A series of tweets from various sources including politicians, journalists, and unions have highlighted a critical report by the National Audit Office (NAO) on the state of the UK's railways and the government's rail reform plans. The report describes the rail network as failing passengers, with delays to rail reform costing the taxpayer significantly, potentially up to £1.5bn a year. It also criticizes the government for not having a clear goal for its reforms, leading to internal disputes and incoherence. RMT union general secretary Mick Lynch has called for a new approach to create a publicly owned railway to deliver a better deal for passengers, workers, and the taxpayer. The Treasury could face costs of £1.5 billion a year due to delays in implementing the Great British Railways scheme. Additionally, there's a call for bringing the railways back into public ownership to address the cost of living and climate crisis with affordable public transport.
.@denis_campbell : Private healthcare could become ‘a new normal’ as NHS grows weaker | Private healthcare | The Guardian https://t.co/RIAG9g5FbQ
Sensible conclusion here: An increase in UK Private healthcare provision helps NHS which needs all the money it can get - taxpayer can’t carry the whole burden any more as demand grows https://t.co/YUqdchkY29
'My life is on hold.' Ex-NHS nurse Christine admits to @AliMirajUK that she has opted for private healthcare due to concerns about 'getting weaker' whilst waiting for surgery. https://t.co/9LfSAPw2rM
Govt have systematically underfunded our NHS for years resulting in #NHSCrisis The solution is not more privatisation & allowing companies to cherry pick services for profit but to invest directly in NHS staff & services. We must save our NHS. https://t.co/irqQplAHeb
Cancer patients at risk from stretched NHS, says NHS complaints chief https://t.co/Inxjh99eR4
This is not new. Private hospitals have taken on many elective cases over the last 20 years due to insufficient capacity in the NHS hospitals. https://t.co/VvuVNNgrKC
Overstretched NHS putting cancer patients at risk, ombudsman warns | ITV News https://t.co/qMLdkzO3KC
An overstretched NHS with burnt out staff could be putting cancer patients at risk, the health ombudsman has warned, with the most common issues involving the likes of misdiagnosis and treatment delays. My copy for @PA. https://t.co/UINZaEAUsD
Private hospitals ‘cannibalising’ NHS in England by doing 10% of elective operations. Tories reduced NHS to a shell doling out contacts to private hospitals. 30%-40% of payment vanishes in profits. End the scam. Healthcare must not be a profit centre. https://t.co/27vfzwyUoa
The Government's rail reform plans are way off track and passengers are paying the price. Time to bring our railways back into public ownership to address the cost of living and climate crisis with affordable public transport for all. https://t.co/7fuvDDGmEZ
How 'moral distress' is spreading in Scotland's NHS https://t.co/x8wAw893Ml
Despite promising rail reforms for a half-decade, the government’s refusal to act this side of an election means no improvements for passengers and higher costs for taxpayers👇🏻 https://t.co/4WKiPWsCww
The rail sector's performance for passengers & taxpayers is not good enough. @transportgovuk identified problems that need to be addressed, but it's not turned that into a deliverable programme. None of the benefits it identified are on target. Watch the NAO's @jonnymood 👇 https://t.co/4Ol66YUVcT
This has been caused by this government’s fixation with protecting the vested interests of privatisation at the expense of rail staff and users. We need a new approach to create a publicly owned railway which will deliver a better deal for passengers, workers and the taxpayer. https://t.co/vH58abiREB
Delays to the Government’s flagship rail reform scheme could cost the Treasury £1.5bn a year, per the National Audit Office Great British Railways is still years away from being up-and-running, the NAO said in a report 🔎 @BenGartside reports https://t.co/1kGmKmvVf2
RMT responds to National Audit Office report: @RMTunion general secretary Mick Lynch said: “We need a new approach to create a publicly owned railway which will deliver a better deal for passengers, workers and the taxpayer.” https://t.co/Td7TJ4dPGa
Devastating report on rail reform highlights fact that govt had no clear idea of what it was trying to achieve. Endless internal disputes and incoherence https://t.co/pRB5VQ5PWK
This National Audit Office report is absolutely damning about the state of our railways. It is clear that: 🚂The rail network is failing passengers ❌Ministers are not making progress to fix our broken railways 💰Delays to rail reform are costing the taxpayer 🧵A thread... https://t.co/6zqiXs4CGJ