Member

That brings me to unions and pay. The Bill will over time create tens of thousands of new public sector rail workers on a jumble of anachronistic terms and conditions. There should be an independent body to look at what we are inheriting and to advise on what is fair to those employees and the taxpayer each year when it comes to pay. Teachers, nurses, doctors and our armed forces all have independent bodies that help take the politics out of pay. How can it be a good idea for rail union bosses to sit around the table with Ministers negotiating pay without the assistance of an independent pay review body, especially Ministers who from time to time benefit from generous union donations?