As Parliament slumbered for the summer, Chris Grayling as transport minister thought it was a great opportunity to stir up a hornet’s nest. As proof of the Government’s commitment to devolution, he took a view of the number of platforms needed at Manchester Piccadilly as well as kicking into the long grass well prepared plans for electrification of a major rail service.

In a classic example of joined up government we have one minister (step forward Mr Gove) calling for an end to diesel cars while another is happily promoting it for our rail service.