Transport Secretary Chris Grayling Under Fire For Visiting Qatar

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has come under fire after it emerged he was on a see to Qatar on the very same day countless Britons dealt with inflation-busting rail rises.Labour hit out

after Downing Street exposed that the minister was in the Gulf state to meet its Prime Minister, the CEOs of Qatar Financial Investment Authority and Qatar Airways and financing and transportation ministers.Average rail ticket

rates have actually risen by 3.4 %across the UK -the greatest boost to fares considering that 2013 -and first began to bite on Tuesday as lots of returned to work after the Christmas break.Protests were staged at around 40 stations, with many commuters seeing their season tickets go up by more than ₤ 100. No. 10 said "we comprehend individuals's concerns about boosts in rail fares and the expense of living "and worried that it kept"under evaluation"the rises and their relation to average earnings.But not a single UK transportation minister was readily available to defend the fare walkings on the media and Downing Street faced a swift backlash when it revealed Grayling was on a two-day journey to sunny Qatar, to be followed by another trip to Turkey.Asked if Theresa May felt it was'proper 'for the Transportation Secretary to be out of the nation on the day lots of people were hit by the fare hikes, her representative responded:"The fare rises we have known were coming for a while."Shadow Transport Secretary Andy McDonald took on that admission that ministers had actually known exactly when to be in the nation, or from it.He told HuffPost UK:"

The Secretary of State for Transportation's failure to publicly explain to rail guests why they are being struck with squashing fare boosts today resembles a man running scared. "Passengers will not appreciate that Chris Grayling is sunning himself in Qatar while passengers are suffering inflation busting fares, broken down trains and freezing conditions.

"Chris Grayling won't defend his multi-million pound bailout of Stagecoach on the East Coast line since he cannot. Guests and taxpayers deserve better than a failing Transport Secretary who chooses not to protect his performance history."Vince Cable Television, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said:"Rail guests are shivering on platforms outraged by the most significant fare boost in years while Chris Grayling is off globetrotting."It's extremely difficult to see exactly what helpful function he can carry out in Qatar and Turkey that our excellent trade authorities might not." The Prime Minister's official spokesperson transferred to dismiss speculation that Grayling would be fired in the Cabinet reshuffle expected

next week.Asked if the PM believed in him, the representative responded:"Chris Grayling is striving and doing an excellent task as Transportation Secretary

."No. 10 said that the private rail business had actually been leading the action on the fare hikes however worried that ministers were paying attention to the public"The Federal government carefully keeps track of how rail fares and average revenues changes and keeps the way fare levels are determined under review,"the spokesperson included. On the other hand, Labour frontbencher McDonald was stranded with other guests on a Virgin train on the distressed East Coast rail line-simply outside Grantham in Lincolnshire.After great rail fares rally

at Kings X, then meeting dazzling advocates at Stevenage, now en path to Leeds only for our Virgin train to breakdown with complete loss of power similar to this terrible Tory government!-- Andy McDonald MP (@AndyMcDonaldMP) January 2, 2018 The PM's representative said:"The Secretary of State for Transportation is presently on his method to Qatar for a two-day check out.

Source

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