Victoria Derbyshire grilling the Transport Secretary on Rishi Sunak’s vanishing pledges is a magnificent watch
Despite Rishi Sunak‘s speech about scrapping part of HS2 and replacing it with a number of other transport infrastructure projects only having taken place on Wednesday, several of the proposals have vanished, weakened or turned out to already exist.
On Sunday, Victoria Debyshire asked the Transport Secretary Mark Harper about the backtracking.
It did not go well for him.
“We gave some examples about… the sorts of things that money could be spent”
Transport Secretary Mark Harper responds to a now-deleted government document that promised local transport projects that would be funded from cancelling part of HS2#BBCLauraK https://t.co/XWf5EU0E9K pic.twitter.com/OOHFopRDow
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) October 8, 2023
‘The point is significant amounts of money are now available, with the cancellation of HS2, to give that money to elected mayors in all parts of the country …for them to spend on the priorities they determine are important for the people they represent.’
‘But if that is the point, then why did you release the document saying the “Leamside Line, closed in 1964, will also be reopened”? Why release a document saying “Bristol’s going to get a new mass transit system”?’
‘Because we gave some examples …’
‘Then why delete it?’
‘We gave some examples to people of the sorts of things …that that money could be spent on.’
‘Okay, they weren’t examples. I’ve got the original document – it’s right here. I’m sorry to keep repeating this same point, but “The Leamside Line, closed in 1964, will be reopened.” “Bristol will get a new mass transit system.”
She added a damning assessment of Tory inconsistency.
Victoria Derbyshire: Sunak backed HS2, then he scrapped it, Johnson backed a new station in Bradford, then scrapped it, then Truss reinstated it, then Sunak scrapped it as PM… this is more inconsistency & uncertainty for voters?
Mark Harper: No, it's not… #bbclaurak pic.twitter.com/lkRmStoGq7
— Haggis_UK (@Haggis_UK) October 8, 2023
‘Rishi Sunak backed Hs2, then he scrapped it. Boris Johnson backed a new station in Bradford, then he scrapped it, then Liz Truss reinstated it, then Rishi Sunak as PM scrapped it. Now, he says he’s doing it again.’
‘The announcements you’ve made this week, you can’t guarantee any of them will happen, which is not really a change. It’s more inconsistency and more uncertainty for voters.’
Here’s how Twitter reacted to the car crash interview.
1.
“Sorry, when we said we would increase your pension – it was just an example” https://t.co/y2KiVVGX3n pic.twitter.com/IO6NT1rDM9
— Rob B (@RobBfromDerby) October 8, 2023
2.
In short, the Tory government is congratulating itself on policies it hasn’t proposed but are “the kind of thing they might propose”, while lambasting Labour for policies they’ve never even contemplated but (according to the Tories) are “the kind of thing they might propose”… https://t.co/ueCiEYk1zD
— Mitch Benn (@MitchBenn) October 8, 2023
3.
Turns out Rishi Sunak's plan for what to do with the money saved by cancelling the rest of HS2 was merely a serving suggestion, like the sprig of parsley on the photo of a steak… https://t.co/tRSPN4qA5M
— Edwin Hayward (@edwinhayward) October 8, 2023
4.
That is amazing https://t.co/l1NX5manRc
— richard bacon (@richardpbacon) October 8, 2023
5.
Mark Harper would deny his name was Mark Harper if he had to https://t.co/GOVvMlghgn
— Claire Meadows FRSA (@CL_Meadows) October 8, 2023
6.
government policy as a child trying to work out what to spend their birthday money on https://t.co/W3He4VUnoi
— Toby Earle Threads tobyontv (@TobyonTV) October 8, 2023
7.
Dear Mark Harper,
We are nowhere near as stupid as you’d like us to be. The epic amount of bullshit you have sprayed around the place in the last few weeks disgraces you all. You can order your taxis now.
Thanks for nothing at all,
The UK— sarah murphy (@13sarahmurphy) October 8, 2023
8.
Remember all those commitments? Some of them didn’t even last the week…. https://t.co/WNMg6W64hk
— pjm1kbw (@pjm1kbw) October 8, 2023
9.
Mark Harper is engaging in classic political doublespeak about what he and Sunak have/haven’t/might/mightn’t do. You can’t trust a word they say.
— Chris Bryant (@RhonddaBryant) October 8, 2023
10.
Fantastic again by Victoria Derbyshire, who is on a one-woman crusade to save BBC journalism. Old school. No bull. Most valuable player in the newsroom #BBCLauraK
pic.twitter.com/lBOhiXQlz5— India Willoughby (@IndiaWilloughby) October 8, 2023
11.
Mark Harper has been filleted by Victoria Derbyshire. She’s now listing projects the government claimed were happening then scrapped and have now reannounced. I’d say it’s a slow motion car crash but it’s more like a monster truck rally and Harper is a pile of old bangers.
— Mic Wright (@brokenbottleboy) October 8, 2023
12.
‘Deny everything Baldrick’ https://t.co/oOg9pT8jwu
— Rob B (@RobBfromDerby) October 8, 2023
13.
It might seem a little harsh to ask Mark Harper questions while he's still busy learning the words to "The Wheels on the Bus", but we have to remember that he IS, somehow, the Minister of Transport. https://t.co/lnjldutihB
— Peejay Adams (@peejay_adams) October 8, 2023
14.
The brilliant Victoria Derbyshire is in no mood for Mark Harper’s bull today. #bbclaurak pic.twitter.com/65J62Ezlpm
— Eddie Burfi (@EddieBurfi) October 8, 2023
15.
One of the things I most like about Victoria Derbyshire is the palpable sense that she has had it to HERE with politicians talking complete shite.
— Sarfraz Manzoor (@sarfrazmanzoor) October 8, 2023
16.
Do you think they give him a doggie bag to take his posterior home in after it's been handed to him? https://t.co/9AYed2VeyZ
— Edwin Hayward (@edwinhayward) October 8, 2023
Twitter’s favourite Rishi Sunak had this to add.
Spent all night trying to comfort a hysterical Mark Harper, who couldn't stop crying and throwing up after finding out he was being interviewed by Victoria Derbyshire instead of Laura Kuenssberg.#BBCLauraK
— Parody Rishi Sunak (@Parody_PM) October 8, 2023
If you want to see the full interview, it’s available on iPlayer.
READ MORE
Laura Kuenssberg’s forensic takedown of Rishi Sunak is 73 seconds very well spent
Source BBC Politics Image Screengrab