Brexit: Cross-Channel Transport

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Monday 21st January 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, the port of Ostend is an operational ro-ro port, but nevertheless improvements are naturally required in order to bring all the necessary facilities up to date for the reinstatement of the Ramsgate route. The Government have no plans to provide any funding to the port of Ostend: that is a commercial matter for the port and for Seaborne.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

Is it not a fact that for our major hauliers in the west and east Midlands, who can either go south or north with their goods, not a single lorry leaves the depot until it is cleared by computer software? Once it is cleared they set off, so the scale of the problem is not as others would believe it might be.

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, we have focused on the areas where we expect there could be the most disruption and our priority is to minimise disruption at Dover and on Eurotunnel. That is because those are unique: they have the largest volume of traffic on the short straits and have juxtaposed border controls. The turn-up-and-go system that my noble friend refers to at all other ports means that all vehicles must have pre-bought tickets, so we expect much less disruption there.