TORIES and nationalists have rejected a plea to block a reactionary billionaire from running the troubled InterCity East Coast railway franchise.

Brian Souter’s Stagecoach group is the majority owner of Virgin Trains East Coast, which has backed out early from the franchise – which provides services on the East Coast Main Line between London and Scotland – after making losses.

Labour and trade unions have said the rescue package, the third of its kind for a holder of the franchise since privatisation, amounted to a “bailout” that would save Stagecoach and Virgin up to £2 billion.