The much-beleaguered transport secretary Chris Grayling – who oversaw huge disruptions on the railways last summer and drone chaos at Gatwick Airport over Christmas – thinks people want him to step down from his post because of his attempts to modernise the railway industry.
In an interview with Parliament’s The House magazine, Grayling said the RMT Union were among those calling for him to be removed from his cabinet role.
“There are people like the RMT Union who have been trying to get me to resign for the last nine months,” he said. “This is a trade union that regards Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party as too right wing to affiliate to and wants to stand in the way of modernisation of the railways.
“The railways need to modernise. So, inevitably, from an organised left-wing trade union, you’re going to get some missiles fired. But I’m going to do what I think is right.”
Grayling added: “I’ve also made some big calls – like the expansion of Heathrow, the right thing to for the country but politically difficult and unpopular with some vested interests.”
But every politician “gets flak” he said – “you just have to take it on the chin and get one with the job”.
However, in the preview of the article, Grayling did not mention MPs and members of the public who repeatedly called for him to be sacked, after commuters faced several weeks of delays and cancellations when an attempt to implement the biggest railway timetable changes in a generation was botched.
Grayling denied responsibility for the chaos, saying he did not “run” the railways, but that it was his job to put it right.
The Epsom and Ewell MP also faced criticism in December after it came to light he had shelved plans to introduce laws regulating drone use in Britain, when suspected drone sightings at Gatwick Airport caused days of delays and cancellations in the run-up to Christmas.
However, he did say that his role as a “prominent Brexiteer in the cabinet who backs the prime minister’s deal” was another major cause of the criticism he receives.
“I’m a lightning rod for the anti-Brexit brigade,” Grayling said, adding there were lots of people who “want to frustrate the democratic will of the British people”.
“But this is politics,” he added. “I’m not afraid of making big and sometimes unpopular calls if they’re the right thing to do. And I believe in Britain and that we can make a success of ourselves as a country outside the EU.”
