SCARE STORIES
QUOTE FROM ROGER: It's only the business that's proposed to be privatised, not the White Cliffs of Dover. Nor will there be any chance of bringing Sangatte to Dover - a couple of scare-stories put around in the beginning. UNQUOTE
These were a couple of good scare stories that appeared again recently in the redtops when the latest privatisation proposals surfaced.
The White Cliffs of Dover are not for sale. Whoever buys the port will just get all the DHB land which is most of Dover seafront and various other bits but not the White Cliffs except inside the docks where there are great caverns running back into the base of the cliffs. These were originally hollowed out in WW1 for storing ammunition, fuel, etc, for the Royal Navy. Therefore the purchaser will only get the base of the White Cliffs, the green bit on top will still belong to the National Trust.
The French have said that they are not interested in purchasing the Port of Dover at the present time. The port of Calais is owned by the regional council, it goes without saying that the French would never consider selling their own ports to foreign buyers. I would have thought that purchasing the Port of Dover would be a lucrative opportunity for them similar to the French buyouts of our water suppliers, nuclear industry, etc, but it is up to them. Bob Goldfield has stated repeatedly that "finance is global" and it appears more than likely that the port will go to a consortia of foreign infrastructure funds, as happened with Associated British Ports.
http://www.abports.co.uk/geninfo/admiral.htm