Troop Transports

It would no doubt be uncharitable of me to regard this tawdry bit of dog-whistling as a direct response to the murder of a soldier in Woolwich; but charity has never been among my more conspicuous virtues. While Daveybloke's mad old cat lady tries to thrash out a snooper's coalition with Labour, the shadow transport secretary has been paying tribute to the dead in her own special way, by suggesting that veterans of the armed forces should receive concessionary rail travel. Rail companies made more than three hundred million in profit during 2011-12, and spending too much of it on improving services for everyone would obviously be grossly irresponsible, though not quite so irresponsible as involving British personnel in the dirty wars of a foreign power. Still, it is certainly refreshing to see the Milibeing's foot soldiers pandering to the Daily Mail set, rather than doing anything silly like dredging up alternatives, rather than minor modifications, to the present neoliberal theology.