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Telegraph
6 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
With this calibre of MP, it's no wonder Britain is on the decline
To understand the scale of the catastrophe engulfing our country, look no further than a three-minute clip of a Government minister being eaten alive by a veteran broadcaster today. On paper, Economic Secretary to The Treasury Emma Reynolds may well be quite bright (she has a Politics, Philosophy and Economics degree from Oxford). She certainly has no shortage of experience, having spent her entire career in and around politics. Asked to demonstrate the most basic level of understanding about what she and her department are doing with vast sums of our money, however, she was as exposed as a boggle-eyed frog on a lily leaf. The gory detail of the latest ministerial car crash scarcely matters, though in 20 years as a political journalist, Reynolds's encounter with Nick Ferrari is one of the most excruciating interviews I have heard. Put simply, she had no idea what she was talking about – which is alarming, given her power. What matters more is the overall impression created by an endless succession of ministers from Keir Starmer's Government who, under the slightest pressure, seem just as weak and ill-informed. It is not only that they refuse to give straight answers to simple questions, or to take any responsibility for obvious errors. That's par for the course among professional politicians. It is that they routinely insult our intelligence, dismiss and denigrate our concerns and continually insist that black is white. The shameless telling of bare-faced lies is like nothing I have observed before. And if caught out, they simply double down. Witness the behaviour of Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones, whose ludicrous assertion that the 'majority' of Channel migrants are women and children is demonstrably untrue, giving him no way out. Did he apologise? Not at all! Instead, he claimed he had been 'misrepresented', and tried to shift the blame to Reform UK. Oh, I know that all governments have their share of ministerial muppets and dreary career politicians who owe their rise up the greasy pole less to ability than to connections, favours owed, or absence of anyone better. Nor are crash interviews the preserve of any one political party. They happen from time to time during every administration, when interviewees are tired, distracted, or badly briefed. What is different about this lot is the sheer frequency with which they demonstrate their ineptitude, and the depths to which they sink as they try to deflect. Reynolds's calamitous appearance comes hot on the heels of a similar disaster involving her Treasury colleague James Murray last week. Nine times the minister was asked where migrants will go in the unlikely event that the Government honours a pledge to stop using hotel accommodation. Nine times he failed to give his interviewer an answer. He looked as panicked and out of his depth as a drowning man. Meanwhile, the Chancellor on Sunday tried to use victims of the grooming gangs as a shield against awkward questions about the responsibility of the many authorities that turned a blind eye, as if performative compassion should shut down that vital debate. At least she did not repeat previous shameful 'lines to take' from Downing Street, smearing the campaign for a public inquiry as 'far-Right.' In two decades reporting on governments of all political stripes, I have never witnessed such systematic incompetence and mediocrity. How can our country bear another four years of this?
The Sun
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Cringe moment Treasury minister has NO idea how much new £10bn tunnel costs or where it is while announcing it on TV
A TREASURY minister appeared to have a meltdown live on TV today, blaming a series of blunders on a "very early morning". Emma Reynolds was being interviewed about the new £10billion Lower Thames Crossing which will link Essex and Kent. 6 6 6 But as she was grilled live on LBC, she forgot where the project is taking place. On top of that blunder in the car-crash interview, she couldn't remember how much it is going to cost either. Frantically leafing through her papers, she asked the LBC interviewer to "forgive" her for not being able to "recall" the key details. Reynolds also appeared to confuse the Devon town of Dartmouth with Dartford in Kent. Appearing on LBC Radio, the bumbling minister said: "I meant Dartford, excuse me, I had a very early morning. "You'll forgive me, I can't recall the landing zone." Presenter Nick Ferrari then asked critically: "So the crossing that you're talking about, you don't know where it is?" She went on to vaguely say it would connect the North with "key ports" in the South East. Ferrari then took it upon himself to inform Reynolds that the project will see two tunnels constructed under the Thames to the east of Tilbury in Essex and Gravesend in Kent. When he pressed her on the cost of building the crossing, she again resorted to vague statements. She floundered: "It's going to cost quite a lot of money, several billion pounds." The presenter savagely asked: "You don't know that either, do you?' "Is there much point continuing this conversation because you don't know where a bridge starts, where it ends and you don't know how much it costs?" Rachel Reeves called the project a "turning point for our national infrastructure". The £9.2billion project will comprise more than 14 miles of roads, and the Transport Secretary gave formal approval in March. Heidi Alexander said the "crucial" project has been been stuck in "planning limbo for far too long". National Highways will build the crossing, and construction could start as early as next year. It is expected to take between six and eight years to finish. £1.2billion has already been spent on design and planning work. 6 6 6
North Wales Chronicle
6 days ago
- Business
- North Wales Chronicle
Treasury minister Reynolds struggles over Lower Thames Crossing answers
The Lower Thames Crossing will link Essex and Kent but economic secretary Emma Reynolds was unable to give details of the precise location of the crossing or the total cost of the project. She also mistakenly referred to the existing crossing being the 'Dartmouth tunnel', apparently confusing the Devon town with Dartford, the location of the crossings for traffic across the Thames. 'I meant Dartford, excuse me, I had a very early morning,' the minister told LBC Radio. Asked about the proposed new crossing's location, she said: 'You'll forgive me, I can't recall the landing zone.' The crossing will involve two tunnels under the Thames to the east of Tilbury in Essex and Gravesend in Kent. Pressed on the cost, she said 'it's going to cost quite a lot of money', suggesting it would be 'several billion pounds'. LBC Radio presenter Nick Ferrari told Ms Reynolds: 'Is there much point continuing this conversation because you don't know where a bridge starts, where it ends and you don't know how much it costs?' National Highways has estimated the cost will be between £9.2 billion and £10.2 billion depending on the funding model chosen. It would connect the A2 and M2 in Kent to the A13 and M25 in Essex via a 2.6-mile tunnel under the Thames, which would be the UK's longest road tunnel. The funding for the Lower Thames Crossing will be part of the Government's 10-year plan for infrastructure. A new structures fund will also invest in repairing bridges, flyovers, tunnels and other transport infrastructure such as roads. The Lower Thames Crossing is aimed at reducing congestion at Dartford. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has said that the project is 'essential for improving the resilience of a key freight route and is critical to our long-term trade with Europe'. 'It will speed up the movement of goods from south-east England to the Midlands and the north, crucial to thousands of jobs and businesses,' she added. Rachel Reeves has said ministers are 'going all in by going up against the painful disruption of closed bridges, crossings and flyovers'. The Chancellor added: 'This is a turning point for our national infrastructure, and we're backing it with funding to support thousands of jobs and connect communities, delivering on our plan for change.' It comes ahead of the Government's infrastructure strategy, expected this week, while public procurement rules are set to be overhauled so that public bodies will have to give more weight to firms which can prove they will boost British jobs when they are bidding for contracts. The Chancellor outlined a range of infrastructure investments as part of last week's spending review.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Treasury minister Emma Reynolds suffers live interview meltdown as she has no idea of cost or location of new £10bn River Thames crossing she is announcing
A Treasury minister suffered a meltdown in a live interview today as she struggled to answer basic questions about a new River Thames crossing. Emma Reynolds was announcing a package of infrastructure spending on LBC when the toe-curling moment happened. The £10billion Lower Thames Crossing will link Essex and Kent - but the economic secretary was unable to give the location or the total cost of the project. She also mistakenly referred to the existing crossing being the 'Dartmouth Tunnel', apparently confusing the Devon town with Dartford. 'I meant Dartford, excuse me, I had a very early morning,' the minister told LBC Radio. Asked by presenter Nick Ferrari about the proposed new crossing's location, Ms Reynolds frantically leafed through paperwork. 'You'll forgive me, I can't recall the landing zone,' she said. Ferrari said: 'So the crossing that you're talking about, you don't know where it is?' A floundering Ms Reynolds seeming resorted to reading out some text about how the crossing would connect the North with 'key ports in the South East'. 'It's almost as if you're reading from a piece of paper there, isn't it?' the presenter interjected. Ferrari put the minister out of her misery by informing her that the crossing will involve two tunnels under the Thames to the east of Tilbury in Essex and Gravesend in Kent. Pressed on the cost, an increasingly dejected-looking Ms Reynolds said 'it's going to cost quite a lot of money', suggesting it would be 'several billion pounds'. But a clearly exasperated Ferrari said: 'You don't know that either, do you?' He added: 'Is there much point continuing this conversation because you don't know where a bridge starts, where it ends and you don't know how much it costs?' Ferrari then asked about the Hammersmith Bridge. 'I'm not here to talk about the Hammersmith Bridge. I'm not a transport minister,' Ms Reynolds said. National Highways has estimated the cost will be between £9.2billion and £10.2billion depending on the funding model chosen. It would connect the A2 and M2 in Kent to the A13 and M25 in Essex via a 2.6-mile tunnel under the Thames, which would be the UK's longest road tunnel. The funding for the Lower Thames Crossing will be part of the Government's 10-year plan for infrastructure. A new structures fund will also invest in repairing bridges, flyovers, tunnels and other transport infrastructure such as roads. The Lower Thames Crossing is aimed at reducing congestion at Dartford. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has said that the project is 'essential for improving the resilience of a key freight route and is critical to our long-term trade with Europe'. Pressed on the cost, an increasingly dejected-looking Ms Reynolds said 'it's going to cost quite a lot of money', suggesting it would be 'several billion pounds' 'It will speed up the movement of goods from south-east England to the Midlands and the north, crucial to thousands of jobs and businesses,' she added. Rachel Reeves has said ministers are 'going all in by going up against the painful disruption of closed bridges, crossings and flyovers'. The Chancellor added: 'This is a turning point for our national infrastructure, and we're backing it with funding to support thousands of jobs and connect communities, delivering on our plan for change.' It comes ahead of the Government's infrastructure strategy, expected this week, while public procurement rules are set to be overhauled so that public bodies will have to give more weight to firms which can prove they will boost British jobs when they are bidding for contracts. The Chancellor outlined a range of infrastructure investments as part of last week's spending review.
Rhyl Journal
6 days ago
- Business
- Rhyl Journal
Treasury minister Reynolds struggles over Lower Thames Crossing answers
The Lower Thames Crossing will link Essex and Kent but economic secretary Emma Reynolds was unable to give details of the precise location of the crossing or the total cost of the project. She also mistakenly referred to the existing crossing being the 'Dartmouth tunnel', apparently confusing the Devon town with Dartford, the location of the crossings for traffic across the Thames. 'I meant Dartford, excuse me, I had a very early morning,' the minister told LBC Radio. Asked about the proposed new crossing's location, she said: 'You'll forgive me, I can't recall the landing zone.' The crossing will involve two tunnels under the Thames to the east of Tilbury in Essex and Gravesend in Kent. Pressed on the cost, she said 'it's going to cost quite a lot of money', suggesting it would be 'several billion pounds'. LBC Radio presenter Nick Ferrari told Ms Reynolds: 'Is there much point continuing this conversation because you don't know where a bridge starts, where it ends and you don't know how much it costs?' National Highways has estimated the cost will be between £9.2 billion and £10.2 billion depending on the funding model chosen. It would connect the A2 and M2 in Kent to the A13 and M25 in Essex via a 2.6-mile tunnel under the Thames, which would be the UK's longest road tunnel. The funding for the Lower Thames Crossing will be part of the Government's 10-year plan for infrastructure. A new structures fund will also invest in repairing bridges, flyovers, tunnels and other transport infrastructure such as roads. The Lower Thames Crossing is aimed at reducing congestion at Dartford. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has said that the project is 'essential for improving the resilience of a key freight route and is critical to our long-term trade with Europe'. 'It will speed up the movement of goods from south-east England to the Midlands and the north, crucial to thousands of jobs and businesses,' she added. Rachel Reeves has said ministers are 'going all in by going up against the painful disruption of closed bridges, crossings and flyovers'. The Chancellor added: 'This is a turning point for our national infrastructure, and we're backing it with funding to support thousands of jobs and connect communities, delivering on our plan for change.' It comes ahead of the Government's infrastructure strategy, expected this week, while public procurement rules are set to be overhauled so that public bodies will have to give more weight to firms which can prove they will boost British jobs when they are bidding for contracts. The Chancellor outlined a range of infrastructure investments as part of last week's spending review.
