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Filling in once again for Laura Kuenssberg on her flagship BBC politics show, Victoria Derbyshire earned more plaudits for holding representatives of the government to account. This week, Transport Minister Mark Harper was left in the cross-hairs.
The Tories have come in for severe criticism this week, after they confirmed that the northern leg of HS2 – connecting Manchester to London – would be scrapped. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insists that the money saved will be reinvested in the existing rail networks instead.
However, few believe that the PM will remain true to his word. Following her impressive stand-in performance last month, Victoria Derbyshire was again recalled in Kuenssberg’s absence – making Mark Harper’s job all the more difficult.
Having to defend what many feel is the indefensible, Harper did his best to argue the case. However, it didn’t really stand-up to scrutiny. He was quizzed about a series of announcements the government made about ‘Network North’ – the replacement programme for HS2.
During its unveiling in midweek, a few glaring errors had been noticed. In Nottingham, for example, the Tories boasted that they were expanding the tramline to Clifton South as part of the project. However, these works were already completed eight years ago.
Official documents also detailed how Bristol would receive a ‘new mass transit system’. However, they were deleted on Thursday, just 24 hours after being published on the government’s official website. Harper claimed that these were ‘just examples’, and not set in stone.
The BBC host, however, wasn’t having any of it. She lambasted the tame excuse, and waved around a print-out of the document that confirmed plans to reopen Bristol’s Leamside Line. In hindsight, Harper should’ve known better than to try and kid Victoria Derbyshire.
