Two blogs in a day is rather more than my usual quota, but reports of Philip Hammond’s first encounter with the press have sent me into deepest depression. He is quoted as saying that he woud end Labour’s “war on the motorist”, a ridiculous concept born emanating from the Daily Mail and the fantasy world of Clarkson.
This is utterly dispiriting in two ways. First, having gone into government with another party, such ridiculously partisan pronouncements suggest there is not going to be any Libdem influence on transport. But secondly, why does Hammond feel he has to play these sort of populist politics, given there is not going to be an election for another five years. If that is his level of the understanding of transport, then we are in for a fallow few years.