Grayling pulls out of summit in North for Heathrow vote
Minister to miss rail summit
UNDER-FIRE TRANSPORT Secretary Chris Grayling has pulled out of a regional summit to be held next week in the North where local leaders will discuss the future of vital infrastructure projects.
The Minister was due to speak at the Place North West annual conference in Manchester on Monday alongside metro-mayors Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram and Bradford council leader Susan Hinchcliffe.
But organisers have now revealed that he is no longer attending and is sending Baroness Sugg, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, to give a presentation in his place.
Earlier this month the RMT union revealed plans to demonstrate outside the venue where the event is taking place, the Hilton on Deansgate, in protest at the ongoing safety dispute on Northern trains and what they describe as the “ongoing rail franchise fiasco”.
General secretary Mick Cash said: “Chris Grayling is running scared. He’s scared of the passengers he’s hung out to dry and he’s scared of the staff whose safetycritical jobs his franchise shambles have left facing the axe.
“Chris Grayling may have chickened out of meeting RMT members and their supporters on Monday but I’ve got a message for him – you can run but you can’t hide.”
Mr Grayling is expected to be in Westminster on Monday afternoon when MPs vote on the controversial plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport.
A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: “The Secretary of State is in London for the National Policy Statement in Parliament, a hugely significant vote that will benefit the whole country, including the North-West.
“Transport Minister Baroness Sugg will be attending the Northern Transport Summit. We recognise the importance of this event, which is why Transport Minister Baroness Sugg will therefore be attending.”
Boris Johnson will miss the Heathrow vote, meaning he will avoid having to choose between his Cabinet job and his opposition to the third runway.
The Prime Minister told reporters the Foreign Secretary would be abroad “as the living embodiment of global Britain”.
Separately, rail services on the East Coast Main Line are being brought back under government control, following the failure of the current franchise.
He’s running scared of the passengers he’s hung out to dry. RMT general secretary Mick Cash.
CHRIS GRAYLING can be excused, in part, for now excusing himself from the Northern Transport Summit on Monday – the Transport Secretary is now due to lead a potentially contentious Commons debate and vote on Heathrow Airport’s expansion.
This diary clash was not apparent when Mr Grayling agreed earlier this year, and long before the region’s rail services descended into chaos, to meet business and civic leaders in Manchester. However, his intended absence does, once again, raise fresh doubts about the Government’s commitment to the Northern Powerhouse.
A Transport Secretary intent on building bridges, and working with local leaders to resolve the current difficulties, would have brought forward their speech so they could catch the 12.35pm train from Manchester back to the capital.
Given that Parliamentary debates on a Monday invariably do not begin until 5pm following the consideration of urgent business, Mr Grayling would have had ample time to fulfil his duties both here and at Westminster. Of course, his reluctance is obvious. The mishandling of timetable changes has united the whole North against the Minister – he survived a no-confidence vote this week – and tomorrow sees the Virgin and Stagecoach franchise on the East Coast Main Line return to public control. If Mr Grayling can’t give the North the commitment that it needs because he believes transport policy begins and ends in London, it’s even more reason for him to be replaced by a politician who can get rail services back on track and spare passengers even more disruption.