Chris Grayling

Last updated

The Right Honourable
Chris Grayling
MP
Official portrait of Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP crop 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2020
Secretary of State for Transport
In office
14 July 2016 –24 July 2019

On 13 May 2010, Grayling was appointed Minister of State for Employment and was sworn into the Privy Council on 28 May. [33] [34] [35] As minister at DWP he was responsible for jobcentres. Measures were introduced to reduce costs, leaving 100,000 staff redundant in offices around the country. In the context of a "Broken Society"[ attribution needed ] he accused some families of being habitually unemployed, generation after generation, living in sink council estates in the inner cities. Government cuts were made to the DWP budgets in order to constrain welfare spending.[ citation needed ]

The policy later informed treatment of prisoners, refusing the right to vote, and clamping down on abusive behaviours in jails. He announced work programs for prisoners, encouraged an end to the "something for nothing culture". More people than ever were found fit to work as part of a package of measures in a £5 billion program to make work for the long-term unemployed. [36]

Cabinet-level minister

Grayling was promoted to the Cabinet on 4 September 2012, as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. Sworn in as Lord Chancellor on 1 October 2012 at Westminster Abbey, [37] he was elected an Honorary Bencher of Gray's Inn on 11 December 2012, due in part to his lack of legal qualifications. He was the first non-lawyer to have served as Lord Chancellor for at least 440 years. (It was reported that the last such non-lawyer was the Earl of Shaftesbury in 1672–73; [38] but the Earl was admitted to Lincoln's Inn in 1638. [39] )

Grayling's appointment was widely seen as a return to a more hard line approach than that of his predecessor, Clarke. [40] [41] Grayling pursued a "tough justice" agenda, including ending automatic early release for terrorists and child rapists, [42] ending simple cautions for serious offences, [43] and introducing greater protections for householders who defend themselves against intruders. [44] The leading human rights barrister Lord Pannick described Grayling's performance as "notable only for his attempts to restrict judicial reviews and human rights, his failure to protect the judiciary against criticism from his colleagues and the reduction of legal aid to a bare minimum." [45]

Prisoner reforms

One of Grayling's first acts at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) was to commence a project to change the way offenders were rehabilitated in an effort to cut reoffending rates. Under a system of "payment by results", private companies as well as charities were to play a greater role in looking after offenders on licence in the community. [46] [47]

Grayling's ban on books being sent into UK prisons was widely criticised by the Howard League for Penal Reform and the literary establishment, including Philip Pullman, Mark Haddon, Anthony Horowitz, Susan Hill and Emma Donoghue. [48] The ban was described as obscene by Shaun Attwood of the TV show Banged Up Abroad who read over a thousand books in prison and credited books for being the lifeblood of rehabilitation.[ citation needed ] The move was defended as being not about a ban on books being sent into prison, but about parcels being sent in, as giving prisons access to the latter would almost certainly increase the amount of contraband getting into the prison estate. [49] The High Court ruled the ban illegal in December 2015. [50]

On stepping down from his role as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Harding criticised Grayling for "robustly" interfering with the contents of reports and Grayling's department for using financial controls to influence what was inspected, thereby threatening the independence of the Inspector's role. [51]

In March 2019, the UK National Audit Office issued a report on the reforms of the probation system in England and Wales initiated by Grayling during his tenure at the MoJ [52] stating that the Ministry had "set itself up to fail" through the "rushed implementation" of the reforms. As a result, the MoJ's aim of delivering cuts in reoffending had not been achieved, with reoffending rates having "increased significantly", at a cost £467 million higher than predicted. [53] [54] However, a report released in January 2020 by the MoJ stated that due to the reforms introduced by Grayling, adult and juvenile reoffending rates decreased substantially. [55]

In May 2019, incumbent Justice Secretary, David Gauke, announced offender supervision in England and Wales is to be returned to government control, under the management of the National Probation Service, reversing Grayling's policy. The abolition of Grayling's 'payment by results' system took place in December 2020, terminating the contracts of the private sector providers two years early. During the 2017–18 period 'serious further offences', which include crimes such as murder and rape had increased by 21% compared to the 2016–17 period [56] [57] [58] in June 2019, a study published by the British Sociological Association described the privatisation of the probation system as an "unmitigated disaster" and found that it left the public at greater risk from ex-offenders released from prison. [59]

Prison benchmarking and staff cuts

A prison "benchmarking" programme was introduced in 2012 by Grayling to reduce the costs of public sector prisons to match comparable private sector prisons, along with associated new core standards intended to result in prisoners having similar amounts of time spent outside their cells across similar prisons. [60] Prison officer numbers were reduced from about 23,000 in 2012 to about 18,000 in 2015. [61]

In 2015, the Justice Select Committee, following a year-long prison inquiry, was critical of Justice ministers for apparent complacency about a 38% rise in prison deaths since 2012. The committee concluded that efficiency savings and staffing shortages had made "a significant contribution to the deterioration in safety" in prisons. [62] [63] The committee commended Grayling for his goal of creating a nationwide network of resettlement prisons. [64] A pioneering scheme to help inmates rehabilitate in the community where they are released. [65]

A 'tough justice' agenda: court reforms

Grayling's proposed cuts to legal aid were widely criticised by the legal profession. In May 2013, 90 Queen's Counsels signed a letter sent to The Daily Telegraph that branded the cuts "unjust", as they would seriously undermine the rule of law. [66] 6 January 2014 saw the first strike in British history by barristers and solicitors in protest at the cuts. [67] In February 2014, he introduced the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 to the House of Commons. [68] The Bill included measures to outlaw "revenge porn". [69] In October 2014, Grayling unveiled the Conservative Party's proposals [70] for reforms to human rights in order to curb the European Court of Human Rights' influence over British court rulings, whilst honouring the text of the original Convention on Human Rights in a British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. [71] [72] [73]

In December 2013, Alan Turing was granted a pardon by the Queen, after a process initiated by Grayling in his capacity as Lord Chancellor. [74] [75] [76] In April 2015, Grayling introduced mandatory flat-fee court charges for magistrates' courts, the lowest fee being £150 for a guilty plea. Lawyers feared that defendants may plead guilty to avoid falling into debt, and the president of the Law Society described the change as a threat to fair trials. The charges for the Crown Court were increased to £1,200. [77]

Justice department security failure

In January 2015, data relating to three fatal police shootings including details of marksmen and the deceased's family were lost in the post by the Justice Department. According to The Guardian it was particularly embarrassing for Grayling as the government was claiming it needed to access personal data to deal with terrorism and could keep it securely. The data included details of the Mark Duggan shooting incident which had triggered the 2011 England riots. [78]

Fathers 4 Justice protests

On multiple occasions in 2014 and 2015, Fathers 4 Justice protesters targeted Grayling's constituency home in Ashtead, Surrey in January and October 2015. [79] [80] [81] Other incidents included a weekend protest camp set up outside his house by four protesters. [82]

Leader of the House of Commons

After the 2015 general election, Grayling was appointed Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council. Michael Gove replaced Grayling as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor. [83]

Grayling led Theresa May's campaign for the leadership of the Conservative Party, and thus also as successor to David Cameron as Prime Minister, following Cameron's resignation in June 2016. [84] May won the contest by default following the withdrawal of the only other contender, Andrea Leadsom, after the second round of the leadership ballot. [85]

Secretary of State for Transport

Grayling as Secretary of State for Transport in Tokyo Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling call on Tokyo Governor Koike (29373569403).jpg
Grayling as Secretary of State for Transport in Tokyo

Grayling was appointed as Secretary of State for Transport when Theresa May became Prime Minister in July 2016. [86] [87] He became criticised for various gaffes and controversies, [88] [89] [90] [91] such as injuring a cyclist by unsafely opening the door of his ministerial car in October 2016 [92] [93] and misspending £2.7 billion of public funds over his tenure as Transport Secretary. [94] Because of such reports, he became known by the moniker "Failing Grayling" used by The Guardian , [88] The Independent , [89] opposition MPs [90] and allegedly his own Cabinet colleagues. [91]

London metro services: December 2016

In December 2016, Grayling blocked a move by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to give control of the metro services run by Southeastern to Transport for London. A leaked 2013 letter revealed Grayling had previously written to then-London mayor Boris Johnson saying he opposed such a move because it could put those services "in the clutches of a Labour mayor". The leak led to Grayling being accused of putting his party's political interests over those of the public and commuters, as well as members of his own party calling for his resignation. [95]

Railway electrification cancellations: 2017–2018

Official portrait of Chris Grayling in 2017 Official portrait of Chris Grayling crop 2.jpg
Official portrait of Chris Grayling in 2017

On the last day before parliament closed for its summer recess in 2017, Grayling acknowledged that he had cancelled multiple railway electrification schemes in the north of England that had been promised by David Cameron and George Osborne. [96] [97] [98] [99] [100] In January 2018, Grayling was criticised by railway passengers and by Transport Select Committee members for his decision. [101] [102] In March 2018, it emerged that National Audit Office records showed Grayling to have made the decision several months earlier in 2017 than previously acknowledged, but had suppressed the decision during the 2017 United Kingdom general election and for the remainder of the parliamentary session. [96]

Railway timetable change and vote of no confidence: May–June 2018

In summer 2018, problems introducing a new timetable caused widespread disruption and the cancellation of 10% of trains on Northern and Thameslink. [103] The Chief Executive of Govia Thameslink Railway, Charles Horton, resigned, [104] and Grayling faced a vote of confidence in the House of Commons on 19 June 2018, with the resulting division 305–285 in Grayling's favour. [105] Govia Thameslink did not need to pay performance penalties for this disruption after an agreement made in 2017. [106]

Gatwick Airport drone incident: December 2018

Following the December 2018 Gatwick Airport drone incident, The Times reported that Grayling had ignored "numerous warnings" about the threat posed by drones, halting draft legislation due for publication in early 2019 thereby allowing civil servants to be diverted to Brexit related tasks. [107] According to The Daily Telegraph, the RAF offered the assistance of a specialist anti-drone team almost immediately but Grayling's department – which would have had to pay for the service – was reluctant to accept. [108]

Seaborne Freight: 2018–2019

On 29 December 2018, it emerged that Grayling's department had awarded £46.6m to French firm Brittany Ferries, £42.5m to Danish shipping firm DFDS, and £13.8m to British firm Seaborne Freight, to provide additional cross-channel freight capacity in case of a "no-deal" Brexit on 29 March 2019. [109] On 2 January 2019, it was reported that Seaborne Freight had never run a ferry service and owned no ships. [110] The Road Haulage Association said the firm had an impossible timescale in which to "source ferries, hire and train staff and link with relevant authorities". [111] Despite Grayling's assurance that the usual procurement due diligence procedures had been followed, it was later revealed that Seaborne Freight issued terms and conditions designed for a food delivery business, not ferries; [112] [113] that its chief executive previously ran a ship chartering business that was forced into liquidation following court petitions from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC); and that auditors performing the due diligence checks had reported serious concerns about the contract. [114] In relation to the prior court action by HMRC against Seaborne Freight's chief executive, the amount of unpaid tax was not reported, but the former company had a total of £1.78 million in unpaid debts. [115]

Grayling's unilateral decision to use Ostend, instead of Calais, as the continental terminal for some ferry services, was not appreciated in Calais, whose port chairman told Grayling he was no longer welcome there. [116]

Seaborne Freight's contract was cancelled on 8 February 2019 by Grayling's department after the Irish firm, Arklow Shipping, which was secretly intended to run the contract decided to pull out. [117] The collapse of the contract led to calls from both sides of parliament for Grayling's dismissal. [118] On 13 February 2019, Grayling's department said that, following the collapse of the Seaborne Freight contract, it had "run out of time" to secure the substantial additional cross-channel transport capacity that could be needed in the event of a no-deal Brexit. [119]

Eurotunnel, operator of the Channel Tunnel, initiated legal action against the Department for Transport, claiming that the awarding of ferry contracts for the event of a no-deal Brexit had been "secretive and flawed", and that Eurotunnel, which also operates freight services across the English Channel, had not had the opportunity to compete. The matter was settled out of court, with Eurotunnel receiving £33 million as part of a deal in which the company will provide freight services in the event of a no-deal Brexit. [120] [103] [121] This caused renewed calls for Grayling's dismissal. [121]

On 16 March 2019, it emerged that the ferry companies engaged by Grayling would receive an additional £28m in the event of Brexit being delayed beyond 29 March 2019, which it was. [122]

Delays and cost overruns to introduction of Class 800 trains

In March 2019, Lord Adonis, former Labour transport minister, was critical of the delay in implementing services on the East Coast Mainline, using Class 800 trains. The trains were ordered ten years before services commenced. Delays were caused when it was found the trains interfered with trackside signalling equipment. Adonis said, "They had 10 years to get these signalling issues right." [123] [124] Similar trains, introduced by Great Western Railway had cost twice the estimated amount. Grayling said, "These new state-of-the-art trains show our commitment to put passengers at the heart of everything that we do and will carry people across Britain, from Swansea to Aberdeen and London to Inverness." The service, planned to run to Swansea, has only so far[ timeframe? ] reached Cardiff. [125] Grayling travelled on the first Class 800 train, operated by Great Western Railway. It set off 25 minutes late, arrived 41 minutes late, and had no air-conditioning when it arrived. [126] The air conditioning was switched off after it leaked liquid into the carriages. Grayling declined to travel on the first Class 800 to run on the East Coast Main Line. [127]

Post-ministerial career

Boris Johnson reportedly hoped for Grayling to be voted in as Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee by the narrow Conservative majority sitting on the committee. [128] [129] [130] [131] The possible appointment prompted criticism from fellow Conservative MPs, acting Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey and Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith, who said his appointment would "make a mockery" of the committee. [128] [129] [130] There were fears it would be a "power grab" by Johnson and his senior adviser Dominic Cummings designed to avoid accountability over their links to Russia outlined in a suppressed report. [128] [129] [130] On 15 July 2020, opposition committee members voted for independently minded Conservative Julian Lewis as chair which, together with his vote, secured a majority for him. [132]

In May 2020, Grayling alongside Mark Cecil were appointed trustees of the National Portrait Gallery by Johnson. [133] [134] Both were reappointed as trustees by prime minister Rishi Sunak in December 2023 for another four year term. [135]

After Grayling's failure to be elected as Intelligence and Security Committee chair, he was criticised by colleagues who referred back to his previous track record as a minister, and who The Spectator reported as saying "only Grayling could lose a rigged election". [136] Julian Lewis had the party whip withdrawn by Boris Johnson. [137] On 21 July 2020, the committee released the previously repressed report which outlined how the government had failed to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 EU referendum. [138] On 28 August, it was reported Grayling had resigned from the committee. [139] [140] The Guardian commented that sources familiar with the matter had indicated he had "gone off in a sulk" and had no desire to serve on the committee as an ordinary member. [141]

On 17 September 2020, it was announced that Grayling had been appointed to a £100,000-per-annum 7-hour-per-week job advising the British Virgin Islands-domiciled Hutchison Port Holdings Limited "on its environmental strategy and its engagement with local enterprise bodies". [142]

In October 2023, Grayling announced he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and would therefore not seek re-election at the next general election. [143] He said: "Earlier this year I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and although the treatment has been successful, it has prompted me to think that after 22 years it is time for a change". [143] In March 2024, he appealed to South Western Railway to increase train services in his constituency during morning rush hours due to most trains being full. [144]

Personal life

Grayling is married to Susan Dillistone and they have two children. As of 2016, he lives in Ashtead. [145]

Publications

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References

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