Philip Hammond has been confirmed as our new Transport Secretary - and it doesn't look good for the railways, or for public transport in general.
To be honest, a Tory government was never going to be good for the railways anyway. Theresa Villiers had already stated that no rail project was secure, and Hammond himself keeps issuing the dreaded phrase "value for money".
It should be blindingly obvious from their botched privatisation of the rail network in the 1990s that the railway is a particularly special case that can't really do "value for money" on most of it's plans. And it shouldn't have to.
The rail network is supposed to be there for the public good, not for private gain.
But, I thought, I'll give Philip Hammond a chance. After all, you can only judge a man by how he does in the job. My worst fears were confirmed, however, with his first public utterance as Transport Secretary:
"We will end the war on motorists"What war on motorists? You mean the one that the AA and the RAC made up for their own self-interests?
Perhaps I'm wrong and it's actually Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond who is our new Transport Secretary?
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