White cliffs of Dover to be sold to the French

[Red Rover]

Just read that the white cliffs of Dover is to be sold to the french due to Government spiralling debts of £850 billion,reminds me of when labour shut down all the local rail stations and now we need them,especially in Norfolk.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -debt.html

[senator]

At least we will be able to blockade it and bring down fuel prices once the port of Dover is French.

[Jupes]

Wonder what Jeremy Vine and his audience will make of this..... I imagine it will be featured in the next few days

[C.Ricko]

I dont really see any point in the government owning it as the taxpayer will never see a profit from it,
why not lease it to whoever, be them from china france or germany, does it matter? at least there would be an income...
If jobs are going to go they will go whoever has it, it is after all a business and they need to pay finances and keep investors happy

[marshman]

As the last post correctly suggests, who cares? Certainly not me!

However before you go all nationalistic over this read the article further - they want £400m for expansion and do you think this is something as a taxpayer you want to dip your hand into your pocket for? Personally I cannot see it merits taxpayers investment when all the boats using it are owned by foreign companies. And if we never travelled on or through anything foreign owned we would never travel abroad!

All the ferries are foreign owned, most of the airlines and airports,and to me I do not mind at all. Don,t forget we own many overseas industries as well. Its not as though they would transfer to Dover loads of Frenchmen on bikes to operate it!!

[Strowager]

Il y aura du bleu sur les oiseaux,
les falaises blanches de Douvres ......


Nah, it just hasn't got the same ring to it...


(and I'm just a little worried that when we're all tenants, they might tell us to bu***er off !)

[puddlejumper]

typical bloody gov in britain

[C.Ricko]

The other thing to bear in ming here is that we may get excited that the newspaper is trying to wind us up about more 'invaders' but it is a ferry port in Dover what is for sale not the National trust site, Langdon Cliffs, Upper Road, Dover, Kent CT16 1HJ.
would a French company purchacing Yarmouth outer harbour cause a problem? it seems ok for us to buy their vinyards.
I assume british companies have been given the chance to bid?

[plesbit]

it seems ok for us to buy their vinyards.
I assume british companies have been given the chance to bid?

The French are rather more protectionist than we are so possibly not, I do not really know.

I do know that where things are owned is not really as important as you might think. For example I have shares in a Spanish Bank (no prizes for guessing which one). If it does well, my dividend goes up and I might then choose to spend some of that on, say, a new television from Comet. Ultimately the TV was probably built in China but some of that money that I have spent goes to pay the wages of the British staff in the store, delivery drivers and a host of other support services. So the money actually comes from and goes to all over the place. It isn't as simple as this is British, that is Chinese / Spanish / Ugandan or whatever.

Of course I have no doubt you know all this already Clive but maybe not everyone realises that things aren't quite so black and white.

[Third mate]

Oh dear I could have a whinge but as Clive says the brits own loads of overseas companies. i.e. It's a brit company that takes all american kiddies to school.

What really hacks me off is how the UK workforce has been systematically de-skilled and now a lot of people seem to make a living 'opening doors' for each other.
You read about Tesco's/Asda/B&Q creating loads of jobs but the wages they get are only spent buying food and DIY stuff.

Look at all the requests on this site alone for skilled people to do work

Our manufacturing base has been eroded to the point where anything major needs to be built we have to go overseas. Take the latest windfarm due to be built. All equipment is having to be bought in from abroad as our last manufacturer went bust last year (and that wasn't truly british !!)

You can understand the knee jerk reactions of people... Indian steel/Polish coal/Jap TV's Swedish engines !!!

Oh sure we still have a few things we do well... make pointless laws/increase Health and safety/moan about weather/tax everything in sight/Must not hunt poor foxy woxy/Hug trees/worship shallow talentless twerps who win 'reality' shows

But as things are going we are going to end up with the poor 10 million or so 'proper workers' paying for the lot.

Blimey need to head for a dark room now !!!!!!!

I know my rant won't really change anything and in truth I know why the brit's who started the industrial revolution not longer measure up (labour is cheap elsewhere) and the moronic union's/idiot managers of the 70's where a lot to blame.

Just seems a shame that we make all sorts of excuses and accept that we are not what we once where.


Andy

[Brigid-Mary]

The other thing to bear in ming here is that we may get excited that the newspaper is trying to wind us up about more 'invaders' but it is a ferry port in Dover what is for sale not the National trust site, Langdon Cliffs, Upper Road, Dover, Kent CT16 1HJ.
would a French company purchacing Yarmouth outer harbour cause a problem? it seems ok for us to buy their vinyards.
I assume british companies have been given the chance to bid?

Clive,
I think you will find that Gt Yarmouths white elephant belongs to Singapore, The container cranes certainly do.

The best way to stop the Froggies owning Dover is to change the crowd in Westminister.

I suppose you could say that the French are getting their own back for when we nicked Calais off them in the days of Agincourt, which by the way is yet another time we Whooped them. After all most of British Airports are owned by the Spanish, so, apart from pride, I see no problem with The Port of Dover going in to French ownership.

Paul

[Flying Fortress]

Well as its in the Mail it must be true then

Dear old Vera must be turning in her grave.

Them cheese eating surrender monkeys will probably knock the cliffs down and turn them into cafe bars.

I love it when the press get thier facts right.

As Clive pointed out earlier its nothing to do with the blooming cliffs.

Its about selling off the largest "Trust "port in the country. They could not even get that right as the last time I looked Dover was quite a way down the list of ports in the UK. Sitting there at #2 spot was London that is also a Trust port

Anyway what the Heck is a Trust Port?

A trust port is a "not for profit " operation that simply facilitates trade.

Trust ports are mainly the smaller ports that would not be commercially viable if they had to give a shareholders dividend and would probably close and become a nice housing scheme. No great loss you say but with the ever increasing dependancy on imported goods (and to a limited extent the exports) if these small ( and not so small) ports closed how would 95% of all goods that cross our borders get in and out.

Lets leave the green issue aside for a moment as water bourne transport is the most environmentally friendly was of transporting goods. Take the Cantley factory as an example. One coaster or 200 trucks. It is the trucks that win as there is no will to invest in the waterbourne transport system. So the good folk of Cantley have to put up with not only the oil tankers trundelling thru the village but soon the Raw suger imports as well. But as I said lets leave that alone for the moment. Anyway I am 99% sure Yarmouth is a trust port.

The 3 larger exceptions to the rule are Milford Haven, London and Dover Trust Ports All.

I simply do not think there is the political will to sell off my own port as the Thames runs past the the very seat of goverment. So the London oriented politicians will not see this as an option (I hope) and the PLA will continue for some time. But surprise surprise there is actually a world out there outside Westminster.

Now we all know about Dover because at some point in our lives we have all probably jumped on a ferry there. Like all other Trust ports it is run in a commercial way under the terms of the trust so it is not a drain on the exchequer and the companies that use the port are all happily making money and everyone is happy. At the last look there were 3 main operators out of Dover in the ferry sector P&O, Seafrance and Norfolk Line (Maersk). These get equal treatment from the trust and compete for our business and we all benefit from the competition in lower ferry fares. Say for example Maersk bought the port. Would it be fair to say that they would give berth priority to their own ships. Probably. How about if they increased their numbers of passenger ferries operating out of the port (they could easily do this as they already own DFDS) and excluded Seafrance and P&O. Then we have only one operator on the Dover routes and they could dictate the prices. Not good for me and you when we want to hop over the channel

The £15 million profit generated by Dover is not something the Gordy Brown will ever get his grubbly hands on as under the terms of the trust the port is not supposed to generate any profit but insted is to invest in the infrastructure of the port. There are very strict rules about trust ports and profits. Anyway in the grand scheme of things and the massive amounts of money to be made in port operations £15 m is small beer indeed.

So this is a "one off " chance to get some money out of the governments "assets" by selling the crown jewels as it were.

I wish it were not so but I do fear for the future of the port of Dover in its current form. If it does go I know all of us at the Port of London will be looking over our shoulders.

Rod

Edit to add

As far as I am aware its Eastport that is owned by Singapore ports just as many of the facilites on the Thames are owned by different operators. Our new major expansion in London is owned (and financed ) by DP (Dubai Ports) the only profitable arm of the huge Dubai operation that is in so much trouble. The port itself is a Trust.

[Strowager]

"Turning in her grave"

I'm sure she would be Rod, but she's still very much alive thankfully, and due for her 93rd Birthday next month.

In my whole life I've only ever met two "celebrities" (unlucky bloke), I used to deliver Wines and Spirits to Vera Lewis (as she was then) in the 60's. A lovely Lady.

[Flying Fortress]

I think you knew what I meant really Stowie

But just in case there is any doubt I did add a

Rod