Is Grayling the worst Secretary of State for Transport ever?

[Groningen]

The view in the Netherlands is that Theresa May needs all her Brexiteer ministers to survive.The article is called The Blunderer of Westminster. Again article is coming from the Volkskrant.

 

[Howardh]

One of the advantages of having Grayling there is that he appears to be committed to HS2. If another SoS comes in, they’ll have to be convinced f it’s benefits.

That said, could someone advise me if HS2 is too far along to be cancelled?

Have they started to demolish parts of the Euston area yet? Also, has any other infrastructure been put in place? If it's just Euston then I suppose, if cancelled, a station extension would be handy, just a pity for the locals who would have to move.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Have they started to demolish parts of the Euston area yet? Also, has any other infrastructure been put in place? If it's just Euston then I suppose, if cancelled, a station extension would be handy, just a pity for the locals who would have to move.

According to HS2 there are already 62 separate work sites covering active work on 250 different locations. Contacts placed to date total £10 billion, with a further £20 billions worth expected to be awarded in the next few months.

 

[Groningen]

Looks difficult to get out of London in a straight line. Why not let the HSL outside of London.

 

[A Challenge]

The MP for Middlesbrough (Andy McDonald) made the following speech in the House of Commons yesterday (all quoted text from the debate on the Eurotunnel Payment from Hansard), when Chris Grayling didn't appear in Parliament to answer either of the urgent questions asked of him, one of them this one, and the other about his supposed incompetence as Justice Secretary. The Health minster's grounds for appearing instead of Chris Grayling, was, in my view, very shaky:

Preparing for a no-deal exit has required significant effort from the NHS, the pharmaceutical industry and the whole medical supply chain, and I pay tribute to their work and thank them for their efforts on these contingency measures. The settlement struck between the Government and Eurotunnel last week is an important part of these measures. Because of the legal action taken by Eurotunnel and the legal risks of the court case, it became clear that, without this settlement, we could no longer be confident of the unhindered supply of medicines. Without this settlement, the ferry capacity needed to be confident of supply was at risk. As a Government, we could not take that risk, and I doubt anyone in this House would have accepted that risk, either. With this settlement we can be confident, as long as everyone does what they need to do, that supply will continue unhindered. Under the settlement, Eurotunnel has to spend the money on improving resilience, security and traffic flow at the border, benefiting both passengers and business.

The speech made by Andy McDonald (the Shadow Secretary of State for Transport):

Once again, the Transport Secretary is not in his place to answer a question directed to him. His disregard for taxpayers and this House is clear. On Friday he reached a £33 million out-of-court settlement with Eurotunnel to provide services in the event of a no-deal Brexit because the Government were going to lose the case.

The Transport Secretary’s decision to bypass procurement processes in awarding a contract to Seaborne Freight, a ferry company without any ships, breached public procurement rules, and Eurotunnel had the Government over a barrel. Will the Minister now detail the total cost to taxpayers of this decision, including legal costs? How much money will be paid up front?

Eurotunnel will seemingly make Brexit-related improvements at Folkestone. Can the Minister say exactly what sort of agreement the Government have with Eurotunnel? What makes him think that this contract with Eurotunnel will not be challenged on anti-competition grounds? A former Department for Transport adviser said:
“there is a risk it could be construed as another piece of public procurement without open and transparent competition.”
That would risk further legal action and yet more public money being squandered.

Even in this golden age of ministerial incompetence, the Transport Secretary stands out from the crowd. He leaves a trail of destruction in his wake, causing chaos and wasting billions of pounds, yet he shows no contrition, no acknowledgment of his mistakes and no resolve to learn and improve. He is now ridiculed in The New York Times. The mayor of Calais has banned Chris Grayling from his town. The Transport Secretary has become an international embarrassment. The Prime Minister is the only person in the country who retains confidence in this failing Transport Secretary, and she does so only because of her own political weakness. The public deserve to know: how many more calamities is the Prime Minister prepared to tolerate? How many more billions of pounds will she allow him to waste before saying, “Enough is enough”? This country cannot afford this Transport Secretary. He should be sacked without delay.

I find it quite startling that the mayor of Calais has banned him from his town, though I think that is the only new thing I learnt about Chris Grayling from this speach.

The text of the urgent question was To ask the Secretary of State for Transport to make a statement on the payment of £33 million to Eurotunnel over no-deal ferry contracts.

 

[zuriblue]

I had to admit that I did laugh when someone sent this to me:

Private Eye front cover photo featuring Chris Grayling with his hands parted, the speech bubble reads "Clap your hands if you believe in ferries"

In addition the Speaker has rebuked a Labour MP who greeted Grayling's appearance in the Commons with a shout of "Ahoy there"