BRE York

Hello Elsie!  How are you?

I just lost a big long rambling response, which is not really a bad thing.

BRE is British Rail Engineerng - referring in this case to something that was known as York Carriageworks for over a century.  Its loss was an avoidable tragedy (you might even say a wilful one).  But it disappeared as part of a wider programme that has seen manufacturing abandoned in this country and the railway dismantled and reduced to derelict cash-boxes on rails with no vision or forward plan (High-speed link?  Don't make me laugh.  Tens of billions to save ten or fifteen minutes on a journey that few will be able to afford and even fewer fit into the trains for.  Joke).  The end result is no jobs with any degree of pride for the young of York and many other cities.  The lucky ones move away to work in the growing commercial centres producing the square-root of cock-all for high salaries, the unlucky work in poorly paid jobs back home that regularly turf them out on the street.  Progress.  Wilful tragedy?  Privatise the BR engineering works with full order-books for supplying BR to maximise their value.  Privatise BR with no orders a few years later (no liabilities) to maximise its value.  Engineering firms close for ever.  All makes perfect sense to a Minister and a high-ranking accountant from an international Finance company.  Hence the ever-growing steel and glass towers for the gifted graduates.  Nice.

Funny old world isn't it? Have fun, Elsie!

Thanks Yvonne. Nice of you to drop by and comment. A sin indeed.