Papers latch onto Hammond’s “rich man’s toy” comment on railways

The media ignored almost all of transport secretary Philip Hammond’s evidence to the House of Commons’ transport committee on high-speed rail, choosing to focus on his response to just one question. Rik Thomas reports

Rik Thomas

23 September 2011

Free London paper Metro ran the soundbite on its front page on September 14

Transport secretary Philip Hammond landed himself in hot water with the media last week when he suggested that the UK’s railways are “a rich man’s toy”, even though he also acknowledged that this was “an uncomfortable fact”. Giving evidence before the House of Commons’ transport select committee on the Government’s proposed HS2 high-speed rail link between London and Birmingham, and thence points north, Hammond responded to a question asking what...