THEY say that truth is often stranger than fiction and it is hard to get though a day without stumbling across a news article that could easily qualify for the ‘You Couldn’t Make It Up Award 2019’.

There was an initial strong contender in this week’s shortlist when Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s former director of communications and a Labour Party member for 47 years, voted Lib Dem at the European elections. It wasn’t so astonishing that he’d decided to make that choice – he has clearly not been impressed with the current regime for a long while and he certainly wasn’t on his own judging by responses from lots of other long-time Labour supporters.

It was the fact that he then announced it to the media that caused me to go back to the headline and re-read the story to be sure I hadn’t imagined it.

That news pales against this week’s nailed-on winner, however . . . drum roll . . . the Department for Transport and its ludicrous suggestion that old Pacer trains could be brought back into use as community hubs. This seriously dumb idea adds insult to injury for us in the north of England who have had to endure their rubbishness for decades.

These ‘workhorses of the north’, as they were described by Rail Minister Andrew Jones, could be put to community use in the northern towns they have served for the last 40 years.

Pacers are the carriages that the commuters of Bolton know all too well. They are the noisy, rickety, old fashioned ones, where even the waste from the toilets is flushed straight on to the track. Passengers who have spent many a nightmare journey between here and Manchester on one will no doubt be overjoyed to see them disappear. Mr Jones did acknowledge that, but then said he would like to see the carriages potentially be used to help northern communities, possibly as scout huts, or village halls.

So, a competition will be held this summer and community groups invited to put forward ideas for alternative uses for Pacers when they are retired.

When Mr Jones announced that the first prize would be one of the Pacers, one cynical chap present at the press conference is reported to have said - “What’s the second prize? Two?”

Meanwhile, the elected Mayors of Greater Manchester and Liverpool joined forces on Wednesday to call for Northern Rail to be stripped of the franchise, a demand which was quickly rebuffed by the DfT.

Presumably the ladies and gentlemen at the DfT feel that community hubs built from rubbish trains that have provided a rubbish service for the people of the north for way too long will appease us regional whingers.

It was announced yesterday that the Labour Party is to review its decision about Alastair Campbell’s expulsion Let’s hope the same review happens to the Pacer train competition. Otherwise it’s entirely possible that us underlings in the north might see affordable housing being built from old train carriages piled on top of each other.