Thread by @pmdfoster

BREAK: 🚨🚨🇫🇷🇬🇧🚗🚙🚗🚙🚗🚙🚗🚙🚗🚙🚗🇫🇷🇬🇧🚢🚢🚢🚨🚨 The UK rejects Dover funding bid to double French passport booths via @FT - long queues ahead...as other ports also don’t get money they asked for to build #brexit border. Stay with me/1 thread
on.ft.com/3nnTpyQ

@FT So what is this all about? Well back in October the govt announced a £200m Port Infrastructure Fund - details below - for ports to get ready for the new trade processes for #Brexit border. Dealing with those 215m extra customs decs etc.. /2

gov.uk/government/new…

@FT Today we find out what everyone got - but it turns out that 54 ports asked for more than £450m - so a LOT have been bitterly disappointed. Not just Dover (on which more in a second)...they are furious the government is not willing to fully fund the very borders they mandated /3

@FT So here is the list of what everyone got - 41 ports had winning bids totaling just over £194m - but you'll note that Dover got...wait for it...£33k. No, that is not a type. Thirty-three thousand pounds. They asked for £33m!! Why? Well to build new passport lanes. /4

@FT Why? Because as an @NAOorguk report warned in November the Govt's 'reasonable worst case scenario' for delays at Dover for passenger traffic was "one to two hours" and "much longer" in the summer. Eeek. Happy hols everyone! /5

nao.org.uk/report/the-uk-…

@FT @NAOorguk So here is @PortOfDover EU Exit boss Tim Reardon explaining to the Lords EU Cmme why they needed to double the number of French kiosks from five to 10 - because we'll soon be facing intrusive new checks; stamps in passport etc. Oh joy. /6

committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/1…

@FT @NAOorguk @PortOfDover The Cabinet Office have yet to explain their thinking fully on why Dover didn't get the money - or why they didn't fine more cash when it was clear the Fund was more than twice over-subscribed. But ministers have explained how they whittle down the field. See this:/7

@FT @NAOorguk @PortOfDover But none of that explains really why a government that is merrily building borders doesn't appear to want to pay for them to be built...surely in the case of Dover, when everyone is sitting fuming in queues this summer...the extra five booths might have paid off?! /8

@FT @NAOorguk @PortOfDover But his is MUCH bigger than Dover. This is about booting up port infrastructure across the UK to deal with those extra 215m customs declarations, the new processes Ireland-GB, the expected increase in 'short sea' crossings to Harwich and the Humber. It's #Brexit made flesh! /9

@FT @NAOorguk @PortOfDover It's fair to say there is a LOT of grumbling out there today as these awards were circulated.

Portsmouth got £17.1m - which is about £8m short of what they asked for, I am told. /10

@FT @NAOorguk @PortOfDover Their MP @StephenMorganMP is fuming. He says the money falls "far short" of what they need and is less than "the money mandated by the government’s own border operating model" - I can see the Govt getting some heat on all this in coming days/weeks. /11

@FT @NAOorguk @PortOfDover @StephenMorganMP This leaves ports facing a real dilemma as the July 1 2021 deadline approaches...do the go ahead and build scaled back, inadequate infrastructure...or seek more money or what? See this from @mikesellersPIP the boss of @PortsmouthPort /12

@FT @NAOorguk @PortOfDover @StephenMorganMP @mikesellersPIP @PortsmouthPort And I can tell you that dilemma is NOT confined to Portsmouth.

Humber ports like Purfleet & Killinghome that deal with 'trailer' freight from the EU on short-sea crossings also have lots to do. Holyhead must deal with huge new Irish freight issues etc. /13

@FT @NAOorguk @PortOfDover @StephenMorganMP @mikesellersPIP @PortsmouthPort Some got nothing, others took an across the board haircut 33% haricut on what they did get.

@timgmorris Chief Exec UK Major Ports Group says they're "very disappointed that the allocations of funding are so late in the day and significantly short of what many ports require."/14

@FT @NAOorguk @PortOfDover @StephenMorganMP @mikesellersPIP @PortsmouthPort @timgmorris His group is now calling on the Government "to work urgently with the sector to review funding levels and timings”...because tickety-tock the new border hurtles towards us (exact details still tbc...checks date...16 Dec...mops brow) /15

The point is that everyone, I think, knows it is going to be pretty choppy logistically few months - and then again, with a 'second cliff-edge' in July 1 2021 for goods coming EU-GB, so it seems odd to me Govt isn't chucking sufficient wedge at this one. /16

Because if & when the blame game begins over port congestion, I think I have a fair bet about where the finger will be pointing - at least from the point of view of a pretty sore UK ports industry today. ENDS