As Theresa May would put it, I am not making this up.
The Guardian reports that:
One of the companies contracted by the government to charter ferries in the event of a no-deal Brexit does not own any ships, has not previously operated a ferry service and is not planning to do so until close to the UK’s scheduled departure date from the European Union, it has emerged.
Concerns have been raised about Seaborne Freight, which was awarded a £13.8m contract to operate freight ferries from Ramsgate to the Belgian port of Ostend if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, after a councillor for the Kent town queried whether it would be possible to set up the new service by the scheduled Brexit date.The company in question is Seaborne Freight, whose plans are the subject of a notably sceptical article by The Isle of Thanet News:
According to Companies House records the firm has declared fixed assets of £35,169, shares totalling £53, debtors amount due within one year of £6,364 and creditors amount due within one year of £416,607.And the councillor mentioned by the Guardian is Paul Messenger, a Conservative county councillor in Ramsgate.
Speaking of Seaborne Freight, he asked the paper:
"It has no ships and no trading history so how can due diligence be done?
“"Why choose a company that never moved a single truck in their entire history and give them £14m? I don’t understand the logic of that."Good questions both.
Fleet Street's finest will be crawling all over the company's accounts, its directors and their political connections tonight, but explanation for this bizarre decision is simple.
We have a fourth-rate government that is desperate to bring in an anti-business policy in a few weeks. So it's now wonder that they are spending public money without due diligence or common sense.
Brexit s turning the Conservatives into a caricature of the Labour Party. It is turning it into everything it professes to hate.
Later. What that Seaborne Freight service will look like.
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