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UK government cancels Brexit ferry deals

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The Department for Transport is cancelling contracts to provide extra ferry services after Brexit.

Ending the contracts with Brittany Ferries and DFDS could cost the taxpayer more than £50m.

The government bought £89m worth of capacity from the two firms. Some of that capacity might be sold, but millions of pounds could be lost.

The contracts were designed to ease pressure on the port of Dover, by creating extra services at other ports.

In February, the DfT was forced to axe its £13.8m contract with a third company, Seaborne Freight, which the BBC found had never sailed a vessel.

Earlier this year, the National Audit Office estimated that the cancellation costs of all the ferry contracts would be £56.6m.

The cost is likely to only be several million pounds less than this.

A government spokesperson said: "The termination of these contracts has resulted in less cost to the taxpayer than the termination costs reported by the NAO."

The government was also forced to pay £33m to Eurotunnel, to settle a case which challenged the procurement process for the ferry contracts.

In addition, the DfT is now facing legal action from P&O Ferries, which says its rival, Eurotunnel, was given a competitive advantage by the government.

(https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/71EC/production/_106046192_gettyimages-1091397428.jpg)
Brittany Ferries is one of the suppliers which had a contract to provide extra ferry services

'We needed to be ready'

Mr Grayling, the Transport Secretary, said the cancelled contracts were part of a £4bn no-deal "insurance policy" the government had put in place.

"People would expect a responsible government to take out an insurance policy, and that's what we've done, to make sure we can deal with all the challenges in a no-deal Brexit.

"We never wanted it, we never worked for it, but we sure as certain needed to be ready for it," he said.

If extra cross-Channel freight services are needed again in the run-up to the new Brexit deadline in October, the government could have to negotiate a new set of contracts, he said.

Grayling under fire

Labour shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said the contracts will be "a case study in ministerial incompetence" on the part of Mr Grayling.

"The Transport Secretary's approach to procurement and planning has cost taxpayers tens, if not, hundreds of millions of pounds. His career as a minister has left a trail of scorched earth and billions of pounds of public money wasted.

"This country cannot afford Chris Grayling."

Radio 4 reporting Graylings resigned.

Chris Grayling resigned his position as transport secretary; he backed Johnson.

Just think...……...you'll have someone new to moan about and blame for everything soon, any preferences?  :)

Transport not yet announced. Jacob Rees-Mogg?  :P

Transport not yet announced. Jacob Rees-Mogg?  :P

Is he familiar with newfangled forms of transport such as trains that run from elecktrickery?

Grayling advises successor on transport ‘minefield’

Whilst Boris is hardly a safe pair of hands I suppose we should be grateful it was he visiting the UK Atomic Energy Authority today.

Imagine if it had been Chris Grayling. The home counties would have been laid to waste this evening, and Raymond Briggs would have been sharpening his pencil.

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I've definitely never seen Catweazle but elecktrickery is a common enough pun.

Yes, we used it all the time "in them olden S&T days"......elecktrickery that is..... ::)

I wonder who first coined it?

Well, when I started in the S&T Gang way back in 1969, most of the gang were from Cheshire and they all used it....

not forgetting that Bristolians live in an aerial and not an area,

I sense the need for some elucidation: In linguistic terms (let's not get sidetracked by the excellent products of Bristol Commercial Vehicles Ltd) the Bristol 'L' is a letter that is only ever attached to the end of a word; indeed among students of Bristolian it is sometimes referred to as the 'terminal L'. The skill in applying it lies in the native knowledge of those words which are in danger of letting dust in - for the terminal L's purpose is to exclude dust where it might otherwise penetrate and cause damage. There is never any potential for particulate ingress in the middle of a word, so UNDERLGROUND is just not possible.

Maybe it would help to consider this shibboleth: "Eva Turner, prima donna of the Carl Rosa Opera". To a native it is a simple manner to assign L's as required; I'm sure all Bristol folk would agree that "Evil Turner, primal donnal of the Carol Rosal operal" sounds much better. A foreigner, maybe someone from north of Olveston or east of Keynsham, would almost certainly reveal themselves by applying the L to 'Turner', creating a vile chimera along the lines of "Turnall" or, worse, "Turnerl". The apparent gender reassignment (from Carl to Carol) is actually nothing more than a misunderstanding - it is simply the logical consequence of actually pronouncing the letter R, rather than dropping it as RP speakers insist on doing.

Radio 4 reporting Graylings resigned.

It is very difficult to work out what he brings to the job to justify the reported ?100k per year for 7 hours a week.

Perhaps they will use him as a kind of negative sounding board ...

Going by his time at Transport, I fear hearing news soon of Felixstowe silting up and Harwich being invaded by aliens.

Felixstowe may not have silted up but is reported to be "in chaos" with long delays to both ships and to trucks collecting containers for onward distribution.

That didn't take him long.