STILL in the same neck of the woods, transport minister David Jamieson has "explained" why GNER was not granted the 20-year East Coast Main Line franchise.

And it is all Greek to us.

His Parliamentary answer is crystal clear, if you are a scholar of the 1993 Railways Act (Sections 26 to 26C).

The rest of us are none the wiser.

As a public service, therefore, we have fed Mr Jamieson's words through our gobbledegook translator.

And here is what his answer really means: "I'm not going to tell you."

Updated: 12:22 Wednesday, November 28, 2001