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Running railways is a complex job – we can’t afford to lose valuable experience

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As countries across the world encourage greater competition and modernise their railways, Britain is heading in the opposite direction. While Labour’s rail nationalisation plans has its advantages, it risks atrophying the very leadership skills, entrepreneurship and innovation that has been built over the last three decades. 

While a MP and Chair of the Transport Committee, I saw our rail industry achieve world-class standing. Though challenges remain and better integration of operations and infrastructure is needed, Britain developed something remarkable: deep experience managing complex, operationally demanding railways at genuine scale, combining commercial discipline with the technical and managerial expertise required to run world-class networks. In fact, many countries have looked to the UK model for their own systems.  

The Government’s Railways Bill changes that. It will exclude commercial operators from large parts of our rail system. While  dedicated frontline staff will transfer their expertise into Great British Rail (GBR), the “secret sauce” of proven commercial leadership will not. That capability should become part of Britain’s export strategy – actively sponsoring British transport expertise abroad and positioning operators as strategic assets.  

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Handled strategically, the UK could compete far more assertively abroad, unlocking wider opportunities. Exporting transport expertise to India deepens one of Britain’s most significant bilateral relationships. Embedding British operators in Gulf infrastructure builds long-term influence in a region where presence and credibility compound over time. Working alongside European neighbours on competitive networks strengthens exactly the kind of delivery-focused partnership that underpins the Government’s approach to the EU. 

Britain’s private operators are credible in these markets. They have spent decades solving the problems many expanding rail systems now face: integrating new rolling stock,  managing high-frequency services on constrained infrastructure and modernising networks without shutting them down.  

Today, Britain’s railways manage nearly two billion passenger journeys annually. More than £20 billion of private investment has entered the network since privatisation, while more than three-quarters of passenger rolling stock has been introduced during that period, helping create one of Europe’s youngest fleets.  

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Private operators have driven innovations and efficiencies in the UK.

Commercial leadership of fleet management, network operations, safety systems, workforce development and high-volume passenger delivery is what international transport markets are increasingly competing to secure.  

From national programmes like India to the modernisation of major networks such as the MBTA Commuter Rail contract, there is significant investment in expansion and modernisation, creating demand for operational expertise that Britain has perfected.   

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In Europe, countries like Spain and Germany continue opening markets to greater competition and private participation. These countries are not just looking for infrastructure; they are actively seeking commercially disciplined management teams that can deliver improvements in modernisation and reliability. 

It would be an extraordinary paradox of rail reform to secure greater national control while pushing some of Britain’s most valuable transport expertise overseas. I hope that GBR can still retain and benefit from that private sector skill and innovation, while strengthening jobs, exports and Britain’s long-term industrial influence abroad. 

The Government can make this happen through trade missions. The 2022 rail mission to Australia and New Zealand proves the concept; rail must remain a priority. The Government’s roadshow for the UK-India Free Trade Agreement provides an ideal platform for British operators. Moreover, Labour’s ambition for a closer relationship with the European Union opens a further avenue. Liberalisation of rail markets across the continent is generating demand for commercially experienced operators.  

Incorporating rail operators into those missions, alongside a dedicated strand within the Government’s sector support programme and UK Export Finance backing for British-led overseas concession bids, would channel capabilities that the world has actively sought from Britain. Our new trade Minister, Lord Anas Sarwar, should seize this opportunity. 

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For 200 years, Britain has inspired and shaped railways. Today, the expertise developed by private operators should now be treated as an export we can proudly champion.   

Iain Stewart is a former Conservative MP for Milton Keynes South, minister and chair of the Transport Committee

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Arsenal began their Premier League title defence with the kind of clarity and control that has become their trademark under Mikel Arteta, easing past newly‑promoted Coventry City 3-0 at the Emirates. Goals from Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard delivered a comfortable victory. The performance itself was sharp, connected, and relentlessly dominant. That was the real statement for the rest of the league challengers.

Coventry’s return to the top flight after 25 years brought noise, anticipation and a sense of occasion, but the gulf in speed, precision and familiarity with Premier League tempo was obvious from the opening minutes. Arsenal, fresh from dismantling Man City in the Community Shield, simply picked up where they left off.

Tzolis sets the early tone for Arsenal

Christos Tzolis, electric in Cardiff last weekend, was again central to everything arsenal produced. the Greece international’s energy, aggression and directness shaped the opening exchanges. With three early efforts, two over the bar and one deflected. Saka, drifting inside from the right, also forced a corner after Tzolis popped up on the opposite flank.

Declan Rice, operating with authority in midfield, sent a 25‑yard effort over as Arsenal tightened their grip. Coventry couldn’t get near them. Opta later confirmed the visitors failed to make a single tackle or register a touch in the Arsenal box during the entire first half. The first time any Premier League side has done so since records began in 2007.

The breakthrough arrived on 15 minutes and again Tzolis was at the heart of it. Again pressing high, he robbed Milan van Ewijk deep in Coventry territory. Riccardo Calafiori, stepping forward from left‑back, delivered a low cross into the area. Havertz, sharp and composed, swept in a clean finish to give Arsenal the lead.

It was a goal built on structure and aggression: the press, the regain, the immediate verticality. Arsenal looked fully in rhythm, and Coventry looked overwhelmed.

Saka doubles the advantage

The second goal came eight minutes later. Rice and Ødegaard combined neatly in midfield before Tzolis, now back on the left, whipped in a cross. Coventry goalkeeper Carl Rushworth attempted to intervene but only succeeded in diverting the ball straight into Saka’s path. The winger, perfectly positioned, tucked home from close range.

It was another example of arsenal’s wide combinations functioning smoothly. Ben White, Saka and Ødegaard knitted patterns down the right; Tzolis and Calafiori stretched Coventry down the left. The champions were in complete control.

Coventry’s first half was summed up by their inability to disrupt arsenal’s rhythm. Loum Tchaouna’s overhead kick onto the roof of the net was their only moment of note before the interval. otherwise, they were pinned back, chasing shadows, and struggling to adjust to the intensity of premier league football.

Frank Lampard, overseeing his first top‑flight game as Coventry manager, watched his side scramble repeatedly as Arsenal worked the ball into dangerous areas. White saw a shot blocked, Rice curled one just wide from a short corner, and the champions moved the ball with a calmness that suggested they were already weeks into the season.

Four minutes into the second half, arsenal sealed the result. White, Saka and Ødegaard combined down the right channel, slicing through Coventry’s defensive shape. Ødegaard’s finish was miscued, but the strike deceived Rushworth and bounced into the net for 3-0.

It was a fitting moment for the captain, who had dictated the tempo throughout. Even when Arsenal eased off slightly, the patterns remained crisp and the control absolute.

Arsenal’s midfield machine

Declan Rice and Myles Lewis‑Skelly operated with authority, recycling possession and stepping forward when space opened. Lewis‑Skelly forced Rushworth into a fine save with a curling effort on 53 minutes, while Tzolis continued to threaten, stinging the goalkeeper’s palms with a drive from the edge of the box midway through the half.

Havertz almost added a fourth late on, denied only by Rushworth’s full‑stretch save after neat footwork inside the box.

Overall this was a controlled, confident opening‑night performance from the champions. The patterns were familiar, the tempo was high, and the new pieces, particularly Tzolis have slotted in seamlessly. Coventry struggled, but Arsenal’s authority was unmistakable.

The champions are up to speed. and on this evidence, they will take some stopping.

Featured Image courtesy of The Guardian 

By Faz Ali

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Several major trade unions have reportedly pledged that they’ll resist the EHRC’s transphobic code of practice, which came into force on 5 August. While the new guidance is desperately unclear, many organisations have quickly adopted trans-hostile policies, even where there is no legal requirement to do so.

The news, first published in the Times, follows the announcement that four of the eleven Labour-affiliated unions will boycott the upcoming Labour Women’s Conference in September 2026. Unison, Aslef, Usdaw, and the Musicians’ Union cited the party’s decision to ban trans women from attending the event.

The EHRC code encourages service providers to require that anybody they perceive as trans should use ‘single-sex’ spaces aligned with their sex assigned at birth, or a mixed-sex space. Not all workplaces count as service providers, but this hasn’t prevented some from abandoning trans-inclusive policies regardless.

Unison: ‘We are taking the fight to every workplace’

As such, Unison general secretary Andrea Egan said in a video posted to Twitter/X that, on the EHRC code:

Over 600 members have written to us and provided examples of how the updated EHRC guidance is unworkable. We’ve also heard many employers have withdrawn their trans equality policies in response to this guidance and that is unacceptable.

I’ll be working with our network and equality team to ensure that we are taking the fight to every workplace to make them trans inclusive.

Unison represents some 1.3 million members. It also happens to be Labour’s second-largest union donor, to the tune of almost £26m to the party since 2010.

A spokesperson for Unison also stated that:

The union has an agreed policy recognising that trans women are women, trans men are men and non-binary identities are valid.

As a responsible organisation, Unison is complying with the judgment of the Supreme Court and the recent ruling of the certification officer.

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The impact on trans, non-binary and gender diverse members is devastating. The union will be campaigning for a change in the law to reflect its policy.

NUS: EHRC code is ‘ideologically motivated’

In a similar move, the National Union of Students (NUS) has criticised the apparent bias behind the EHRC code. Avery Greatorex, NUS vice-president for liberation and equality, said:

We are wholeheartedly against this new guidance, and believe that it is not the result of unbiased legal advice, as it should be, but is ideologically motivated by the so-called ‘gender-critical movement’.

We thus encourage activists to resist trans-exclusionary policies.

Critics, including genocide watchdog the Lemkin Institute and even EHRC insiders, have made similar claims regarding the commission’s anti-trans ideology. Likewise, the guidance is already facing a legal challenge from two anonymous claimants, alleging that it fundamentally misunderstands the law.

As such, the NUS has issued a booklet containing advice for members on how to remain trans-inclusive in the wake of the guidance. It includes a letter template for students to send to their vice chancellors, which urges them:

to co-design all policies regarding the new Code of Practice with trans staff and students. Together, I am sure you can create policies that both follow the law and mitigate its trans-exclusionary consequences. I look forward to hearing how you plan to do this.

BMA: Code ‘will not work’ with NHS reality

Meanwhile, the British Medical Association (BMA) council has hit out at the sheer impracticality of implementing the EHRC’s guidance. Whilst that would be valid in itself, it’s particularly true given that the NHS is already dangerously overstretched. Deputy chairman Emma Runswick told the Times that:

Doctors want to be able to provide care to patients of all gender identities … Our concern is that the new code will not work with the reality of NHS services, many of which are already ill-equipped to provide safe and dignified care for trans patients.

Earlier this year, the BMA also criticised the government’s actions towards trans patients with regard to the Cass Review. The BMA’s own review of that report found that it established no evidential basis for the ensuing puberty blocker ban. As such, the government over-reached in reaction to the (already distinctly transphobic) report.

Other unions which have already criticised the EHRC code include the University and College Union, Unite, GMB, Equity and the Public and Commercial Services union.

The ideologically-captured government and its anti-equality equalities watchdog clearly believe that they have free reign to ride roughshod over trans people and their allies. Fortunately, the UK’s trade movement is here to show them that they’re willing to fight for principles of inclusion and fairness for all.

Featured image via the Canary

By Grace

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New research has exposed widespread apparent violations in published secondary-school menus. This comes as parents say stronger standards need backing with proper monitoring and enforcement.

Three in four publicly accessible secondary-school menus which campaign group Bite Back analysed didn’t comply with current 2014 School Food Standards. Meanwhile, new polling has found that 72% of parents support government measures to implement checks that ensure compliance with the incoming updated standards.

The findings come in a new study from Bite Back. It’s a youth-led movement campaigning to change the way unhealthy foods are made, marketed and sold, especially to children.

The charity examined a representative sample of 500 state-funded secondary schools across England and found downloadable menus for almost 400. Of the nearly 400 menus analysed, over three quarters (76%) contained an identifiable violation of the current standards.

The government is planning to roll out improved School Food Standards in the coming months to accompany the expansion of Free School Meals to all children on Universal Credit. But parents are calling for stronger accountability.

Public First carried out separate polling of over a thousand parents across England, on behalf of the School Food Review. It found strong support for greater enforcement of these new standards.

72% supported government measures to check whether food served in their child’s school meets the updated standards. Parents were more confident the reforms would actually improve their children’s school food if they had external monitoring and enforcement.

D’Arcy Williams, chief executive of Bite Back, said:

At a time when the health of 1 in 3 English children is at risk, parents are sending the government a clear message: stronger school food standards must come with teeth.

Schools need the support to deliver, but the companies making money from feeding children must also be held accountable.

Ministers now have an opportunity to ensure the new rules are transparent, independently monitored and properly enforced, so every child gets the food they need to learn and thrive.

Williams added:

These findings are very alarming and expose a system that is fundamentally failing our children. It is shocking to find crisps and chocolate being pushed at breakfast time or processed meats like sausage rolls and bacon baps being served far more frequently than the rules allow.

Young people have been telling us for years that their school food is ‘beige, bland and boring’ and now we have more evidence that they are being surrounded by unhealthy food throughout the school day.

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Schools should be a sanctuary for health and learning, yet the current postcode lottery of food quality is undermining that mission.

Menus repeatedly breach guidelines

The menu analysis found repeated violation examples of unhealthy options offered during breakfast and break times. These included crisps and branded confectionery.

Many menus also advertised processed meat such as sausage rolls and bacon baps, or starchy foods cooked in oil such as hash browns and chips. All more frequently than the current standards permit.

These findings also align with additional insights from the same polling where 1 in 5 children are getting junk snacks like biscuits, crisps, chocolate and sweets almost every day.

Of the menus with no violation, almost none included their break menu options. And these usually account for most other menu violations. This suggests that the true scale of the problem may be greater than the publicly available documents reveal.

The research follows an investigation by the BMJ into the commercial environment surrounding school food.

At the UK’s biggest school food industry event, the BMJ found that 52 of 137 exhibiting companies, more than a third, supplied products high in fat, salt or sugar. These included hot dogs, pizzas, muffins and soft drinks.

The main trade association for school caterers reportedly organised the event. It takes sponsorship from companies supplying products including pizzas, cakes, waffles and ice cream.

Carrera (19), a Bite Back campaigner, said:

Young students have been saying for years that what appears on school menus often doesn’t give us the fuel we need to concentrate, learn and get through the school day.

If you’re not in a canteen every day, you might not realise that. We are surrounded by unhealthy products every day, even in the spaces that are supposed to be helping us grow and thrive.

The new standards are a real opportunity-but the government needs to make sure they are actually followed.

Stephanie Slater, the founder and chief executive of the charity School Food Matters, said:

With these incoming improved standards, we have a once in a generation opportunity to raise the quality of school food for every child.

But the data and the public demand is clear: standards without a robust compliance framework will miss this opportunity.

Parents want to know their children are actually receiving the nutritious meals they need to thrive at school. And that can only happen through a combination of collaborative efforts from school leaders, Food Standards Agency, and Ofsted.

Support for universal Free School Meals

Parents also expressed overwhelming support for the government to go further on expanding access to Free School Meals. 80% supported extending provision to every primary-school child. And a similar number (78%) supported extending it to all children across primary and secondary schools.

The research also found:

• There were 224 schools (57%) providing meat products such as burgers, nuggets, sausages and goujons more often than the twice a week permitted by the standards.
• Hash browns, which as a fried starchy food should be a menu option only twice a week, were being offered more often than that at 144 schools (37%).
• There were 123 schools (31%) using chocolate in solid form, such as chocolate chips or chocolate coating, as an ingredient in dessert or bakes, despite it being banned.

Bite Back said the findings show the government has an opportunity and a clear public mandate to ensure more children receive nutritious and delicious school food. And it can also make sure the companies providing it actually meet the School Food Standards everywhere, for every child.

The government’s proposed School Food Standards would increase the availability of nutritious options such as fruit, vegetables, wholegrains and pulses. And they would further restrict high-sugar foods, drinks and other unhealthy options.

Bite Back is calling for the final standards to cover the whole school day and require complete and accessible menus to be published online. And it wants a properly resourced compliance system of independent monitoring and enforcement to support the standards.

Featured image (illustrative) via the Canary

By The Canary

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Germany’s ‘Alternative für Deutschland‘ (AfD) is classified as an extremist right-wing organisation even by German security services. And the party is determined to be its true racist, eugenicist self. AfD has announced that if it takes power in the approaching Saxony-Anhalt regional elections, it will segregate refugee children into a separate education system. So far, so unsurprisingly evil. But the party also wants to take Germany back to its nazi roots by segregating disabled children as well.

And for good measure, AfD plans to reduce education on the nazi era and politics.

AfD: “the inclusion experiment has failed”

The racist party’s manifesto announced that it finished with integrated education: the “inclusion experiment has failed and and must be ended”. AfD claims that it wants to pull disabled children out of mainstream education for their benefit. It says that it will segregate refugee children to send a “message that their stay in Germany is only temporary” – while it works to shut down the arrival of refugees Germany’s own policies help to create. And even in the refugee schools, Islamic education will be excluded because “Islam is not part of Germany” – making clear just who the AfD’s scapegoat is.

But let’s be clear: this is all about preventing impressionable young people being exposed to, and learning to empathise with, children who are different from them. Nazi ‘othering’ – and the murderous ‘useless eater’ mentality that goes with it – depend on indoctrinating the young to hate those who are not like them.

Keeping German children from being able to empathise and identify with fellow human beings the state – or a political party wanting to control the state – rejects and scapegoats. In the country that gave birth to Nazism and the slaughter of Jews, disabled people, LGBTQ people and people of ‘impure’ or ‘subhuman’ ethnicity, what could possibly go wrong?

Saxony’s education minister Conrad Clemens told Bild that:

The idea of putting foreigners and students with disabilities in separate classes leads to a dangerous division in the classroom. Such ideas are unacceptable for our education system.

Polling projects a strong performance for AfD in the 6 September 2026 Saxony-Anhalt elections.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

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In case you haven’t noticed, I like a sweet breakfast (though so-called “frambled” eggs make an acceptable alternative from time to time). If I could, I’d eat dessert every morning.

Which is why I was very, very excited to see banana fritters-eque fried flapjack bites all over my TikTok and Instagram pages.

So, I thought I’d give the ridiculously easy recipe, dubbed “banana nuggets” by food creator Tom Fauconnet, a go.

The super-simple ‘banana nuggets’ recipe takes minutes to make

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The posts I saw described banana nuggets as a very simple, minimum-three-ingredient recipe: chop up a banana and add it to a pan with oats and some Golden Syrup, maple syrup or honey.

Some recipes call for butter, and others don’t. But come on: I’m not skipping my beloved Kerrygold here.

I ended up using the following amounts of each:

• 1 banana
• 25g oats
• 10g butter
• 1 tablespoon Golden Syrup

As the heat warms the butter and sugar into a caramel, the oats bind to the banana slices, a little like a flapjack (shaking the pan helps to coat the sections without breaking them apart). And the longer they’re left in the pan, the more crispy and golden that buttery outer layer gets.

Like porridge, the exact measurements aren’t strict. You can mostly eyeball it: add more golden syrup and butter if the oats aren’t sticking, and more oats if your banana is looking conspicuously bald.

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I’ll be honest, I wish I’d put more butter in mine. But I was almost out, and the recipe is forgiving – the oats still clung.

Spices like cinnamon are great here, too: I just sprinkled some over the oats in the pan.

I was really impressed by how quickly the mixture came together. For the first minute, it feels like you’ve horribly mismeasured – after that, though, the mix clumps together beautifully. Predictably, given this is basically caramel with toasted oats (which you should use in porridge, too), the smell is divine.

But to get the beginnings of a tan on the outer layer of my bites, I had to leave them in the pan for about seven minutes all-in. (I probably should have been more patient: 10 minutes would have been golden perfection).

The fun really starts once your “banana nuggets” have finished cooking. Many place them on a bed of Greek yoghurt before adding fruit, chocolate chips, nuts and sweet sauces.

Sadly (can you tell I tried this recipe before The Big Shop?), I didn’t have many of those options to play with. Instead, I had to try it with a single square of M&S’ (very good) dark cooking chocolate, which I suppose had the unintended upside of giving me a less tainted banana nugget experience.

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So… what’s the verdict?

Even without the extra toppings, and despite the fact that I undercooked them, these banana nuggets were delicious.

Their crispy, buttery (ignore butter-free recipes!) outer layer was crispy and nutty, giving way to soft, sweet banana.

It’s not quite as intense a contrast as deep-fried banana fritters, but it’s got its own flapjack-like appeal.

I really wish I’d had tart fruits, like raspberries, to eat this with, and Greek yoghurt should be considered an almost mandatory part of this dish. It needs something soft, creamy, and slightly tangy.

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But even with those caveats, “banana nuggets”, which take minutes, taste amazing, and make your whole kitchen smell divine, have already transformed my breakfasts.

Just make sure to be more patient with the cook time than I was – and don’t skimp on the toppings.

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