TORY PORKIE PIES EXPOSED & PRIVATISATION PLANS DEAD IN THE WATER - 17/03/2010
Dover & Deal MP Gwyn Prosser raised the vexed issue of port privatisation and the ferry companies’ attack on Dover Harbour Board at Prime Minister’s Questions today.
(Uncorrected transcript of PMQ 17/03/10)
Gwyn Prosser :
Thank you Mr Speaker, Norfolk Line, Seafrance and P&O Ferries have all attacked Dover Harbour Board’s proposals to sell the Port of Dover, accusing them of an abuse of power and threatening legal action through the courts. The people of Dover, the seafarers and the port workers all oppose privatisation.
Does my Rt Hon Friend agree with me that to sell the Port of Dover would be the wrong thing to do – I don’t really expect him to say yes to that - but does he agree that no Government could allow the sale of the port without the proposals enjoying the trust and support of the main stakeholders.
Prime Minister :
I always see the Hon Gentleman as the most effective campaigner on behalf of the people of Dover and I can repeat what I said recently – there will be no forced privatisation under Labour and we are not pressurising the port to privatise but we are looking at new options for investment in the necessary expansion of the port and the regeneration of Dover. Any proposals, however, would need to take account of the views of the local community and the stakeholders.
Speaking outside the chamber, Gwyn said:
“Today the Prime Minister has scotched the silly stories being pedalled by the prospective Tory candidate who has been spending large amounts of money on glossy leaflets trying to con my constituents into believing Gordon Brown is pressing Dover Harbour Board to privatise. That’s not the story I’ve been getting from the Treasury, the Department of Transport or even from the Chief Executive and Chairman of the Port of Dover but now we have it directly from the Prime Minister in the chamber – no pressure and no forced privatisation under Labour.
But the most important development is the ferry companies’ scathing attack on Dover Harbour Board and their allegations of abuse of power and misapplication of revenues. With P&O, Norfolk Line and Seafrance all lining up to challenge the Dover Harbour Board in the courts, there’s no way the Board’s current submission can make any progress, it’s dead in the water – and a good thing too.”
For more information please contact Jo Knight on 01304 214484 or 07790 184521
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DOVER HARBOUR BOARD’s PRIVATISATION PLANS THROWN INTO CHAOS says MP - 11/3/10
Dover’s MP, Gwyn Prosser, says that Dover Harbour Board’s plans to sell off the Port of Dover have been thrown into chaos and confusion following threats by the major ferry operators to take legal action against the Board because of alleged misapplication of the so called ‘Terminal 2 Revenue Levy’
Gwyn Prosser said:
“Today’s dramatic announcement comes as no surprise to me because P&O and the other Dover Port users have been privately voicing their opposition and anger at the way the Board is making this voluntary bid to be privatised without talking to the major stakeholders who use their services and without ensuring that a new owner would guarantee developing the port and building the much needed new Terminal at Western Docks”
“I intend raising this new development with the Leader of the House in the Chamber this morning and asking her to call an emergency debate so as to expose the chaos and confusion being perpetrated by Dover Harbour Board in their unseemly haste to dispose of the port”
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The Prime Minister has rebutted the wildly false allegations of the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Dover that the Government is pressing the Port into privatisation. In a rowdy exchange at Prime Minister’s Questions, Gordon Brown told Gwyn that there would be no forced privatisation under Labour and the Government will look for new ways of attracting investment.
PMQ EXCHANGE 10th February 2010
Gwyn Prosser: The Trust Port of Dover is the busiest ferry port in the world. I’ve sailed out of it for 12 years and represented it for the last 13 years. What can the Prime Minister say today to dispel the fabrications and fables being spun by Dover’s carpet-bagging Conservative candidate that the Government is hell-bent on selling Dover to the highest bidder and the highest bid might come from the French?
Prime Minister: It is the Honourable Gentleman, the Member for Dover, who has been a great champion for Dover and its people and I know he wants the best for the people of Dover including a flourishing port; and I share that aspiration. There will be no forced privatisation of Dover under Labour and we will look for new ways of getting in new investment into the port and the community.
Speaking afterwards Gwyn said:
“Most of my constituents have already dismissed the rubbish that my Tory opponent has been peddling. They don’t want a wealthy tax lawyer living in opulent Belgravia lecturing them on the future of their port. So firstly, I wanted to scotch his fabricated fables about Government pressing to privatise once and for all and the Prime Minister’s answer has done just that.
“And secondly, I’ve always argued that Dover Harbour Board could attract new investment without selling to the highest bidder and enriching the Directors. Gordon Brown has now confirmed this to be the case and he told Parliament that he’s looking at new ways of getting investment into Dover”
“When Dover Harbour Board first volunteered to privatise the port I reminded them that they didn’t have the support of the community and I predicted that their application would not be allowed under Labour – I am now more confident than ever that my prediction will prove correct”
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On the day that the Port of Dover applied to privatise itself Gwyn Prosser says he’s confident that no privatisation will take place under this Labour Government.
And in response to Tory claims that “Gordon Brown is selling off our port as quick as he can”, Gwyn says:
“Mr Elphicke is talking nonsense again because all that’s happened this week is that the Dover Harbour Board have applied to Ministers to restructure their port business and he should know that there’s a big difference between applying for a change of status and having such an application granted. In the same way as there’s a difference between applying for a Parliamentary seat and winning one, as Charlie knows from experience.
He should also know that prior to the port making their application, the Government issued new guidance to all trust ports which has raised the threshold and effectively put higher barriers in the paths of those seeking to privatise themselves. The effect of the new criteria makes it virtually impossible for any port to get anywhere near privatising themselves in the current year or of completing a change of status in the following year – even if the government of the day was minded to grant them permission. That hardly sounds as if this Labour Government is ‘hell-bent’ on privatisation and I’m confident that no privatisation will take place under our jurisdiction.
On the other hand, everyone knows that in the event of a Conservative Government taking office they would relish the prospect of selling the port because that’s what Tories do. And for the avoidance of doubt, at the last election their shadow transport minister travelled all the way to Dover and promised to privatise the port”
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