A summer of discontent as chaos on railways brings North to a halt
Turbulence in the political world showed no sign of abating during the summer, as the Post’s review of 2018 continues. Arj Singh looks back at the events.
MAY
During a nightmare month for rail passengers, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling announces plans to renationalise the East Coast Main Line rail services following the failure of the Virgin Trains East Coast franchise. Days later, new timetables are introduced – causing weeks of unacceptable delays and cancellations across the North. Mr Grayling is repeatedly accused of ducking responsibility and blame for the chaos.
The Cabinet is locked in a battle over what post-Brexit customs arrangement to pursue in negotiations. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson calls the Prime Minister’s Brexit plan “crazy” but keeps his post, while Morley MP Andrea Jenkyns quits as a government aide to fight for a hard Brexit.
Labour takes control of Kirklees council but fails to make a decisive breakthrough in local elections nationwide. The party suffers losses in Wakefield, Sheffield and Hull, despite holding on to all three councils, on a night when the Conservatives comfortably saw off the party’s challenge in several flagship London boroughs. Dan Jarvis is elected as Sheffield City Region Mayor and calls for a One Yorkshire devolution deal.
The Yorkshire Post reveals Conservative rebels are set to back down over Press freedom. Plans for the second stage of the Leveson Inquiry and so-called “Section 40” reforms are later defeated in the Commons. As the Government faces continued criticism over its handling of the Windrush scandal, new Home Secretary Sajid Javid says dozens of citizens may have been wrongly deported.
Leeds and Sheffield are shortlisted to host one of three new Channel 4 bases, but Hull misses out.
JUNE
More than 25 northern newspapers led by The Yorkshire Post call on Prime Minister Theresa May to “get a grip” of the rail chaos. The One North campaign is launched as emergency timetables are introduced amid widespread anger, with hundreds of delays and cancellations every day on Northern and TransPennine Express services. Mrs May says she has full confidence in Mr Grayling and makes the chaos an “absolute priority” for Cabinet. Tories begin to attack the Transport Secretary, but he survives a Labourtabled vote of no confidence
and claims: “I don’t run the railways.”
Justice Minister Philip Lee quits to vote with Tory rebels who back a more “meaningful” Commons vote on the Brexit deal. The Government appears to make a last-minute concession to avoid defeat in a vote, but it later unravels to the anger of rebels. The EU Withdrawal Bill gets Royal Assent but Mrs May is forced to reassure businesses after Mr Johnson exclaimed “f*** business” in reference to firms’ fears about Brexit.
A European Council summit designed to be significant staging post in exit talks passes with little progress with the Cabinet at war over the future UK-EU relationship.
The Yorkshire Post reveals that the region is massively under-represented in the London-centric House of Lords. It prompts claims that the lack of northern peers in the upper chamber means the region’s voice is lost as London members shout loudest. Mrs May unveils a £20bn-ayear boost for the NHS on its 70th Anniversary. But she faces criticism for suggesting much of the increase will come from a socalled ‘‘Brexit dividend’’.
JULY
Brexit Secretary – and East Yorkshire MP – David Davis and Foreign Secretary Mr Johnson quit the Cabinet in protest at Mrs May’s Brexit plan for close ties with the EU, which she thought she had agreed at a crunch Chequers summit of her senior Ministers.
The resignations throw the Government into a crisis for the rest of the year as Tory MPs revolt against the Prime Minister. The pair are replaced by Dominic Raab and Jeremy Hunt. A mooted leadership challenge fails to materialise.
Former Immigration Minister Robert Goodwill becomes the first Tory MP to back plans for a One Yorkshire devolution deal. But Local Government Secretary James Brokenshire says he will not even discuss the proposals until the stalled Sheffield City Region deal is implemented.
Transport Secretary Mr Grayling is caught up in train delays as the Cabinet visits the North of England, Mrs May backs him to continue as Transport Secretary despite growing calls for his sacking over the rail crisis from the likes of Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. The Government confirms plans to build an HS2 depot to maintain and service trains on the edge of Leeds.
AUGUST
The Yorkshire Post reveals the demographic timebomb faced by the region, which is being reshaped by a combination of an ageing population and a drift of the working age population to major urban centres, in collaboration with the Centre for Towns think-tank.
The Government releases its first tranche of no deal Brexit technical notices, which reveal shopping costs could rise without an EU ban on credit and debit card surcharges. Mrs May says no deal “wouldn’t be the end of the world”. Former Brexit Secretary Mr Davis’s Tory-run council has warned it faces a “perfect storm” of staff shortages if European immigration is reduced after Britain leaves the EU, with the potential for “market failure” in social care.
Town hall leaders in Yorkshire consider pulling out of a scheme that homes more than 5,000 asylum seekers around the region after criticising the “mounting chaos” surrounding the project, which is at risk of “catastrophic failure”.
Boris Johnson defies Conservative Party demands to apologise for saying Muslim women wearing burkas look like bank robbers and letter boxes, in “dog-whistle” comments derided as Islamophobic.