Contributions
630 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDSeaborne FreightBoth of the points made by my hon. Friend are absolutely correct. My view is that the common transit convention solves many of the problems. We cannot be 100% certain, because we…11 Feb 2019HANSARDSeaborne FreightAbsolutely. This is essential Government spending across Government. We have to be ready for all eventualities. I make no apology for the fact that the Government are spending…11 Feb 2019HANSARDSeaborne FreightI am not sure that operating a freight haulage operation across the English channel is quite the same as operating what I am sure is a fine business in the hon. Gentleman’s…11 Feb 2019HANSARDSeaborne FreightAbsolutely. We set out a plan, and I was clear that we did not expose the taxpayer to risk. The events of last week happened, so we changed our mind. My hon. Friend is absolutely…11 Feb 2019HANSARDSeaborne FreightI can only refer the hon. Lady to what I quoted earlier: “I will be working closely with the team at Seaborne to ensure that they have appropriate support from Arklow Shipping to…11 Feb 2019HANSARDSeaborne FreightThis is the point: the Labour party wants to disrupt Brexit. It wants us to leave the European Union but will not approve the deal and does not want us to prepare for no deal, so…11 Feb 2019HANSARDSeaborne FreightWe made provision in the contracts that we signed with Brittany Ferries and DFDS for additional capacity on other routes, that were not in our original mix. Those are options that…11 Feb 2019HANSARDSeaborne FreightMy Department and I are working on detailed plans to ensure that the pressures on both the tunnel and the port of Dover are as small as possible. I am very confident, as I have…11 Feb 2019HANSARDSeaborne FreightThe common sense came in two forms: first, when Arklow Shipping confirmed to my Department in writing in December that it was supporting this; and, secondly, because we had a…11 Feb 2019HANSARDSeaborne FreightI keep saying that I find it baffling that the Opposition should be opposed to giving a chance to a small business when the taxpayer was exposed to no financial risk at all,…11 Feb 2019HANSARDSeaborne FreightThe comfort that we had was that the three professional advisers advised us that credible plans were in place. That was reinforced by written confirmation from Arklow Shipping…11 Feb 2019HANSARDSeaborne FreightAs you will be aware, Mr Speaker, the European Commission has already said that it wants haulage to continue. It does not expect a permit-based system to be required. But in the…11 Feb 2019HANSARDSeaborne FreightI do not want to attribute any possible reasons for Arklow Shipping pulling out. It was a shame that, just at the point when everybody had draft contracts in place ready for…11 Feb 2019HANSARDSeaborne FreightIf the hon. Lady wants a non-no-deal Brexit, she should line up behind the deal that the Government have reached with the European Union, but if she is not prepared to vote for…11 Feb 2019HANSARDSeaborne FreightI do not think that Opposition Members are listening at all to what I have said. The agreements were all in place and ready to be signed, but the reality is that, at this moment,…11 Feb 2019HANSARDSeaborne FreightIt was a sensible contingency. If we require that capacity now, we will have to use longer routes through the North sea, when it would be better to go from Ramsgate to Ostend. We…11 Feb 2019HANSARDSeaborne FreightI can only think that Opposition Members have not been listening to a word I have said. I said at the start that we knew that they had not got the arrangements in place. That is…11 Feb 2019HANSARDSeaborne FreightPrecisely because, as I said, we already had secured options that would enable us to provide alternatives.11 Feb 2019HANSARDSeaborne FreightActually, I did see ships—they were lined up ready to go on this route. It is a shame the backers pulled out.11 Feb 2019HANSARDSeaborne FreightAs my hon. Friend knows, I have had discussions with the leader of Thanet District Council over the past few days, and I have been clear that there is a strong case to include…11 Feb 2019