Grant Shapps has starred in yet another video to promote the Department of Transport’s latest work – and there have already been some mixed responses to it.
The transport secretary is promoting the Great British rail sale in the clip, a sale which runs from April 25 until May 27 where people will be able to buy discounted train tickets. This new scheme has already started the new hashtag #greatbritishrailfail.
Shapps kicks off the 90s-esque clip (complete with bubbly background music) by saying: “I want to tell you about a great offer coming to you. It’s the great British rail sale offering over one million rail tickets at up to half price for trips.”
With a green screen behind him showing Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, which Shapps hastily puts a coat on for, then Cornwall, when he dons some sunglasses, then the Lake District, at which points he straps on a backpack, Shapps tries to describe all the charming tourist destinations in the UK.
The background starts to glitch (presumably on purpose) at this point, showing random scenes from the desert and from space, throwing Shapps off his script.
It then cuts to the minister in an actual train station, where he says: “We’ve had two years of living life virtually. It’s time to get real, and visit our beautiful country.”
As the transport secretary walks away from the camera and gets on a train, in a whimsical twist, a voiceover asks: “Where’s he going?”
This isn’t the first time the transport secretary has tried to set himself apart from his colleagues with his PR stunts. In January, he caused a stir while promoting his decision to cut down on train announcements – even though that’s not exactly a priority for many travellers.
It quickly earned comparisons to the 2005 political satire, The Thick Of It, which ridicules life instead the government.
With this new stunt, people have reacted with similar scepticism, pointing out that this temporary sale was not major reform the general public have hoped for when it comes to British transport.