Hapless Tory Chris Grayling was accused of taking “shortcuts” in awarding a no-deal Brexit contract to a ferry firm with no ferries.

Theresa May insisted she had full confidence in the Transport Secretary this morning.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said it had decided to terminate the contract after Irish company Arklow Shipping, which had backed Seaborne Freight, stepped away from the deal.

But MPs – including pro-EU Tories – said Mr Grayling should take responsibility for the situation and resign.

Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said: "What began as a debacle has now descended into a Whitehall farce. This minister is rewriting the textbook for ministerial incompetence in office."

He said Mr Grayling chose to ignore warnings from MPs and industry, also claiming the Department for Transport "took shortcuts" in the procurement process with Seaborne Freight.

Mr McDonald went on: "(Mr Grayling) points the finger at Arklow for the contract cancellation – is it really a good time to further insult the Irish?"

Mr McDonald asked how much cancelling the contract will cost taxpayers, adding: "He simply cannot keep blaming others for his own mistakes. This disastrous decision sits squarely with him and his office.

"Isn’t it the case that this Transport Secretary’s approach to transport and wider Brexit contingency planning is off the Richter scale?

"And for the good of the nation, and for the sake of some semblance being restored to this shambolic Government, shouldn’t he now do the decent thing and go?"

Mr Grayling replied to his Labour counterpart: "I have to say that he brings a new meaning to the words utter hogwash.

"He clearly wasn’t listening when I said we’ve spent no money on this contract."

He defended his department’s no-deal Brexit planning, adding the Seaborne Freight contract was "assured jointly" by DfT and Treasury officials.

Mr Grayling quoted at length a letter from Arklow Shipping which gave assurances over Seaborne Freight.

In his initial reply to the urgent question, Mr Grayling earlier said there are "contractual options" to replace the Seaborne Freight capacity with "additional capacity on routes in the North Sea and this is an option we’ll be discussing across government in the coming days".

Tory backbenchers queued up to defend the under-fire Transport Secretary in the Commons, with Robert Goodwill (Scarborough and Whitby) telling MPs any suggested scandal was "nonsense".

He said: "We’ve heard a lot of nonsense about this company not owning any ships.

"Isn’t it the case the majority of rail operators in this country don’t own any trains and that many airlines… lease aircraft, which means not only do they not own the planes themselves but they don’t employ the crew directly?"

Mr Grayling agreed and added: "The fact is many members on those benches will go on holiday this year on airlines that own no planes because that is the way business works.

Sir Roger Gale (North Thanet) condemned the "utterly synthetic outrage dribbling from the opposition front bench" and Mark Francois (Rayleigh and Wickford" offered his "strong support".

Read More

Latest UK politics news

Source: Read Full Article