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Sack 'Buff Hoon' say rail unions
Dick Murray29 Apr 2009
Rail union bosses today called for Geoff Hoon to be fired, saying he is the worst Transport Secretary ever.
The demand followed a meeting yesterday at which the unions failed to persuade Mr Hoon to halt future fare rises and job cuts by rail firms.
Gerry Doherty, general secretary of the TSSA transport union, said: "I can see why everyone calls him Buff Hoon." The RMT union responded to the meeting by ordering a one-hour token strike next Tuesday among 1,000 engineers working for Network Rail contractor Jarvis which is axing 450 jobs.
A spokesman for Mr Hoon said: "He made it clear he expects NR and train operators to fulfil their contractual obligations to passengers and the taxpayer."
Reader views (17)
No don't sack him otherwise he will still get his £million pound pension and massive pay of, he will be out soon anyway
- Mike, London England, 29/04/2009 21:22
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Pity! Pity! Poor man is so busy building his and his family's property portfolio with taxpayers' money he does not have time for Ministerial duties.
- Catherine Lombard, London, UK, 29/04/2009 21:12
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They should pass a law that when the transport secretary travels anywhere on the public purse or on official duties, he is prohibited from using anything except public transport. Then at least he might learn something on the job.
I doubt whether Hoon knows what the inside of a train or a tube looks like.
- Nigel, London, 29/04/2009 17:57
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A lawyer/politician, I knew this genetic engineering would go too far - this does not glow in the daylight let alone the dark !
- Wills, Soton, 29/04/2009 17:43
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Labour know they are in trouble when the Unions turn on them. It is the Unions after all who are bank rolling the Labour Party!
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 29/04/2009 17:05
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Only in government are complete failures rewarded with "sideways moves" which allow them to continue drawing the same salary and making obscene expense claims. I might be persuaded to forgive his failure in most departments - but I will never forgive him for the loss of life of our soldiers.
- R.F., Yorks, UK, 29/04/2009 16:32
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He is a champagne socialist lawyer - say no more.
- Tony Gee, London, 29/04/2009 15:20
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He is not the only WORST EVER in this goverment.
- Alex., brighton, 29/04/2009 15:14
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He's been a wandering 'star' of this Labour government, moving hopelessly from post to post. So what do you expect from a clueless, talentless, fill-the-gap Mr Hoon as Transport Secretary.
- K Lee, Cheshunt, UK, 29/04/2009 14:55
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Buff Hoon excels at being the "worst ever" in whatever job he does.At least RMT members will only lose their jobs over his incompetence. Soldiers lost their lives because he couldn't be bothered to get equipment to them on time.
- David Burns, Beckenham, 29/04/2009 13:44
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Hoon's ability appears to be limited to making dubious claims on his expenses.....if he showed as much determination and artfulness in his job he would be a winner.
- P Doff, paris france, 29/04/2009 13:27
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This man is a fool, in times when our railway stations are becoming more and more dangerous places to be at night and late evening, especially for women, and when the crumbling network needs more maintenance to reduce delays, what does Hoon do? does he invest ? no he cuts.
- Brian, Wiltshire, 29/04/2009 12:04
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Where is BuffHoon? Is he on holiday, as he always was as Defence Secretary whenever the brown stuff was hitting the fan?
Perhaps the train operating companies (TOCs) wouldn't be in it solely for short term gain if, as suggested by the Tories and supported by rail experts such as Christain Wolmar, franchise periods were extended so that they had a chance to recoup invested capital. Sounds sensible to me, but is has been ruled out by BuffHoon's department (I'm not sure whether or not he was involved in the decision, or doing a Lord Lucan at the time).
- Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster, 29/04/2009 11:06
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.....that what happens when you join the Masons....!!!
- Geoffrey, Woking,England, 29/04/2009 11:04
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If the rail unions say he is the worst for years, then he must be good. Regretfully the rail unions (unlike many other unions) are notoriously bad at judging situations. Why should rail unions escape the pain in job losses that everyone else is suffering? Get real guys, stop fighting the general public and work for the common good.
- Derek Monnery, Chairman, Essex Rail Users Federation, Bradfield, Manningtree, Essex, 29/04/2009 09:57
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For once I'm in total agreement with Rail Unions (shock horror!). "Worst transport secretary ever" isn't Buff's only qualification though, he's bungled his way through several other posts beforehand.
- Marianne, SW France, 29/04/2009 09:56
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This is the first time the rail unons and I agree.
- Dave Davies, Basingstoke, 29/04/2009 09:40
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