The fat controller strikes...

The Guardian reports that the Government has acquired - as if by statistical magic - a train set:

"The Channel tunnel rail link and the British end of Eurostar were effectively "nationalised" yesterday through a ruling by the Office of National Statistics that they are under the control of the government.
The ONS said the parent company of the two businesses, London & Continental Railways, has been reclassified as a public non-financial corporation - similar in status to Royal Mail and London Underground - because of the government's influence on its policy and purse...
The ruling means that the government ultimately owns 11 of Eurostar's 31 trains, which are part of the British arm of the cross-Channel services. Ticket office and sales staff on this side of the Channel become public-sector workers. So does LCR's chief executive, Rob Holden, who is now one of the highest-paid employees on the public payroll with a salary of £358,000 plus undisclosed bonuses."

And no, I don't know what it means, and I rather suspect that neither does The Guardian.

Update: All is explained - it was Gordon Brown's birthday yesterday.