This doesn’t seem to have been posted, so I thought it should be done, for non-UK readers who may not have seen this story.
In brief, if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, every freight consignment entering the country from the EU will have to be manually checked. The UK has nothing like the port capacity to do this. But fear not - the UK government has solved the problem by hiring a ferry company that has no ferries to run a -uh - ferry service out of a port which hasn’t operated such a service for years and which can’t accommodate most boats.
…The narrow berths for ships at the Port of Ramsgate mean there are only a few suitable commercial vessels, most of which are currently already in service, he said…
*"A firm that has never run a ferry service before has been awarded a multi-million pound contract and they don’t even have any ships… *
*Conservative Kent county councillor Paul Messenger said it was impossible for the government to have carried out sufficient checks on the firm.
“It has no ships and no trading history so how can due diligence be done?” he asked.*
Surely everyone knows the solution to the Brexit food crisis?
Bring back World War II era Victory Gardens:
And of course with Europeans no longer stealing British fish (European fishermen fishing in British waters) there will a lot more fish for the British to eat.
I regret to advise that I am not of the bodily mass that usually shows up on satellite photos.
If that is a deal breaker, I know a couple of likely lads whose shadows weight almost 500gms?
I’m not sure what sort of a gotcha you think this is, but- do you need a ship to transport material? No. Do you need a ship to run a ferry service from Ramsgate across the English Channel, which is what this contract is for? I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say yes.
But if you think you can run one without, maybe there’s time to put in an application, no need to explain how you’re going to manage it, we no longer need to know anything like that.
(Oh, and Sunspace, sorry for the slow reply, I had to run out and panic buy all the bread at the mention of the S word. I’ve not experienced it in a country that doesn’t grind to a halt at the threat of a cm of the stuff. Looks pretty on the Christmas cards though).
I wonder which of Chis Grayling’s relatives or friends are running this company.
There must be some corruption involved. The UK government doesn’t hand out large amounts of money to random startups for no reason. This is more than mere incompetence.
I think the point is that, with 80 or so days to go, they have nothing. No boats, no leased boats, no working UK port, no experience, no track record, no boots on the ground…although they do have a website that says:
It is the responsibility of the customer to thoroughly check the supplied goods before agreeing to pay for any meal/order
(Thanks, Filbert!)
There’s a reason this made headlines everywhere in the UK.
You may be right. I can’t help thinking that highlighting the prospect of, y’know, no food, is Theresa May’s final attempt to terrify MPs into voting through her hugely unpopular post-Brexit deal with the EU.
You want a no-deal Brexit? Wait 'til you see what we got for you! Explain that to your constituents.
No, it is necessary however to have actually secured the vessals by lease or rental to do so. And in the context of a severe vessals shortage available to actual lease and move into position in time - the physical facts that are inconvenient, and the company that in its two years since creation has secured no vessal, it is very legitimate to wonder about such contracting. Also as the CEO had his former boats company shuttered, was a failure.
Indeed as the Financial Times reports, even the local Conservative party councilors finds it questionable:
These are not facts that encourage. The other Financial Times (hint for the Americans, the FT is not a left wing publication) reporting shows the company is very questionable in the terms of financial strength, although perhaps via the public contract awarded opaquely they can find a way to secure the leases despite the questionable information. Certainly my financial institution would not pass them though for the risk factor.
Just when I was changing my mind about this, and coming to the conclusion that if you don’t actually have any ports -
“…local politicians in both Ramsgate and Ostend warned that the ports at both ends of the route will not be ready the deadline…”
then not having a ferry either was probably the best way forward - it turns out that I’m out of step again.
“…The government has axed its no-deal Brexit contract with a ferry company which had no ships…”
If you happen to be compiling a dictionary at the moment, it’s worth spending the time to read the article in full. It may help you with the entry for “Clusterfuck”.
