A Tory MP who struggled to speak about HS2 on Question Time was laughed at by the audience after being mocked by Fiona Bruce last night.
Bim Afolami stuttered and stumbled on his words causing the BBC presenter to ridicule him.
The gaffe came as Ms Bruce pointed out the Government had had “quite a long time” to deliver the high speed railway - which last week was confirmed to have been delayed by two years.
After a painfully long pause, Mr Afolami attempted to answer: “It is clear. It is clear that in all, in, in, in all areas…”
As viewers watched on in horror, Ms Bruce tried to help him along: “Keep going Bim, keep going, come on.”
The MP for Hitchin and Harpenden went on: “In all areas, we are not doing this very, very well because it is a really complicated, big - one of the biggest infrastructure problems, biggest infrastructure schemes in the world.
“But we can do it because Crossrail did get done so I know we have the capacity to do it.
"We need to be able to do that in HS2 and across the North, in other regions of the country, to make sure we connect our different regions.
"Because unless we can get the cost of these things down, nobody will ever put forward major infrastructure projects again in this country and that would be a shame."
Fellow panellist and SNP MP Stephen Flynn also chipped in and told him to "put down the spade".
The debate on the question ‘Is the HS2 rail network worth the money?’ comes after ministers sparked fury last week by confirming a two-year delay in building a key link on the high speed railway.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said the section of track between Birmingham and Crewe will be built two years later than planned, blaming rising costs for the delay.
The Cabinet Minister said the coronavirus pandemic and Vladimir Putin had caused the latest setback to the high speed line, which was originally planned to run from London Euston to Manchester and Leeds via Birmingham.
It has since emerged that delaying HS2 to save money will actually increase costs and trigger job cuts - according to a leaked Government document.
Firms involved in building the high speed railway could collapse while Midlands towns may be stripped of access to the 225mph line, Labour warned.
Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said: "His chief justification for the delays to HS2 were to balance the nation's books, but here his own department admit what he will not - that the delay itself will increase costs.
"They admit it will cost jobs, that construction firms could go bust. They cannot rule out slashing high speed trains serving Stoke, Macclesfield and Stafford altogether.”
Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday, Ms Haigh said the leaked document also suggested it could be 2041 before HS2 runs to Euston Railway Station in central London, with trains to the capital initially ending at Old Oak Common on the outskirts.
“This absurd plan will hit jobs, hurt growth and cost taxpayers even more," she told MPs.
“Is there anything more emblematic of this failed Government than their flagship levelling-up project that neither makes it to the North or to central London?"
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