P&O demands Eurotunnel hands back £33m Brexit ferry settlement

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Further calamity has befallen the UK’s Department for Transport. For newspapers, and satirists, Chris Grayling’s ferry contract is the gift that keeps on giving. After Whitehall gave £33m to Eurotunnel in March after the DfT failed to conduct a proper tender process for cross-Channel ferry services in the event of a no-deal Brexit, P&O wanted a similar payout and now has upped its demands. It wants the £33m given to Eurotunnel returned, claiming it amounted to unlawful state aid.

How, you may ask. Well, under the terms of the settlement the DfT entered with Eurotunnel to avoid being sued, it said the money should be spent on improving Eurotunnel’s Folkestone terminal. P&O claims all Eurotunnel’s competitors should also have got aid to help repair their infrastructure. It is asking for a judicial review. If P&O is successful, the UK government could face challenges from construction and facilities management companies, which could have bid for the work at Eurotunnel’s terminal if there had been a tender process, widening the pool of claimants over this issue, reports the BBC.