The railways, which are all diesel operated as there are no electrified lines, receive a subsidy of pounds 7.3m, but this amount is declining each year under Government spending restrictions, which is why privatisation is seen as a long-term option.As in Great Britain many branch lines were closed in the 1950s and 1960s leaving a truncated network.The main line between Belfast and Dublin was also the subject of regular terrorist attacks which further added to the decline in the infrastructure. Last year, there were 6.14 million passenger journeys for the railways, an increase of over 7 per cent on the previous year. Although Stagecoach, the acquisitive bus company, has had two meetings with ministers on plans to take over the service, the Government denied there were any firm plans for a takeover. Northern Ireland benefits from an integrated transport policy that would not be allowed by Tory dogma in Great Britain.A single company, Northern Ireland Transport Holdings, owns both the railways and the two main bus companies, Ulsterbus and Citybus and therefore runs the services in co-operation with each other.The lines were nationalised in the late 1940s. Northern Ireland Railways only has 206 route miles, much of it single track, which is why little attention has been paid to its fate, until today's rail debate. In a series of Parliamentary answers earlier this year, Junior Northern Ireland minister Malcolm Moss admitted that the Government was looking at privatising the non-core activities, but stressed that a plan to franchise the whole network had been shelved. He said yesterday: "I would be very surprised if any of them would abstain, let alone go into the Opposition lobby on Wednesday."Tony Blair, the Labour leader, upped the stakes in the Commons yesterday, when he raised the sale issue at Prime Minister's Questions.He asked if one reason for the Tory defeat in last week's Staffordshire South East by-election was not that "people don't want to see their railway system broken into a 100 different companies, sold on the cheap, laced with sweeteners out of the taxpayers' money?" He said "hundreds of millions of pounds" were being spent on selling-off the railways, "when the vast majority of people would like to see that money spent on improving it as a public service".Mr Major said Labour governments had closed more than 600 stations while the Tories had opened more than 220.Opposition to the sell-off among the public is underlined by an ICM poll for today's Guardian, which suggests 43 per cent think services will be "less safe" when the railways are fully privatised, 47 per cent think they will be "worse" and 79 per cent think they will be "more expensive".Meanwhile, the Save Our Railways campaign went to the High Court in London yesterday to seeking leave for a judicial review of the franchising process over the refusal by the franchising director, Roger Salmon, to allow British Rail to bid for the London, Tilbury and Southend franchise..
Fresh legislation would be required for privatisation in the province.With the voting intentions of the Ulster Unionists still unclear last night, potential Tory rebels denied that they would break ranks. A Tory party spokesman said he was confident of a government majority of about 20.Sir Keith Speed, the MP for Ashford, said he was in close touch with the half-dozen Tories who lobbied Sir George Young, Secretary of State for Transport, just before Christmas. Essential rail links should be retained as a public service rather than simply on whether they are financially viable."The people of Northern Ireland had an interest in Railtrack, because of the importance of the West Coast line from London to ferry points on the Irish Sea.But the Northern Ireland Office statement faxed yesterday to Unionist MPs appeared to satisfy their concerns about the future of Northern Ireland Railways.The statement repeated the Government's commitment to "a programme of maximising private sector expertise" through market-testing and contracting out, but said there was "no current timetable for privatising public transport in Northern Ireland". He said: "Rather than having a disjointed system, the roads and railways in the whole of the UK all should fall into one plan. As Clifford Forsythe, the Ulster Unionists' transport spokesman, signalled that his party's nine MPs were hostile to privatisation, the Northern Ireland Office moved to reassure them that there was "no truth" in reports that railways in the province would be sold. With all the other minor parties also opposed to the controversial privatisation, tonight's vote could turn on the loyalty of just one Conservative MP.Mr Forsythe, MP for South Antrim, warned that the railways must remain an integrated public service. The Government's one-seat Commons majority will be put to the test tonight, in a vote on a Labour motion calling for the withdrawal of plans to privatise Railtrack.
Britain saw a sharper rise in inequality than any developed country except New Zealand.Far from wealth trickling down from the rich to the poor, figures from Economic Trends show household income has filtered up from the poorest sections of society to the richer ones, the CPAG said.Even after redistribution by taxes and benefits, the poorest fifth saw their share fall from 9.5 per cent in 1979 to 6.6 per cent, while the share of the richest fifth has gone from 37 per cent to 44 per cent.The report calls for fairer taxation, including a more progressive structure, to improve benefits for the poor, warning that policies which encourage privatisation of parts of Social Security and the means-testing of much of the remainder would "result in a general reluctance to finance social welfare".. The figure is more than double the number in 1979: one in three children is growing up in poverty, while living standards of the poor and affluent are "marching in opposite directions" the pressure group said in the latest edition of its handbook, Poverty: The Facts. From 1979 to 1992/3, the real income, after housing costs, of the poorest tenth fell by 18 per cent, while the richest tenth enjoyed a "staggering" 61-per- cent increase. A quarter of the population - 13 to 14 million people - live on less than half the average income, the Child Poverty Action Group said yesterday, writes Nicholas Timmins. Pastures filled with heavily-pregnant ewes or newly-born lambs provide an irresistible temptation to canine predators.The economic consequences of attacks at this time of year for farmers are serious, the IFA stresses: "Killing of young lambs means the cash crop for the year is destroyed." Poor land quality means sheep and forestry are the only viable farming activities in the area.. "In other cases, where [domestic dogs] were returning home after attacks it was a bit easier to control them."The dogs, apparently pets gone wild, began their killing spree in the peninsula west of Killybegs and Ardara last November. Many more sheep have been attacked or gone missing than have actually been eaten.Mr O'Connor said with the almost daily killing the situation is becoming more urgent. "When they get a taste for it, their most savage instincts come out.
At the moment most of the sheep are down off the hills for lambing. But the farmers are running out of grass there, and want them back on the hills, so they are very anxious that the dogs are caught."Farming sources say the problem is particularly acute in Spring with the birth of new season's lambs. Marksmen from England and Northern Ireland have attempted to halt the slaughter by shooting the dogs, but without success. The 42 affected farmers, who have formed their own watches to guard against renewed attacks, are convinced from the frequency of the attacks that the animals are living wild."They are hiding in forestry and it is very difficult to get them", said Christopher O'Connor, local representative of the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA). Any extra money raised would go to charity, the document said.The trial continues today.. Irish sheep farmers are demanding helicopter support in attempts to track down two rogue collies with a taste for spring lamb, which are being blamed for killing up to 800 Donegal sheep.
Aerial surveillance is needed because ground searches of the Glencolumbkille area by dozens of farmers have failed to detect which local forest plantation the dogs are operating from. I have not been part of a group of conspirators."The witness also said that she had not previously heard of the Dorcas fund which was referred to in court on Monday by Mr Hardie, who said it had been set up to raise money to get people to give evidence against Professor Macleod. The witness said that only the Crown was paying her expenses to appear in court.She added that "in an ideal world" the matter would not have come to court. The 36-year-old had her ticket paid for her by the Dorcas fund after the Crown refused to meet the bill for her expenses.In court Mr Hardie produced a document which asked for contributions to meet the pounds 1,500 cost of bringing over from Australia a woman who had complained about Professor Macleod. But she had come to court because she was aware there were "patterns of behaviour" and she feared that Professor Macleod could assault another woman.A third woman who has accused Professor Macleod of indecently assaulting her later confirmed to the court that a private fund had paid for her to travel from her home in Australia to give evidence.
