Welcome to FTE Politics, the Financial Times's weekly discussion on what's happening in Westminster.

I'm Sebastian Payne.

In this week's episode, we'll be discussing the collapse of the East Coast train franchise

and whether Theresa May's latest custom union fudge will make any difference whatsoever.

I'm delighted to be joined by our White or editor James Blitz, Chief Foreign Affairs

commentator Gideon Rackman, City Editor Jonathan Ford,

as Deputy Opinion Editor Miranda Green.

Thank you all for joining and if you like this episode of FT Politics

don't forget to subscribe through all the user channels to receive it every Saturday morning.

The big domestic political news this week was the nationalization of one of the UK's

major railways.

For the second time in a decade, the government has been forced to step in and take over the East Coast Main Line

after the private franchise fell apart. Back in 2009 it was National Express.

This time it was Virgin and Stagecoats who failed to make it work.

Naturally this has boosted the nationalization arguments made by Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party.

So who is to blame? Is it the government, the Department for Transport, Chris Grayley, or the whole

franchising system?

Miranda Green, this whole thing is pretty embarrassing for the government because it was only

back in 2015 that the East Coast Railway and back into private handling of this partnership

between Virgin and stagecoach and it lost 240 million pounds last year which for one of the major

railways linking you know London

Edinburgh Newcastle York is really quite extraordinary here it's pretty big

...