The capitalist paper with the public service monopoly

Posted in Tubeworker's blog on ,

For a capitalist paper which believes in the power of the free market, the Evening Standard seems to do very well without competition on the public railway.

The paper routinely attacks workers and attempts to push an anti-union agenda; sometimes with several articles calling for Tube strikes to be banned in a single issue. And for the millions of daily commuters there is no alternative voice on the Tube, other than this anti-worker Tory propaganda piece.

And now it is to be edited by former Tory Chancellor George Osborne, who is set to rake in millions from his three jobs - MP, consultant for financial firm BlackRock, for which he receives £650k for four days work per month, and now Standard editor - in addition to the money he makes from his shares in his family's wallpaper firm.

The Tube promotes "Art on the Underground", which it describes as “a pioneer in commissioning contemporary artworks that enrich the journeys of millions on the Tube every day.” The effective lack of a free press on the Underground actively militates against the enrichment of our intellect and public discourse!

Of course, the real solution is to fix the problem at its source: stopping a few billionaires from owning so much of the world’s print media.

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