The train operator has been under fire because of overcrowding and allegedly putting financial returns first.The profits would have been higher, but SWT was fined £4m by the authority for the low standard of the services. Profits were 16 per cent higher than last year’s £34.4m, while the parent company, Stagecoach, increased pre-tax profits by 11 per cent to £244m.John Bancroft, a City banker and SWT user, said yesterday: “The trains are late and dirty and nothing has improved since privatisation.”Anthony Smith of the Rail Passengers’ Council said SWT’s franchise was among the first to be offered and the company had won the contract cheaply. As part of the deal SWT was paid £56m in public subsidy last year and £46m this year, and will be paid £38m next year.Brian Cox, chairman of SWT, said services had been badly affected by industrial action, which was a “one-off hiccup”. Operations were now running at about the same level as last year and were “perfectly satisfactory”.

He said the company was investing in customerservice, but only when negotiations over the franchise were completed would the company be able to invest the hundreds of millions of pounds needed to make improvements sought by critics.In a statement, Stagecoach commented on “another excellent year” with strong growth in passenger numbers.London Transport came under fire from the Advertising Standards Authority yesterday for claiming Tube and bus services had coped “like a dream” on New Year’s Eve. The authority upheld an official complaint against the ad after thousands of people had to walk or wait hours for services.. Tony Blair defended a huge increase in the number of special advisers appointed since the Government came to power yesterday after facing criticism from the standards watchdog on the issue. Tony Blair defended a huge increase in the number of special advisers appointed since the Government came to power yesterday after facing criticism from the standards watchdog on the issue.
Lord Neill of Bladen’s Committee on Standards in Public Life had criticised an increase in the numbers of special advisers since the Government came to power, from 38 to 74, at an annual cost of £3.9m.But yesterday Mr Blair suggested that the Government was entitled to spend the extra money.

During Prime Minister’s questions, he said: “Two million pounds spent on advisers, two million more given to the Conservative Party as well, so I think we are about evens.”He made the statement as Lord Neill suggested the Government had been slow in responding to a recommendation in January that the numbers of advisers should be curbed.As the committee published its annual report, Lord Neill said that some time had elapsed since he made the recommendation He said: “I had rather expected a response. Five or six months have gone by and we have been waiting to hear from them.”Downing Street confirmed yesterday that it would respond to the report next month. A spokesman said the report covered a wide range of issues and deserved full consideration He said: “It demands a serious response. It’s certainly the case that the Government will be responding to it It will be responding to it next month. It is not unusual for the Government to consider its response over a period of time.”In its January report, Lord Neill’s committee warned that the growth in the numbers and powers of special advisers was jeopardising the political impartiality of the civil service.

The report, Reinforcing Standards, recommended a limit on the numbers of special advisers employed by the Government and a code of conduct to regulate their activities.The shadow Cabinet Office minister, Andrew Lansley, said the Tories had made a clear commitment to cut the number of advisers. He said: “The Government’s vast increase in the number of special advisers shows the priority they have given to spin over substance.Labour’s arrogance in ignoring the Neill recommendations shows a disregard for public and expert opinion, which characterises the failings of this Government.”Jonathan Baume, the general secretary of the First Division Association, the senior civil servants union, said he shared Lord Neill’s concern at government “prevarication”. He said: “Lord Neill proposed limits on the number of special advisers. This is very important to protect the political impartiality of the Civil Service.”. The Prime Minister and William Hague launched their fiercest and most personal attacks on each other yesterday. The Prime Minister and William Hague launched their fiercest and most personal attacks on each other yesterday.
Tony Blair accused Mr Hague of being a “drip” and a “nonentity” after the Tory leader sought to embarrass him by reading out a leaked memo criticising his leadership style.Mr Hague, buoyed by a weekend poll that showed Labour’s lead reduced to three points, claimed during question time that Mr Blair had once had it all and had “squandered it with spin and gimmick and failure to deliver”.He said: “Isn’t the real reason that the Government is in such chaos on the euro spelt out in the memo written by your chief guru Philip Gould.”It read, ‘Once again TB is pandering, lacking conviction, unable to hold to a position for more than a few weeks and lacking the guts to be able to tough it out’.

It says, ‘TB lacks conviction, he’s all spin and presentation, he just says things to please people not because he believes them TB has not delivered He is out of touch’. Now do you agree with that or is it just the rest of us?”Mr Blair warned, to Labour cheers: “If you’re not careful I will start reading out what the focus groups say about you!”He went on: “I would have thought you would have liked to congratulate the Government on a day when now there are 978,000 more jobs in the economy, under this Government – 210,000 of them under the New Deal, which you are committed to scrapping.”Mr Hague accused him of changing the subject, because he was losing. Pointing to criticism of the Government by Labour backbenchers such asthe former social securityminister Frank Field, he said: “You started with every political advantage. Now you have squandered it with spin and gimmick and failure to deliver.”Mr Blair, reading out a focus group memo by Mr Gould on Mr Hague, retorted: “You challenged me to read out the [views of] focus groups, so I will.”This is what they say: ‘Boring, false, he irritates me greatly, pathetic drip, nonentity, no substance, no personality, complete waste of time, no policies, and very unimpressive team, particularly William Hague’.”But the Tory leader insisted: “You have run out of steam, you’re running out of time and if you carry on like this, you will be run out of office! Our policy on the euro is settled and that is because I lead my party and you now follow yours!”As Tory backbenchers cheered and waved their order papers, Mr Hague went on: “You wrote yesterday that you thought the euro was a great success. You courageously use articles to say things because you can’t slow-handclap an article.”When are you going to get a grip and end the cabinet confusion and stop your front bench fighting like ferrets in a sack?”But, replying, Mr Blair said the Government’s policy remained “in principle, we are in favour of joining a successful single currency, in practice the economic conditions have to be met”.Rejecting claims of a rift in his Cabinet, the Prime Minister said the sensible approach was to keep open the option of joining the euro and pointed to the Tories’ own “divisions” on the issue.. The Government’s policy on the reform of the transitional House of Lords will be outlined in the Labour Party’s forthcoming general election manifesto, the Prime Minister said yesterday. The Government’s policy on the reform of the transitional House of Lords will be outlined in the Labour Party’s forthcoming general election manifesto, the Prime Minister said yesterday.
Tory and Liberal Democrat peers have suspected that the Government was content with abolishing hereditary peers and was not committed togreater democracy.