I THINK many railway-men in York will scoff at the £33 billion estimate for the new high-speed railway.

We have all seen experts’ estimates before, so probably double the estimate will be nearer the mark.

If the Tories are in power when the HS1 and 2 are completed at public expense, the private companies they allow to run the trains will be making all the profits and the travelling public will be paying ever-higher prices.

A German company is competing for the West Coast franchise, but it could not happen in their country as they did not sell the family silver as we did. Rail privatisation was badly organised at the time, as now acknowledged by the Conservatives.

We should be used to it by now. Gas, electric, water, trains – all foreign-owned – and we even need foreigners to run our football.

The cherry on the cake is the latest foreign invasion which shows the Tories don’t think British is best – a Canadian to run the Bank of England.

Since privatisation we have seen ever-increasing prices along with ever-increasing dividends for shareholders. This, in a nutshell, is the capitalist system under which we live.

Dennis Barton, Woodthorpe, York.