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Hi Gary C, at the time of the election campaign I had only sat down with Gwyn to talk about how an alternative future for the port to the one proposed by DHB could be structured and delivered. Gwyn was our MP and therefore the 'go to' man if the ideas which could defeat the DHB plan were to gain any traction.
I'd never spoken to Charlie before election day when he came round Eythorne canvassing, although I did drop him an email during the campaign (at Gwyn's advice) to let him know that a viable alternative to the DHB scheme, which delivered the independence from the State required for investment in growth and development, but retained local accountability whilst delivering the opportunity for local regeneration and running the port in line with international best practices to access new market segments, was available if he was elected and would like to meet with me to discuss in more depth what I'd outlined in my email and spoken with Gwyn about. I met with Charlie properly for the first time and discussed what I had produced with him when he invited me to come up and meet him in Parliament on the day after he officially took his seat in the House. That very evening, on South East today, from Parliament Green, Charlie gave the first public outline of a People's Port for Dover. I believe that he told everyone about plans for a People's Port just as soon as he was clear himself about how such a thing could be achieved and how it was the only way that he could see to effectively oppose the DHB plans and eventually save the port from a sale to private equity.
I'm not 100% certain here, but I believe that Charlie was told by his party hierarchy, once they'd formed the new government, that DHB would succeed if all that could be brought forward was an adherence to the status quo; because the DHB plan was voluntary and met with all the criteria then in existence, the new government had no legal, valid reason available to them to turn down the DHB application. If the port was to be saved from private sale, then an alternative had to be brought forward that delivered on the DHB stated reason for wanting to sell AND delivered a better deal for the local and national economy as a whole than the DHB proposal could.