As the last British-owned port is sold abroad...
What kind of nation sells its soul to the highest foreign bidder?
What kind of nation sells its soul to the highest foreign bidder?
By Alex Brummer, Daily Mail. 23rd March 2011
As a great maritime and trading nation, Britain ought to treasure the ports that have been built up over centuries around our shores. Yet despite their vital importance to our economic and military security, barely a murmur of protest has been heard as the great publicly-quoted companies that own them have been sold to foreign-based firms one by one.
Yesterday, Forth Ports — the last remaining British port owner to be listed on the stock exchange — was sold for £754million to an assortment of financial groups (with the help of Germany’s Deutsche Bank) led by a little-known European investment firm. The new company now has control of London’s Tilbury Docks, several Scottish ports and 400 acres of Edinburgh waterfront.
At a time when other maritime nations, such as China and the United Arab Emirates, are jealously guarding their own trading hubs and snapping up ports across the world — from Sri Lanka to Africa — Britain has effectively sold off the nation’s family silver.
The great pity is that politicians of all parties have scandalously allowed this steady erosion of our dominant role in international trade.
The tragedy is that ports have played a critical economic role in Britain since the 12th century, when a royal charter established the Cinque ports of Hastings, New Romney, Hythe, Dover and Sandwich to maintain ships for the Crown in case of need. In return, the five ports were granted exemption from taxes and tolls.
The idea was so successful that it spread from the South-East to Liverpool, Bristol and London as overseas trade stepped up. The nation’s maritime exploits, symbolised by the adventurism of men such as Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh, became the stuff of Elizabethan legend as the UK established itself as the world’s greatest seafaring nation.
Now there appears to be a pathetic acceptance that the identity of those who own our ports does not matter.
But the truth is that the ownership of these keystones of the British Isles is absolutely vital. As a traditional trading nation dependent on imports of gas and oil for so much of our energy needs, the control of our ports — as well as access to strategic ports overseas — is crucial.
Yesterday, Forth Ports — the last remaining British port owner to be listed on the stock exchange — was sold for £754million to an assortment of financial groups (with the help of Germany’s Deutsche Bank) led by a little-known European investment firm. The new company now has control of London’s Tilbury Docks, several Scottish ports and 400 acres of Edinburgh waterfront.
At a time when other maritime nations, such as China and the United Arab Emirates, are jealously guarding their own trading hubs and snapping up ports across the world — from Sri Lanka to Africa — Britain has effectively sold off the nation’s family silver.
The great pity is that politicians of all parties have scandalously allowed this steady erosion of our dominant role in international trade.
The tragedy is that ports have played a critical economic role in Britain since the 12th century, when a royal charter established the Cinque ports of Hastings, New Romney, Hythe, Dover and Sandwich to maintain ships for the Crown in case of need. In return, the five ports were granted exemption from taxes and tolls.
The idea was so successful that it spread from the South-East to Liverpool, Bristol and London as overseas trade stepped up. The nation’s maritime exploits, symbolised by the adventurism of men such as Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh, became the stuff of Elizabethan legend as the UK established itself as the world’s greatest seafaring nation.
Now there appears to be a pathetic acceptance that the identity of those who own our ports does not matter.
But the truth is that the ownership of these keystones of the British Isles is absolutely vital. As a traditional trading nation dependent on imports of gas and oil for so much of our energy needs, the control of our ports — as well as access to strategic ports overseas — is crucial.