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26 August 2015updated 28 Aug 2015 8:22am

Here’s the real reason we can’t renationalise the railways

Jeremy Corbyn and Andy Burnham have both pledged to renationalise the railways - but we can't do that while we're in the European Union, says Kate Hoey. 

By Kate Hoey

As we approach the end of Labour’s leadership contest one of the most interesting things about the last few weeks has been the resurgence of policy ideas that many had thought Labour had confined to the rubbish bin.

Take the nationalisation of the railways. When Ed Miliband was the leader of our party, efforts to put immediate renationalisation in the manifesto were thwarted. One year on, and both Andy Burnham  and Jeremy Corbyn have promised to renationalise Britain’s railway network.  The debate has certainly shifted left, but could either Andy or Jeremy deliver on such a promise? I’m not so sure, as neither candidate have said how they would address the big obstacle that their promise faces: the European Union.

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