Transport Secretary Chris Grayling ‘told officials to postpone announcing a major rail project was delayed so he would avoid a grilling from MPs’
- Network Rail bosses informed him that an electrification scheme was to be late
- Leaked memo says Transport Minister said bad news should be delayed for a day
- Announcement was delayed 24 hours and he avoided grilling from Labour MPs
Transport secretary Chris Grayling, pictured, has faced a string of scandals and wanted to hold back an announcement on a new rail delay last year, emails have revealed
Under-pressure Transport Secretary Chris Grayling ordered officials to hold-off on announcing delays to a major rail project so he could avoid criticism from MPs, it was revealed today.
Leaked emails suggest Mr Grayling wanted the announcement to be delayed by 24 hours to dodge a grilling in the Commons.
In January last year Network Rail bosses informed him that a multi-million pound electrification scheme in the North West of England would not be completed on time.
An email from an unnamed senior official at the Department for Transport said Mr Grayling ‘would prefer the announcement were sooner rather than later but not before the Opposition Day debate on Rail tomorrow.’
They suggested the announcement was ‘best choreographed’ for Thursday, January 11 – and news the line upgrade between Preston and Manchester would be delayed was broken that day.
The Transport Secretary has faced a string of scandals in the past year where critics accused him of ‘gross incompetence’.
He faced calls to resign in February after handing a £13.8million contract to a ferry company with no ships in the event of a No Deal Brexit.
In December he was accused of failing to ‘get a grip’ on the drone crisis that shut down Gatwick Airport for three days as tens of thousands of passengers tried to get away for Christmas.
And he kept his job despite criticism of his handling of the Thameslink and Northern Rail timetable crisis last year, which saw 770 trains a day cancelled, earning him the nickname ‘failing Grayling’ because of the chaos.
This email leaked to the Yorkshire Post says the SoS – a reference to Mr Grayling – said the announcement should be made soon – ‘but not before’ a debate in Parliament where he would be grilled by MPs
Labour’s transport spokesman Andy McDonald accused Mr Grayling of ‘contempt for the House of Commons’ after the emails were uncovered by the Yorkshire Post.
The emails, which were released under the Freedom of Information Act, show a discussion between senior rail officials on Tuesday, January 9 last year about delays to upgrading the line between Preston and Manchester.
In one, Martin Frobisher, Network Rail’s Route Managing Director in the North West, said he had spoken to Department for Transport officials and described how Mr Grayling wanted the announcement handled.
He wrote: ‘The Secretary of State has asked that we get the announcement out as soon as possible. He doesn’t want a big press release or media event. He wants us to directly brief selected journalists. He wants us to control the story, rather than wait for a leak to the media.’
Labour then held a House of Commons debate about rail franchising and no mention was made of the delay to the electrification scheme.
The announcement was then made on the following day, as Network Rail blamed ‘poor ground conditions’ for pushing the completion of the project from May to Summer 2018.
Further delays meant it was not completed until early this year. The delay led to timetable chaos last May as rail operator Northern was forced to rewrite its timetable at short notice.
Mr McDonald said: ‘We all knew of Chris Grayling’s disdain for Parliament but these emails reveal the depth of the Transport Secretary’s contempt for the House of Commons.’
‘Grayling denied MPs of all parties full information about delays to nationally significant rail upgrades ahead of an important Parliamentary debate on rail.
‘Once again, he’s not being straight with either MPs or the public. Labour will be raising this matter in Parliament next week after the Easter recess.’
A Department for Transport spokesman said: ‘The Secretary of State asked for the announcement to be made as soon as possible.
‘This was done as soon as appropriate clearances were in place – as is reasonable for an announcement of this type.’