THE Government justifies the seizing of equities from Railtrack's shareholders by implying that they are authors of their own misfortune, having bought undervalued shares and enjoyed lavish dividends. It is another example of petulant, political vindictiveness.

Some did make substantial gains by stagging initial investments and others have received good dividends, but the majority have not. They accepted additional shares instead, which are now likely to be worthless.

Many invested after the initial public offer, at prices ranging up to £17 per share, believing the company's assets, backed by the government, were virtually gilt-edged and some have received further shares, in lieu of dividends, since wind-up of the company was envisaged.

Conservatives have been accused of whingeing on behalf of shareholders who, it is claimed, since 1996, have received £700million in dividends after having acquired Railtrack in the first place for an undervalued price of £6billion.

Not only is this disingenuous, it is out of context and churlish, especially, as transport minister Stephen Byers asserts that "delivery to rail passengers is more important than dividends for shareholders."

The reality is that private investment was three times more than has been paid out to shareholders.

In the ordinary way, there is a trade-off between risk and reward when investors should have no cause for complaint, but the company's shares were not suspended on a commercial basis.

Had they been, the company could have been liquidated with sufficient assets to recompense shareholders adequately.

But the Government couldn't sell off King's Cross station, could it? So it used the special device of "administration" instead -- and it is also likely to rob thousands of Railtrack's employees of their hard-earned life savings and other people's pension funds, while undermining its down credibility for public-private finance initiatives.

If the Government still intends to "take the money and run," then, at least, it should agree to an independent inquiry into the wind-up of Railtrack but, as with the foot and mouth disease debacle, this is too much to expect from an administration that flouts its own claims for social justice.

COUN J H HIRST (Beardwood with Lammack Ward, Blackburn), Blackburn Conservative Association.