22.06.12
Beechinged Railways
Source: Scott McIntosh
I remember Barbara Castle was once asked what was her greatest disappointment when a minister. I think people were expecting her to say the failure of trade union reform.
What she actually said was that when she was minister of transport she wanted railway lines closed under the Beeching cuts to be mothballed and kept for future use, much as churches were handed over to the Redundant Churches Fund. She was opposed by the Treasury which said that government ‘had a duty’ to sell these redundant assets off to reduce national debt – even if they only got a few pounds for them. Typical of UK Government short-termism.
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