Selfish rail staff

Once again, during the recent spell of severe weather, it was so heartening to see emergency services – ambulance crews, firemen, power line engineers, police etc – responding, as usual, selflessly and splendidly to the public’s needs. Could there be a rotten apple in this barrel? Look no further than the Rail and Maritime Transport Union, to give it its full, inglorious title. The excuse for striking this time – Sir Richard Branson’s lifestyle, which is entirely his own business and the fruits of an immense amount of initiative and hard work. Virgin trains, in fact, have already made a generous offer to add to an already inflated wage bill. The language and attitude of the RMT is that of pure 19thcentury Marxism.

A year ago, on one of the occasions the RMT brought London to a standstill, a TV crew waylayed general secre- tary Mick Cash and asked how he dared hold a whole city to ransom. His reply: “This is definitely not about money, definitely not.” Really, Mr Cash? In the 1970s, Margaret Thatcher used the phrase “the enemy within” in a context not so very different; no further comment is necessary. MD TAYLOR Ettrick Terrace, Selkirk