Pop music guru Pete Waterman has added to the woes of transport minister Stephen Byers by lambasting his "cynical" handling of the Railtrack saga.

In an exclusive interview with ePolitix.com, railways enthusiast Waterman said Byers will have "a lot to answer for" over his decision to place the rail infrastructure company in administration.

"I feel very sorry for Railtrack and I think Stephen Byers will have a lot to answer for in the future. I think this will bite back very hard," warned Waterman. "You can't tell a private company how to spend its money, and then say it's bankrupt when it spends its money as directed by you."

And with Byers and his controversial special adviser Jo Moore still coming under fire for their use of "spin" in the Railtrack announcements, Waterman says the handling of the issue has been "cynical".

He told ePolitix: "When somebody does something as enormous as what Stephen Byers did under the cover of a world tragedy - and let's not kid ourselves about this, where this went - this was political spin of the greatest kind."

Waterman added: "Now I'm not one to judge him on that. His fellow MPs have got to judge him on that, and his fellow party members, but it's cynical when you see it the way that it was done."

Waterman said Railtrack had failed because politicians were unwilling to put in essential subsidies and they lost the most experienced railway workers in the early years of privatisation.

"I pointed out to both the government and the opposition at that time what the problems were going to be - you can't have a railway without a subsidy, secondly you can't allow men with 30 years experience and steeped in railway history to be swept aside by young guns who see the railway industry as another big industry," said Waterman.

Waterman on the National Health Service

Turning to the NHS, the "Pop Idols" star directed some of his hard-hitting criticisms towards chancellor Gordon Brown for failing to embrace the private sector's role in health care.

Waterman argued that people who can afford private medicine should not use the NHS. He said: "I think we should all pay the contribution, but only people below a certain income should be entitled to full National Health free of charge."

"I don't think people should use the National Health if they can afford private medicine. I find it unbelievable that no government has ever taken that on."

Commenting on the Blairs' decision to have baby Leo in an NHS hospital, Waterman said: "Now I can't believe that in this day and age, the prime minister, and in a minute, the chancellor's wife, can have a baby on the National Health. I find that unbelievable."

Waterman criticised the government for their failure to recognise the private sector in health care.

He said: "There is this unbelievable reluctance to admit there is this thing called private medicine. It's unbelievable. I watched Gordon Brown last night, and he's choking on the word 'private'. Can't mention this word. Come on, get real!"