The post you are reporting:
QUOTE: Ed - do you really want the Port sold off to a foreigner, it seems as if you do seeing you seem merely to want to undermine the only alternative, one that will result in the Port remaining in British and more specifically local ownership. UNQUOTE
No, I very much want the port to remain in British ownership as you well know. I have no confidence that this will be so with either your plan or that of DHB. Furthermore, there is no question whatsoever of it entering into local ownership and I think we have covered the reasons for that pretty comprehensively.
QUOTE: You perhaps, might understand the workings of bonds, infrastructure funds etc but I expect that most people don't. The detail is also less important than getting the agreement to the principal, then the work of raising the finance and putting together the details can progress, not before. UNQUOTE
Charlie states that he has had early discussions with various sources and maintains that funds can swiftly be obtained. I fail to see how there can be any agreement as to the principle without the proponents seeming to have the first idea of what sums are required or what returns can be expected on same. I find it remarkable that this plan appears to be totally uncosted and question whether Charlie has merely drafted a version of your old election-losing privatisation plan from years ago, for appearances sake, in order to deflect attention away from the fact that his stance today is diametrically the opposite of that a few short weeks ago when he was standing for election on a platform of adamant opposition to privatisation of the port. "Not on my watch" in his own words.
QUOTE: Please stop acting like a dinosaur opposed to any change. Something must change but we need change that will help Dover most. UNQUOTE
I do not accept that opposing this change is acting like a dinosaur. I have a nasty suspicion that neither your plan nor the DHB plan will work in the interests of the nation or of the Port of Dover and that, in consequence, the Town of Dover will suffer rather than benefit.
QUOTE: What you are doing is the easiest thing in the world, to pick and criticise without offering a constructive alternative, The status quo is a non-starter and is one that has failed the town of Dover and continues to do so. UNQUOTE
It is indeed the easiest thing in the world to criticise, but unfortunately it has to be done since to remain silent when one suspects that untold damage is about to be inflicted on our port and town would be invidious. I do indeed have a constructive alternative, namely to retain the status quo which has brought immeasurable benefits to Dover.
Continuous reinvestment of the profits made by the port over a period measured in centuries, plus immense investment of national funds in the construction of the harbour walls by the Admiralty, has resulted in the thriving port of today; the pre-eminent ferry port in Western Europe and the conduit for £80 billion worth of trade annually.
The benefit of this to the Town of Dover, albeit seemingly unrecognised, is in the enormous amount of jobs and services directly resulting from proximity to the port. That the town has failed to capitalise on this source of wealth, as symbolised by the giant empty structures of the planners' follies in the DTIZ wasteland out beyond the dock gates, is not a reflection on the port but on the town.
The single most damaging factor to affect the towns prosperity in the last twenty years was as a result of an earlier privatisation, that of Sealink. The disappearance of this fleet of ferries manned by crew domiciled in Dover, the complete disappearance of the Port of Folkestone, and the subsequent related introduction of live-onboard crews from around the country and abroad on the Dover ferries, has resulted in the loss of countless millions of pounds to the local economy over the ensuing years. The nation as a whole witnessed a sum in excess of £300 million given away to foreign investors.
The people of Dover, of all people, are not going to be easily taken in by the promise of great riches as a result of any further privatisation.