A new analysis by the Labour Party has revealed that after the Eurotunnel settlement fiasco, in his time as a government minister the Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has cost the taxpayer and the economy a total of £2.7 billion in political gaffes.

• £33m to Eurotunnel to settle a lawsuit over extra ferry services in the event of no-deal Brexit

• £800k on consultants’ fees assessing the bid of a company with no ships that was temporarily awarded a Brexit-related ferry contract

• £50m-£70m due to drone scare at Gatwick airport following delays to bringing forward legislation

• £38m was the cost to the economy in the north of England due to the rail chaos in July 2018

• £2bn cost to taxpayers on the collapse of virgin trains east coast franchise

• £72k was blown on defending book ban for prisoners

• £15 million a year in additional costs to the Carillion contract to run facilities management in prisons

• £467m in additional projected payments to CRCs

• £32m of charges that were unlawfully collected which the government were ordered to pay back

• £23m contract to develop a new generation of GPS tracking tags for dangerous offenders was written off because the project has proved “too challenging”

• £60m over the £130m original budget relating to the wider electronic tagging programme has been described by the PAC as “fundamentally flawed” and “a catastrophic waste of public money”.

• £1.9m paid back to benefit claimants

Andy McDonald MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, said:

“Whether it’s bailouts for failing private companies or keeping Chris Grayling in a job, the Tories seem obsessed with rewarding incompetence.

“The multi-billion pound bungler has wasted £2.7 billion of taxpayers money that could have gone to cash strapped local councils, hospitals and schools. Yet no matter how many mistakes he makes or how much public money he squanders, he remains in post.

“Theresa May must stop putting her own interests ahead of the country and sack him before he inflicts further damage.”