Edinburgh MP Joanna Cherry QC has called for Beleaguered Transport Secretary Chris Grayling to be sacked for the Seaborne Ferries debacle, after the UK Government agreed to pay EuroTunnel £33m to settle a High Court Case.
GetLink, Eurotunnel’s parent company sued the UK Government after UK Transport Secretary Chris Grayling awarded contracts for additional cross channel freight, including to Seaborne Freight. The £14m contract with Seaborne Freight the ‘ferry company without ships’ collapsed in early February.
Local MP Joanna Cherry QC MP has led the charge over this issue – having repeatedly queried the legality of the tendering process and demanded that the UK Government publish the relevant legal advice.
UK Govt say #SeaborneFreight contract awarded outwith normal procurement rules because of “extreme urgency” brought about by “unforeseeable events”. But Minister confirms #NoDeal #Brexit was foreseen ages ago & can’t say what unforeseen events were #ferrygate pic.twitter.com/WgRlcLx5C1
— Joanna Cherry QC MP (@joannaccherry) January 9, 2019
Joanna Cherry’s consistent pressure on this issue has now led to the contract being scrapped causing utter embarrassment for the UK government.
Ms Cherry said: “This has been a shambolic episode from start to finish – a debacle that completely defies satire. The £33m paid in compensation today comes on top of £800k the UK Government wasted in consultancy fees to set up the Seaborne Freight contract in the first place.
“Theresa May is hamstrung over Brexit but she must sack the Transport Secretary for presiding over this fiasco.
“For months now I’ve queried the legal basis of this contract and UK Government ministers have embarrassed themselves dodging my questions.
“This shambles has become the ultimate metaphor for Brexit – a complete farce, a government deluding itself and the public and, ultimately, an ill-fated disaster.
“The government should reflect very seriously on how badly they got this wrong. The Transport Secretary should think long and hard about how he can continue to justify his position, and people deserve an apology.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
