Chris Grayling MP Appointed Health and Safety Minister:

[POSTMAN]

No. 527 /10
Ref EX5
Date: 11 June 2010



To: All Branche

Dear Colleagues

Chris Grayling MP Appointed Health and Safety Minister:


Chris Grayling MP has been given ministerial responsibilities for health and safety in the new coalition government. The appointment can not be described as good news. Chris Grayling is known as David Cameron’s “attack dog” and has been compared to Norman Tebbit - Thatcher's architect of the Anti-Trade Union Legislation of the 80's know as "Tebbits Law" .


Whilst during the run up to the General Election the Tory Party had been courting a better relationship with the trade unions - Mr. Grayling made it clear he wanted to "roll back the State on workers’ rights", "make it more difficult for workers to use employment law and employment tribunals", "go no further on Maternity rights", and he said he was ”planning an big overhaul of health and safety legislation because it's ludicrous" he thinks and he wants "a simpler regime to make it harder for people to make stupid decisions.”



Born
1 April, 1962
Family
Married with two children
Wealth
Estimated at £500,000.
Education
Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe, and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge




Career
Joined BBC as trainee in 1985 and later became a producer, worked for Channel 4 and became a management consultant in 1997

Political career
Grayling was selected to contest the Labour-held marginal seat of Warrinton South at the 1997 General Election but was defeated by Labour candidate Helen Southworth by 10,807 votes. He was elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Merton in 1998 and remained on the council until 2002. He was Elected MP for Epsom and Well in 2001 following the retirement of the veteran Tory MP Archie Hamilton. Grayling held the seat with a majority of 10,080 and has remained the MP there since. He made his Maiden Speech on 25 June 2001. In the constituency, he is praised for his long-running campaign to retain the local Epsom Hospital's Emergency Unit. He joined the front bench in 2003 as health spokesman and was Shadow Leader of the House and transport spokesman before being appointed Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary last year. Until the 2010 general election, he was Shadow Home Secretary, but following the formation of a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, Grayling was not given any cabinet post, as had been predicted by some media commentators prior to the election. David Cameron's decision to overlook him has been attributed to Grayling's remarks and political gaffes. Instead Grayling was appointed as Minister of State in the Department of Work and Pensions.


MP Expenses Controversy
Between 2001 and 2009, Grayling claimed expenses for a flat in Pimlico, close to the House of Commons, despite having a constituency home less than 17 miles away and owning two 'buy to let' properties in 'Wimbledon'. Grayling claimed over £100,000 for the flat between 2001 and 2007. The Daily Mirror reported that Grayling would benefit from the increase in the price of the flat, by at least £100,000. During the Parliamentary Expenses Scandal, The Daily Telegraph reported that Grayling refitted and redecorated his flat in 2005 at a cost of thousands of pounds on expenses. The newspaper alleged Grayling "spread the cost over two years" by submitting receipts in both 2005-06 and 2006–07, avoiding the upper limit for expense claims. Grayling said that both the water and electrical systems failed "leaving the place needing a major overhaul".


Moss Side Comments Controversy
In August 2009 Chris Grayling's comments, comparing 'Moss Side' to the Baltimore USA TV series 'The Wire' met with an angry response in Manchester. Baltimore, with a population of about 600,000, was noted as having 191 gun related murders in the past year, in comparison to Moss Side, population 11,000, which had none.

General Dannatt Appointment Gaffe
On 7 October 2009 Grayling was asked by the BBC about a Conservative Party plan to offer General Sir Richard Dannant an advisory role. Grayling, thinking it was a Labour appointment he was being asked to comment on, said he hoped it was not a "political gimmick", and said "We've seen too many appointments in this government of external people when it's all been about Gordon Brown's PR.". When he was told he had misheard the question, and that it was a Tory party appointment, he said he was "really delighted" with the idea, adding "It's a bit embarrassing really because I would have liked to give General Dannatt a more enthusiastic welcome."

Fiddling Statistics Slap Down
In February 2010, Grayling came under fire as Shadow Home Secretary for allegedly "fiddling" statistics. The chairman of the UK Statistics Authority, Sir Michael Scholar, gave Grayling a humiliating slap down and stinging rebuke for manipulating official statistics, saying that the figures Grayling was using were "likely to mislead the public" and "likely to damage public trust in official statistics".


Homophobic Comments
In March 2010, Grayling caused uproar when he said that Hotel owners and bed and breakfasts owners should have the right to turn away gay couples and it was reported in the Observer . Gay Right Group 'Stonewall' pointed out that his position was illegal and was very alarming. Amid the furore and pressure on Conservative party leader David Cameron to "back or sack" him, Grayling apologised on 9 April, saying "I am sorry if what I said gave the wrong impression, I certainly didn't intend to offend anyone and I voted for gay rights".


In to Hiding during Election to avoid further Political Gaffes
After the start of the 2010 general election campaignon 6 April, Chris Grayling, the man previously being lined up by David Cameron to be the next home secretary was "hidden away" by the Conservatives, making very few public appearances, perhaps to avoid more political gaffes. During the launch of the Labour Party's "LGBT Manifesto" on 15 April, Acting Leader Harriet Harman renewed calls for Grayling to be sacked, saying "We don't want to wake up and find we have a homophobic home secretary. David Cameron should have sacked him as soon as he said that." It is unclear whether Grayling's remarks were the reason that David Cameron eventually chose to appoint Theresa May as Home Secretary in his new cabinet, rather the Grayling who held the position in the Shadow Cabinet. Grayling was not given any cabinet post, as had been widely predicted by some media commentators prior to the election.

Political Buffoon
Author Douglas Murray described Grayling as "a political buffoon, unsure of what he is saying and with little idea of how to say it".


Yours Sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

[POSTMAN]

Now if Carlsberg done LTB's.......