a diversion was found by Elizabeth House – Lo and behold “Sam Eljamel: Public inquiry to be held into disgraced brain surgeon” with the by now obligatory quote from a Labour MSP, in this case Michael ‘Disnae’ Marra…
LikeLiked by 1 person
PS – I see the GMB Convener Chris Mitchell has been agitating again about rats, reprising his world famous tour at COP26 aided only by an inflatable, but he’s that kinda guy presumably https://archive.ph/aJrxs
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sunak cut the schools maintenance budget 50%. The buck etc. His kids go to £40,000 a year selective school. Tax evader. Wife non Dom status. Billionaire wife’s family business up for tax evading £Millions in India. The wife is credited with making him PM. Dismal failure. ExBank crash, given the sack.
Brexit catastrophe. Schools estate in decline and dangerous. The roofs have collapsed. Westminster Gov spending £1000Billion. Cut Education £6Billion a year 2015 (£48Billion). Cut welfare £18Billion. Funded NHS £125Billion a year. To late. The end is nigh of the incompetent Tories. Especially in Scotland.
HS2 waiting £Billions. People dying on unfit railways that need improvement. In the North and Scotland. To cut journey times through Britain. They take twice as long in the North. Westminster Gov incompetence and historical lack of investment. Connectivity is important to the economy. Get more travel off the roads. Cut flights.
LikeLiked by 1 person
BBC are also ignoring the role of governments in latest data confirming the fiasco that is Elizabeth Line/Crossrail.
Costing just a shade below £20billion, it came in 5 years late and over £3billion over budget. A year after it was launched, to great fanfare due to it being given the Royal moniker, England’s newest railway and at one time the largest transport infrastructure project in Europe is now officially confirmed as Britain’s worst performing railway:
BBC News – Elizabeth line tops list of train cancellations
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66754481
But because it was a joint project between Labour Party, currently holding Mayor of London and previously UK government that first signed it off, and the Conservative Party, previously holding Mayor of London and UK government during massively delayed construction, rather than blaming politicians for this fiasco the BBC decides to ignore their role completely – whereas we all know that every one of the tiny number of late or cancelled ferry sailings in Scotland is the personal failure of First Minister Humza Yousaff.
LikeLike
Its also strange how the BBC never mentions that the privatised operator that runs the Elizabeth Line, officially now the worst railway in Britain, is ultimately state owned – by the Chinese Government! – and profits returned for the benefit of the Chinese Communist Party.
LikeLike