Seaborne Freight

Nicholas Dakin Excerpts

Monday 11th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Northfield (Richard Burden) asked the Secretary of State whether, at the point of signing off the contract, he knew that Seaborne Freight had not got in place the agreements with the port authorities in Ramsgate and Ostend that it was saying that it had got. This is about due diligence—was it done?

[Chris Grayling]

I can only think that Opposition Members have not been listening to a word I have said. I said at the start that we knew that they had not got the arrangements in place. That is why we put in place a tight contractual structure that involved no financial commitment from the taxpayer until they had got those things sorted out.