Grayling proves unbelievable self-belief beats talent

In these benighted times, there are few British politicians who could be cited as role models for the young. But if I were asked to name one, I would, without hesitation, say Chris Grayling. For a very simple reason. He shows that anything is possible.

He does. He is living, breathing proof that all you need, if you want to get somewhere in life, is self-belief. Not intelligence, or talent, or skill, or knowledge, or basic competence, or anything like that. Just self-belief.

This, after all, is a man who, as Transport Secretary, refused to accept responsibility for a calamitous reworking of railway timetables, shelved plans to regulate the use of drones shortly before they brought Gatwick to a standstill, and, most impressively of all, prepared for a no-deal Brexit by agreeing a £14million contract with a ferry firm that didn’t own any ferries – only for the deal to fall through on Saturday, mere weeks before those non-existent ferries may be needed.

But did Mr Grayling let any of these setbacks get him down? Did he falter, and sigh, and think, “Everyone’s right. I’m no good at this job. I should quit, so that someone at least halfway adequate can do it”?

No. He did not. Because Mr Grayling isn’t the kind of wimp who gives up on a task merely because he’s cataclysmically bad at it. He keeps calm, and carries on. No matter how much criticism he receives, no matter how great the pressure to resign, he refuses to let anything come between him and the monthly collection of his pay cheque.

And that, I think, takes a very special kind of courage.

Yesterday the Transport Secretary was hauled to the Commons to explain himself, now that his deal with Seaborne Freight, the ferryless ferry firm, had collapsed. A lesser man might have blushed, looked sheepish, apologised for the entire fiasco. Not Mr Grayling. On the contrary, he boasted that he had “protected taxpayers’ interests”, accused Labour of “not understanding business”, and repeatedly responded to criticism from Opposition MPS by rolling his eyes and murmuring, “Dear oh dear, Mr Speaker! They do keep trying, don’t they!”

“Is he not even remotely embarrassed that this has fallen to pieces?” asked Angela Eagle (Lab, Wallasey). “Isn’t he at least going to say sorry?”

“I will never apologise for trying to work with new small businesses!” cried Mr Grayling, defiantly.

What a man. What an inspiration. Every boy and girl in the country should have his picture on their wall, as a reminder never to give up on their dreams, no matter how wildly implausible.

I want my son to look at Chris Grayling and think: “If he can be a Cabinet minister, then so can I. Even though I’m only four years old. Genuinely, I could do his job today. I mean, I’ve got a Duplo train set and I can more or less spell my own name, so if anything I’m probably overqualified.”