One could be forgiven for checking the calendar when reading a headline like this just to make sure it isn’t April 1st. It isn’t. In a reversal of Britain’s two century ownership of Calais from 1347 onwards, a French company has its eyes set firmly on owning the port of Dover.
It is reported in the Daily Express that we, as in the government, are planning to sell off Dover, which is the largest port to remain in public hands, to the French. Of course the first thing that springs to mind is that we are somehow relinquishing the great white cliffs of Dover. Somehow I don’t think they will go quite that far.
Charles Elphicke, the prospective Conservative MP for Dover said “It’s clear Gordon Brown has no sense of the history of our nation or the pride of our town. ‘How dare he consider selling it all off to the French? Dover is the English border. The people of Dover have a clear message for him – hands off our port, hands off the English border.” Very emotive language. And Gwyn Prosser, the current Labour MP for Dover, said that jobs would be lost. I would have thought that he would have been happy about a massive cash injection for the area. But maybe political beliefs are more important.
The Port of Dover made a profit of just over £15 million in 2008. Its managers expect to see freight throughput double between now and 2040. They need some £400 million to invest for the future. But public borrowing constraints are preventing this. The Chief Executive, Bob Goldfield, said “We want to throw off the shackles.”
So, like all the other major ports sold off under the Ports Act 1991, Dover will go the same way. But maybe to a foreign buyer as the company that owns Calais, Nord-Pas-De-Calais, has emerged as the leading bidder. First our energy in the form of EDF, now that great British icon, Dover.
The comments under the Express article are the usual depressing and alarmist drivel. They expect to see claims that the French now own the Channel and lurid predictions of them setting up Sangatte style asylum seeker camps in Dover and letting everyone across to live here.
Come on! It’s just a business deal people. If a French company come up with the strongest bid and bring in money to revitalise a part of Britain what’s the beef? There won’t be armed French customs officers patrolling along the white cliffs and outside Dover asking for your passport to get into the town. People who live in Dover won’t be forced to eat frogs’ legs and speak French.
The country went through all this in the 70s. But then it was a broke Britain being ‘sold off’ to oil-rich Arabs sheiks.
While we are in the grip of a nasty recession, let’s help ourselves to make money outside of banking and the ‘service industry’. If it takes some inward investment like this then let’s grab it while we can.
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Tags: dover, english channel, france, News, port of dover, sangatte, the eu, white cliffs
Maybe that explains why I was given the site plan in French when I visited Dover Castle on Saturday?
Jeff Taylor you’re an unrealistic tit.
‘Just a business deal people’ – like Labour selling of our gold reserves at a knock down price to ‘re-invest’ into the school system; just look at how well that turned out.
All these expensive City Academies have bombed and exam results have shown a marked decline in standards and grades compared to schools which didn’t receive the cash injections.
The teaching in this country has gone down the pan at a ridiculous speed under the Labour government as have native British human rights.
The French will undoubtedly with support from Brussels, use Dover as a way of removing their own illegal immigrant problem.
The French don’t want them and won’t try to stop them from accessing Britain, this has already been proven. Buying Dover will encourage them to ‘advertise’ Britain to the asylum seekers, legally allowing them to wash their hands of the problem.
You sir should genuinely feel ashamed at your stupidity and arrogance if you think this is ‘just a business deal’.
Hi Elizabeth, good to see your dictionary provides you with some original abusive words!
Anyway, nothing to worry about because the Port’s Chief Exec has denied the Express report.
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentonline/news/2010/february/dover_not_french.aspx
Dear Sir,
I thank you graciously for your reply,
Oh how cleaver you are, yes I did indeed use a dictionary, but that was to double check my spelling once I had finished writing, unfortunately having dyslexia makes that an automatic and very necessary step in drafting anything.
But surely as a writer yourself, even contemplating the use of a literary tool to polish my argument should be complemented rather than condemned?
I get the distinct impression you would have rather I replied in an uneducated and misspelt fashion so you would have had further grounding in which to be disrespectful.
Surely a distinguished and very much published Journalist such as your self would have a far greater arsenal with which to insult the quite obviously uneducated dregs of society such as myself. Everyone has the right of free speech so exclaiming the general populaces’ genuine concerns as ‘drivel’ is particularly insulting.
Even more so I find it particularly pathetic that rather than trying to argue your point further which indeed you had every right to do and I was actually expecting, instead you have simply decided to directly insult the integrity of my intelligence.
Anyway, I also want to thank you for posting the article regarding the Dover Harbours denial of contemplating the sale of the port of Dover.
I suggest reading between the lines – just because they deny the allegations that Calais are leading the bidding, it does not mean that they have not shown great interest and doesn’t mean that France have not placed a bid. It simply means that currently they are not leading the bidding, which I shall assume as meaning that someone else is.
Just because they are in the early stages of privatisation, doesn’t mean that they are not selling the port, it just means they’re still figuring out the paperwork.
In regards to ‘”Our advisors and our Board have not had any conversations with the Port of Calais on this matter and no such conversations are planned or expected,” this I consider sheer dishonesty. Dover to Calais is the major link between Britain and the continent. Calais would benefit greatly in buying a stake in the port. Calais would be one of the first informed of such a decision by Dover to privatize the port because they are directly involved in the day to day running of the British/European shipping link. It’s all trade agreements.
China or Germany would not benefit as much as France would, so they are the obvious choice for investing and buying the largest stake, if not the entire company.
I didn’t start the personally directed insults Elizabeth, you did!
If Dover was sold off to a French company, it would not become a sort of Hong Kong or Gibraltar. Dover would still be fully under UK law and customs jurisdiction. Should a private company start illegal people trafficking they would be heavily fined and maybe shut down.
I would think that a French company owning Dover would actually strive harder than ever to be seen as squeaky clean as possible on this issue so as to appear well above board. They will have to live and operate here, the last thing they want is port blockades ruining their business.
But that’s just my view.
Why don’t we just sell off the whole of the UK including Scotland and Wales
The current government will not be happy until they have sold off everything
Now is the time to vote the labrador government out and get the communists back in.
come on brits get your backbones back like your grandfathers and fight for this country to the death before the govenment give what belongs to us away,its time the people took back what is theirs by right
That’s right – Brown’s lot continue to flog off anything which represents our country.
This is the limit, innit? They’l probly bring there strikes and that over to Dover and we will all be driving a round in circles becoz of opperation stack that is bad enuff without the French running Dover.
But if we are selling French water and the electricity is from edf and that’s french we mite as well sell Dover as well. I like the idea of selling it if we can grab some while we can and the money is used for jobs and not wasted on duck houses.
So there commited to defending the falklands yet they wont defend dover the pigs, its clear why the french want it to bring all the immgrants in from calais and there squat camps do not sell!