Brexit: Seaborne Freight no-deal ferry contract scrapped

[nitpicker]

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-47182361

Brexit: Seaborne Freight no-deal ferry contract scrapped

58 minutes ago

A controversial ferry contract awarded to a company with no ships as part of no-deal Brexit plans has been scrapped, the government has said. Ministers had faced criticism for the £13.8m deal with Seaborne Freight, which has never run a ferry service.

The Department of Transport said it made the decision after the company's Irish backer pulled out. The government is now in "advanced talks" to find another company to replace the cancelled deal.

The Daily Telegraph, which first reported the cancelled contract, said Arklow Shipping, a major Irish shipping firm, withdrew its support from Seaborne "without warning".
(snip)

At the time, the government said that it awarded the contract "in the full knowledge that Seaborne is a new shipping provider" and said that the company had been "carefully vetted". But on Saturday, the Department of Transport said that it has now become clear that Seaborne "would not reach its contractual requirements", after Arklow Shipping backed out of the deal.
(snip)

[Soph0571]

1. Was bound to happen

Grayling should have let them go t the start of this

[T_i_B]

2. Chris Grayling exemplifies so much of what's wrong with British politics

His track record as a cabinet is absolutely atrocious. He seems to be proof that all you need to get ahead in British politics is to be well spoken and ideologically pure, even if you are not actually very good at your job.

If I were a Tory I would be utterly embarrassed by his continued presence in the cabinet. The issues with Chris Grayling go way beyond left/right ideological rubbish.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. and it turns out the "new startup business" Grayling was proud of supporting

was actually backed by an Irish company. So all of the firms the emergency contracts went to were EU or EU-backed. This shows the precarious state of much of our economy, and the ridiculousness of the blind optimism over the tremendous trade the Brexiteers predict will he done.

[T_i_B]

4. A big part of why the referendum was lost...

...is that too many people have no understanding of where goods, services and investment come from. Too many people seem to think that goods arrive in our supermarkets and department stores by osmosis. People don't give nearly enough consideration to where stuff actually comes from and what goes into it, because like it or not everything is interconnected.