UK charters £100 million new freight capacity for no-deal Brexit
The British government has granted mega contracts to three shipping companies as it seeks to cope with chaotic circumstances that could arise of a disorderly exit from the European Union next year.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said in a Saturday statement that the contracts, worth of around £100 million, will be aimed at chartering extra sea ferries to ease cross-Channel congestion if the government fails to secure the Brexit deal it has signed with the EU.
“While remaining committed to working to ensure a deal is reached, the department is helping ensure the rest of government are fully prepared for a range of scenarios,” read the statement, adding, “This extra capacity is a small but important element of the DfT’s no-deal planning.”
Many believe Prime Minister Theresa May has a little chance of going through the British parliament with her Brexit deal in mid-January. May has repeatedly indicated that if the House of Commons rejects the deal, Britain will leave the EU on March 29, 2019 without an agreement.
The government announced last month that it had adopted a “full” plan for dealing with a no-deal Brexit. Estimates suggest that more than five billion pounds have been set aside for the scenario to help various departments cope with the emergencies.
Reports said the DfT had granted two 47-million-pound deals to the French firm Brittany Ferries and the Danish shipping company DFDS and a 14-million-pound contract to Seaborne Freight to ease a potential backlog that could come at English south-coast ports after no-deal Brexit.
It said the contracts, which were awarded with no tender, were meant to respond a “situation of extreme urgency” brought about by “unforeseeable events”.
However, the opposition Liberal Democrat party called the decision a “complete madness”. Its leader Vince Cable said the government was recklessly spending public money in a last-minute bid to prepare for a no-deal outcome.
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