Virginia Crosbie
Main Page: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)Department Debates - View all Virginia Crosbie's debates with the Department for Transport
(2 years ago)
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Grant Shapps
The right hon. Gentleman raises many important points. As he rightly points out, one of the ships has already been detained in Northern Ireland. Stena Line has been doing a great job to fill in some of the gap and I will ask other companies to assist where possible. If he does not mind, I ask him to meet again—I know he has already—with my hon. Friend the maritime Minister, because the specific issues relating to Northern Ireland will need a lot of care and attention over the coming days.
Virginia Crosbie (Ynys Môn) (Con)
Although I welcome the new measures that my right hon. Friend has brought to the House, what reassurance can he give that they will support companies such as Stena Line to grow jobs, particularly local jobs and local labour, so that the news is good for UK seafarers and for the UK flag?
Grant Shapps
The simple fact is that this package will finally ensure that the whole seafaring community is on a level playing field—or a level sea—when it comes to channel crossings and that there will be no advantage to Irish Ferries running a cut-price route or P&O Ferries trying to do the same. For Stena Line, DFDS and others, it will ensure that they can all operate and compete on a fair platform.