East Coast privatisation: Patrick McLoughlin vs. the Great British Public

Last week Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin received our petition from over 25,000 people demanding that he keep the East Coast mainline in public hands.

He's choosing to ignore those people. Today the government released procurement documents for the East Coast line, calling for a 'new private sector partner'. Why is this needed? ​We can only assume that the Minister believes private is always better. Or that he doesn't want East Coast to be run successfully and cost-effectively in public hands. Perhaps the East Coast example threatens the ideology that private is always better.

The East Coast line is returning millions of pounds to the Treasury and only one in five people want to see it re-privatised. Thousands of East Coast rail users sent Patrick McLoughlin a clear message ‘hands off our railway’. So far, he's ignoring the evidence and he's not listening to public opinion. So what can you do to make him listen? 

1) Sign the e-petition for a public East Coast on the government website. Yes, it's another petition but if we can get 100,000 people to sign it, the government has to consider it for debate in the House of Commons.

2) Email Patrick McLoughlin telling him what you think of his decision.

3) Join the actions along the East Coast line on Tuesday 5th November, organised by the Keep East Coast Public coalition. Stations will include Edinburgh, Newcastle, Durham, Darlington, York, Doncaster, Leeds, Newark, Peterborough and Stevenage.

4) Take action for a Public Service Users Bill. Governments should be required to consult us and listen to us before they privatise our services. The Bill would make this happen - please help us stand up for the people who use public services: that's you, that's me, that's all of us.

The Transport Secretary is ignoring the evidence base and ignoring public opinion. It's time for him to listen.