So, when did David Cameron know about the West Coast Main Line contract debacle? I only ask because normally the Secretary of State responsible for a major tender like this would be considering their position. In response to loud and vociferous complaints, the individual in question described the bidding as a “fair and well established process”, and only opened an inquiry into the process after a threat of legal action from one of the bidders – an inquiry which concluded that “regrettable and completely unacceptable mistakes” had been made by the Transport Department.
Add in the £40m compensation it is estimated that we, the taxpayer, will have to pay to the losing bidders, plus the questions it raises over the award of every other rail tender – and normally that Secretary of State would face the prospect of “more time with their family” right now. But that hasn’t happened because the Secretary of State in charge of the department while this fiasco was going on was moved in the reshuffle.
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