Officials’ ‘contempt’ for rail in North revealed
MP’s explosive email revelations at PMQs
WHITEHALL “CONTEMPT” for northern rail users has been laid bare in emails showing Department for Transport (DfT) officials discussing “propagating myths” to handle criticism of route closures.
In another email released by Labour MP Lisa Nandy, officials talk of “throwing a sop” to passenger groups concerned about services in their area.
Ms Nandy also claimed the correspondence, which predates Chris Grayling’s promotion to Transport Secretary in July 2016, showed Ministers and DfT officials “were warned of impending chaos two years ago”.
Her explosive revelations at Prime Minister’s Questions came after weeks of misery for rail passengers in the North of England, who have experienced unprecedented delays and cancellations due to the botched introduction of new timetables on May 20.
In the Commons, Ms Nandy said the emails, which mainly related to the potential downgrading of services from Southport to the rest of the North and the design of the Northern rail franchise, were “a disgrace”.
Mrs May added: “In advance of the timetable changes that took place for both Northern and Govia in May there was an independent panel set up by the DfT, to reassure the DfT about the nature of those plans.”
Bradford South MP Judith Cummins said the emails “reveal the utter contempt” the North is held in by the Government, with “deception, diversion and constant buck-passing”.
Leeds City Council leader Judith Blake said the emails paint a “worrying picture” and raised questions about what was known when the timetabling decisions that led to the current disruption were taken.
Dewsbury MP Paula Sherriff said: “This kind of disrespect is a downright disgrace.”
A DfT spokesperson said: “It is deeply regrettable that a DfT official used inappropriate language and that matter is being looked at.”
SIX WEEKS after The Yorkshire Post’s revelations about broken rail promises first prompted calls at Prime Minister’s Questions for Chris Grayling to resign, the explosive emails disclosed to Theresa May by Labour MP Lisa Nandy make the Transport Secretary’s tenuous position even more untenable.
Though Mrs May appeared taken by surprise, she should not have been. Over 11,000 trains on the crisis-hit Northern rail network have been either cancelled, or delayed for more than 30 minutes, since a new timetable was introduced last month – and the misery is due to last until at least November.
And while the more incriminating emails from Department for Transport officials about “valueless” services in the North do, in fairness, precede Mr Grayling’s appointment in July 2016, the incendiary intervention by Ms Nandy, the MP for Wigan, confirms that Ministers were forewarned about the disruption and did not act.
For this, Mr Grayling must take full responsibility. The buck stops with him. Not only did he, and his team, fail to properly challenge rail chiefs, but he’s done little to change the DfT’s contemptible and complacent culture when it comes to the North.
No wonder transport investment – and rail services – lag behind London and the South East by such an extent when Ministers and officials dismiss key routes as ‘valueless’, discuss ‘classic handling strategies’ to persuade MPs – and passenger groups – to toe the line and consider propagating route closure myths to divert attention.
Valueless? Perhaps all those behind this crass correspondence would explain this to passengers such as those who met with Batley & Spen MP Tracy Brabin. In Tuesday’s no confidence debate, which Mr Grayling survived by 305-285 votes, she cited a commuter called Rachael “who was forced to spend her journey standing in the toilet with six other commuters, as there was no space anywhere else.
“She told me that, as late as this week, her regular service left people on the platform, without opening its doors, as it was too full by the time it arrived in Batley. Seventy people were left waiting over 70 minutes for the next train,” added Ms Brabin.
This is the sorry state of the region’s railways at present and the Department for Transport’s refusal to comment on Ms Nandy’s revelations speaks volumes. It appears to have learned nothing from 15 years ago when Jo Moore, an aide to Stephen Byers, the then Transport Secretary, suggested the 9/11 terrorist outrage was ‘a good day to bury bad news’.
And, despite Mrs May telling last year’s Tory conference that she remains committed to the Northern Powerhouse, mounting evidence suggests otherwise – she’s still to respond to the unprecedented joint One North editorial published by The Yorkshire Post, and newspapers across the region, on June 5 calling for immediate action to ease the daily disruption.
If Transport for the North had the necessary powers, the prevailing attitude revealed in these emails would not be tolerated.
Unless there is change at the top of DfT, starting with Mr Grayling’s replacement and the full disclosure of all documents over Northern rail, this region will have no confidence in the DfT – and Mrs May will continue to embarrassed by this issue.
After all, if some of this area’s rail routes are dismissed as ‘valueless’ in documents made public, what have officials – and Ministers – been saying in private? Nothing less than total transparency will now suffice.