Failing Grayling

May put on spot over ferry deal

TO BE fair, Jeremy Corbyn did put Theresa May on the spot at PMQs by asking: “How on earth, Mr Speaker, can say she has confidence in the Transport Secretary?” Eighteen months after The Yorkshire Post first expressed misgivings over Chris Grayling, it should not have taken the Seaborne Freight farce for the Opposition leader to speak out.

Equally regrettable, however, was Mrs May’s non-response – a halfhearted defence of the Government’s debatable record on transport investment before the irony of the Tory leader accusing Mr Corbyn of not answering the “big questions” over Brexit. The fact that the Prime Minister had to resort very quickly to plan B to try to deflect this question spoke volumes.

And the lukewarm response of Tory MPs suggested that their patience, too, has finally run out with a Transport Secretary who, unusually, was absent from the front bench for these embarrassing exchanges. If he won’t do the right thing and resign, Mrs May should act. She would win support – and a great many firms would be reassured that Mr Grayling was no longer involved with no-deal Brexit contingency planning.