Welsh Labour’s Deputy Climate Change Minister Lee Waters had the honour of unveiling the first new train on the South Wales Metro this morning – yet rather than arriving to the ceremony by public transport, Waters showed up in a gas-guzzling, carbon-emitting car. Asked why he wasn’t “leading by example”, the Minister had a novel explanation: 

“When I had a normal job, I would travel on the bike and on the train. My current job is not a normal job, so it’s unrepresentative. And it’s an easy point to make to say I’m a hypocrite about that, but actually, most people’s journeys are simple, repetitive, everyday journeys. And the public transport system is designed to help most people make those journeys by public transport rather than by car.”

In fairness, driving to a ceremony at a train station is much simpler than just using a train…