The Brexit Arms. Please drink ( & post ) responsibly.

[surferjet]

Here's an article by Kate Hoey from last year about the rail re-nationalisation issue:

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/08/renationalise-railways-what-no-one-will-tell-you-we-cant-while-were-eu

"...It would be hyperbole to say that all efforts to renationalise the railways would be blocked by the EU, but it would be equally naïve to dismiss the problem. The facts are simple: the EU creates real legal problems for any nationalisation agenda and will bind the hands of a future Labour Government that attempts to deliver on such a manifesto policy. Honest politics demands detail: before they can give renationalisation a green light, we need to know exactly how the candidates plan to get the EU-shaped elephant off the tracks..."

Am not remotely offended Darth!

I agree that the EU does create problems with the complete renationalisation of the railways.

However, there are nationally owned companies operating in most EU countries, it doesn't have to be fully privatised.

The thing it also doesn't address is that the EU is only one of a large number of serious issues with any renationalisation of rail, and one that may be changed with cooperation.

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/4th-railway-package/

"...Opening domestic passenger markets
The 4th railway package includes the proposal to open up domestic passenger railways to new entrants and services from December 2019. Companies would be able either to offer competing services, such as a new train service on a particular route, or to bid for public service rail contracts through tendering. The proposed changes would make competitive tendering mandatory for public service rail contracts in the EU..."

Its a proposal, it can be changed.

Wouldn't public service rail contracts have stipulations about operation anyway? TFL seems to be doing a good job of beating private competition at this at the minute.

As I said anyway, all the talk of the EU doing XYZ is a moot point, Brexit is being led by the most arch neo liberals of the lot.

Its why the lexit vote was extremely misguided.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/07/uk-at-risk-of-brexit-trade-catastrophe

Canadians agree with Britain's former ambasador to the EU, say trade deal likely to take a long time.

Can anyone explain to me why the Guardian has a picture of Arkadiusz Jozwik who was murdered in Harlow at the top of an article about hate crime against Poles? Even the article acknowledges that his killing was not a hate crime. Should I try harder to understand the bizarre contortions of the Guardian mind, or not bother? I can remember when this was all fields and the Guardian was a newspaper.

www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/07/poles-lin-uk-scared-to-speak-up-on-hate-crimes

Because it was orginally reported as a hate crime in the press, so its relevant being Polish man whose murder has been reported as a hate crime previously.

"The death of Arkadiusz Jozwik, 40, in Harlow was initially reported as a possible hate crime, becoming one of the most high-profile incidents of violence linked to the result of the EU referendum, although it is understood that prosecutors are not treating it as such."

But 'incidents of violence linked to the EU Referendum' have been admitted to being massively overstated. The police force who said hate crimes have gone up x% have admitted that statement was erroneous, we actually live in one of the most peaceful, least violent, least racist times ever.

Have you got a link to that police statement, infinite?

Mind you, here's a shameful reason why reports of hate crimes might have reduced:

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/07/poles-lin-uk-scared-to-speak-up-on-hate-crimes?client=safari

And yet they are up by 41%:

www.google.co.uk/amp/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/37640982?client=safari

Yes that's the report that's been completely refuted it he 41% figure came from one police statement taken out of context. It was one small area extrapolated to form a meaningless sound bite you've done the link for me @Kaija thank you just read and research it yourself if you want full facts rather than a virtue signalling toddler wah wah

Ok, but I couldn't find anything refuting it. Where did you see it?

Research it yourself I did. The statistical analysis is sheer bunkum just look for the source of the report.

I think you may have just made it up.

yes that's right Google Truevision it's the source of the figures they are unsubstantiated and the police chief who first said them is horrified at the way they've been extrapolated and misused. If you keep reading just the BBC and Guardian you won't ever get true facts.

So point us in the right direction. Where have you seen the more accurate figures, and what did they say? That the rise was smaller? That there was no rise?

I have pointed you

Sorry - too subtle. Where are they?

The 41% figure comes from the ONS:

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crime-england-and-wales-2015-to-2016

The statistical tables are available also.

There were articles in The Spectator rubbishing the figure, saying that the rise in reports was due to a change from monthly to weekly reporting, reporting of hate crimes through True Vision and how the designation of crimes as hate crime is subjective:

www.spectator.co.uk/2016/08/the-real-hate-crime-scandal/

blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/10/increase-hate-crime-really-tells-us-post-brexit-britain/

I should say that I could imagine slightly more sceptical about the robustness of the evidence for this, were it not for the fact that several of my EU friends and colleagues have received racial/xenophobic abuse in the last 7 months for the first time after many years of living in this country. And none of those incidents were reported, which makes me think that, whatever the official figures, they are just the tip of the iceberg.

and lets not forget the threats Anna Soubry and Gina Miller received.

I think the figure being rubbished should have been the 58% increase in reported hate crimes in the time around the EU referendum:

From the news bulletins of the National Police Chiefs Council:

news.npcc.police.uk/releases/hate-crime-is-unacceptable-in-any-circumstances-say-police

news.npcc.police.uk/releases/hate-crime-undermines-the-diversity-and-tolerance-we-should-instead-be-celebrating-1

The bulletin listed above notes the shortcomings of reports through True Vision.

news.npcc.police.uk/releases/hate-crime-incidents-reported-to-police-have-reduced-following-a-spike-after-the-eu-referendum

news.npcc.police.uk/releases/tackling-hate-crime-remains-a-priority

News bulletins from the NPCC also confirm an increase in recorded hate crimes, partly due to better police reporting systems and victim support:

news.npcc.police.uk/releases/increases-in-hate-crime-incidents-driven-by-better-reporting

And this one from September says that reporting of crimes fallen but still a 14% increase from Sept 2015:

news.npcc.police.uk/releases/tackling-hate-crime-remains-a-priority

Of course, for those that don't like coverage by the BBC or The Grauniad, there is always the so unbiased reporting of the Daily Fail to fall back on:

www.google.co.uk/amp/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3805008/amp/The-great-Brexit-hate-crime-myth-claims-epidemic-race-crimes-referendum-simply-false.html