With Sir Keir Starmer straggling on as PMINO – Prime Minister in Name Only – ministers have truly gone feral. A vacuum of leadership at the very top of government appears to have hurled that old constitutional convention of ministerial collective responsibility out of the window and into the nearest skip fire. The latest example? A member of the government complaining that the Defence Investment Plan is impinging on infrastructure important to his constituents in Lincoln.
While Hamish Falconer is the Foreign Office minister responsible for the Middle East, he seems rather more concerned by highways than Hezbollah and Hamas. Responding to the DIP today, Falconer fumed:
I am disappointed by the uncertainty today about the A46 Newark Bypass widening scheme. I support further funding for the DIP, but the A46 upgrade programme is well advanced, long awaited, excellent value for money and of strategic importance to both Lincoln and the region. Following the Labour Party leadership contest, I will be seeking an urgent meeting with the incoming Prime Minister, incoming Chancellor and incoming Secretary of State for Transport to discuss this decision and explore whether there is a credible route forward for this vital project.
To be fair to Falconer, it is disgraceful that funding is being cut from growth-boosting capital road schemes to fund defence when there is an overly bloated welfare bill ripe for the picking instead. But of course, heaven forbid Labour should ever dare venture near the precious benefits bill. Unfortunately, Hamish, you reap what you sow – and this time the chickens have come home to roost on the bypass.
Comments