SHADOW justice secretary and Leeds East MP Richard Burgon opened Aslef’s annual assembly of delegates today with a vision of a “popular, modern and publicly owned” rail network when Labour are elected.
 
Mr Burgon said nationalising the railways was “one of the most popular policies in Labour’s manifesto” and vowed that Labour would “bring our railways back into public ownership.”

He pledged that “the workforce will be at the centre of the process, not as a top-down process, but with those who keep our public services running at the heart of our vision.

“We support the electrification of our railways and that’s a policy that needs to be pushed if we are to meet our climate change targets and it’s a policy the Tories will not deliver.

“Aslef members, and others working on the railway, are well aware of the catastrophically bad decisions that have been made under Chris Grayling as secretary of state for transport. And before he made a mess of the railways, Failing Grayling made a mess of probation resulting in a rise in reoffending.”

Mr Burgon, an employment lawyer with trade union solicitors Thompsons before he became an MP, said Labour will ensure that access to justice becomes a key pillar of the welfare state alongside health and education. 

He also said Labour in government would ensure resources are made available so people know the rights they have and how to enforce them.

“Labour’s vision is for a transformative government, a new ministry for labour and a commitment to govern for the many, not the few.”

He also paid a warm tribute to Bill Ronksley, a former Aslef president, lifelong communist “and a dear friend of mine.”

“It’s a fitting tribute to Bill to carry on fighting as fiercely as he did for a better deal for everyone who works on the railways — and a better deal for everyone.”