A cross-party group of MPs has joined the growing number of people calling for the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, to be sacked after the collapse of a controversial Brexit ferry contract.
The £13.8 million deal with Seaborne Freight to run ferry services between Ramsgate and Ostend collapsed at the weekend after one of the firm’s main backers pulled out.
Having awarded the contract to a company without ships, the deal with Seaborne “descended further into farce when it emerged the company had copied terms and conditions from what appeared to be a pizza delivery company onto its website”, The Guardian says.
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Grayling has also faced allegations his department acted illegally by failing to put the contract out to tender.
Following the collapse of the deal, Labour have called for the transport secretary to be sacked. They have been joined by the Lib Dems, the former head of the civil service and even some members of Grayling’s own party.
Lib Dem leader Vince Cable said “I very rarely call on ministers to go, but failing Grayling has made too many crass mistakes” while Bob Kerslake, the former head of the civil service, said the saga would “just confirm the view of many that this country is in a mess”.
Several Tory MPs have also called for Grayling to go, describing him as a “a walking disaster” with “no grip on detail”, according to the Guardian.
The Daily Mirror has listed thirteen “failures” overseen by the long-serving minister, which include “legal aid cuts, train timetable changes, the East Coast rail line, court and tribunal fees, Saudi prison training and benefits ‘workfare’”.
Yet Downing Street insists Theresa May still has full confidence in her transport minister despite what the Daily Mail calls an “embarrassing climbdown”.
For his part, Grayling insists he is unfairly targeted, blaming the criticism he receives on “left-wing” unions and his support for Brexit.
He has received the backing of several prominent Brexiteers including former Brexit secretary David Davis and Jacob Rees-Mogg who further stoked divisions by suggesting Irish-based Arklow Shipping might have ended support after political pressure from Dublin.
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