Boris Johnson urged to scrap No Deal planning after no ferry space is booked for key medicine imports
BORIS Johnson faces an immediate demand to rip up No Deal planning after it emerged no firm ferry space has been booked to import key medicines.
Instead, in a bid to cut costs Theresa May’s government only secured options to buy freight space on cross channel ships if it is needed.
A raft of emergency supplies will have to be shipped into the UK if we leave without a deal on October 31 as the usual routes for lorry crossings could be log-jammed.
But it was decided to try to slash costs after Parliament blocked a no deal exit before the original exit date of March 29 and £85m of procurement to waste.
The revelation emerged as new Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he would be setting aside £300 million to ensure critical goods such as medicines- can flow into the country.
Under the plans, government departments will be able to tender for the money when they sign contracts.
Business leaders issued a warning last night that the options plan is high risk and could spark a disaster in three months’ time if there is not enough spare capacity.
MUST NOT BE AN 'OPTION'
Bioindustry Association CEO Steve Bates told The Sun: “You cannot drive a truck loaded with medicines on to an ‘option’.
“To ensure the supply of medicines into the UK in the event of No Deal, the new PM should review this process on Day One”.
The Government won’t know until September if ferry companies have bid for their options which is just a few weeks away from the deadline, Mr Bates added.
It also emerged that Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay warned former PM Mrs May against the options plan.
Mr Barclay urged her to ask Cabinet Office to book hard space instead, but was overruled.
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A DexEU spokeswoman said: “Steve Barclay has previously made the case that the responsible action is to reserve extra freight capacity now to ensure suppliers will have sufficient resource”.
Earlier this month Health Secretary Matt Hancock admitted to MPs: “Last time, we bought capacity on ferries. This time, we are buying options for capacity on ferries”.
The row follows the debacle of the Department of Transport’s series of botched deals with ferry firms in the run up to March 29.
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