Chris Grayling has found himself in the naughty corner today over a leaked letter — to the Evening Standard — from 2013, which appears to show he opposed handing over control of suburban rail to keep it ‘out of the clutches’ of Labour. This is embarrassing — at the very least — for the Transport Secretary as just yesterday Grayling formally rejected Sadiq Khan’s bid to take over commuter routes. Giving the reason for the rejection, Grayling claimed the proposals amounted to ‘deckchair shifting’ with no real improvement for passengers.
As Labour accused Grayling of putting party politics before the interests of commuters, Bob Neill — the Conservative MP — added himself to the voices of discontent. On the Daily Politics, Neill said Grayling had ‘compromised his position’ and should resign. Neill said that the letter shows that Grayling had not been honest with him when he campaigned at the last mayoral election in favour of rail devolution.
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