Blundering Grayling a symptom of wider disease

It is a shocking indictment of the political quagmire Britain finds itself in that Chris Grayling appears not to be even considering his position today.

If the Transport Secretary had a shred of self-respect, he would surely have resigned back in December when it first emerged he awarded a £13.8million ferry contract to a company without any boats.

Yet even as his department finally performed a cringeworthy U-turn over the ridiculous fiasco yesterday, Grayling seemed intent on brazening out the crisis.

He has clearly reasoned that no matter how spectacular his blundering incompetence, some Cabinet colleague is likely to trump any level of rank stupidity within days.

The sad truth is that despite having won the dubious title of “worst Secretary of State ever”, Grayling has every chance of surviving.

It should be remembered the farcical Seaborne Freight deal was only needed in the first place as a sticking plaster for the economic carnage his part y is inflicting on the country through Brexit.

The real tragedy of the situation is not just the dismal performance of the Tories but also the complete lack of an effective opposition.

The Labour Party is a far cry from that which John Smith led in 1993.

In response to the plummeting popularity of John Major’ s government in the wake of Black Wednesday, Smith was on hand to capitalise to full effect in the Commons. In a barnstorming speech, widely regarded as pivotal in heralding in the Labour government of 1997, he thundered: “If we were to offer that tale of events to the BBC light entertainment department as a script for a programme, I think that the producers of Yes, Minister would have turned it down as hopelessly over the top.

“It might have even been too much for Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em.

“The tragedy for us all is that it is really happening – it is fact, not fiction.

“The man with the non-Midas touch is in charge.

“It is no wonder that we live in a country where the Grand National does not start and hotels fall into the sea.”

It is perhaps unfair to expect a similar standard from Jeremy Corbyn.

Smith, after all, is regarded as the greatest prime minister we never had due to his death from a heart attack the following year in 1994.

If Labour needed someone like Smith then, boy, could they do with him now.

The real tragedy is not just the Tories but the complete lack of effective Labour opposition