Hancock Tube Whopper BUSTED

In the absence (again) of alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, yesterday’s Government press conference on the Coronavirus crisis was taken by health secretary Matt Hancock. He got through it OK, and was judged to have given a competent performance. But before long, this latest episode of Hancock’s Half Hearted began to unravel, over his claims regarding those commuting into central London.

“When it comes to the Tube, the best answer is that Transport for London should have the Tube running in full, so that people travelling on the Tube are spaced out, and can be further apart, obeying the two-metre rule wherever possible. There is no good reason in the information that I’ve seen that the current levels of Tube provision should be as low as they are. We should have more Tube trains running” he claimed.

A Central Line train approaches White City

But, as free sheet Metro has reported, London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan pointed out that TfL “simply cannot safely run a full service because of the levels of staff sickness and self-isolation … we cannot run more services than we currently are” with a spokeswoman for the Mayor’s office telling “Nearly a third of staff are already absent – there aren’t enough drivers and control staff to do it”. So who was telling the right story?

The BBC’s London transport and environment correspondent Tom Edwards decided to cut out the middle man and ask those on the front line directly. “A number of transport workers have been in touch independently and have confirmed high levels of sickness amongst staff at TfL which is affecting service levels. (My DMs are open & confidential)” he told.

So what did he find out? “Been inundated (20+) with transport workers at [TfL] all saying the same thing and outlining how many are off sick and how they are working to keep the service going … TfL workers absolutely furious with [Matt Hancock]. All say they can’t run a full service due to high levels of sickness. ‘Many are working overtime in dangerous conditions just to keep the stations open’ … ‘Normally no time for Sadiq but the Govt has gone too far’”. And there was more. Rather a lot more.

“Tube Driver : we have [30 out of 80] drivers off & half the managers. We are trying our best. We want to do more but we don’t decide the service levels. We don’t want to be driving packed trains of non essential workers [hint for Hancock there]. Very upset we are being blamed when we [are] putting our families at risk”. And more.

“Devastating from this Tube driver: We are attacked no matter what we do. Most of us have families and because people who should be in quarantine or practicing social distancing, aren't following guidelines we are being exposed to the virus even more. We are dropping like flies”. It is not in Sadiq Khan’s gift to make the obvious decision.

And that is to stop all non-essential commuting into Central London - including the significant numbers of construction workers whose presence is only essential to the continued financial performance of their employers. It is not acceptable for any transport worker to have to risk their health - and worse - just to keep the job running.

Moreover, it is not acceptable for Matt Hancock, or any other minister, to deflect from his own failings when he clearly doesn’t know his subject. Time to say sorry, Matt.

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