Napoleon Bonaparte is Smiling
The French will be taking control of the port of Dover.
Well, it's not really the French, it's the Nord-pas-de-Calais regional council, which will be assuming control as a part of a privatization scheme:
A plan to privatise the government-owned Port of Dover has provoked "outrage", not least because the French are front-runners to take control of the facility.I generally oppose privatization, even if it isn't the French taking over Dover, and the justification, about avoiding "public sector borrowing constraints," sounds to me like a recipe for a future bankruptcy and taxpayer bailout.
According to the Daily Mail, the port needs money to fund an expansion plan, and selling it off could net £350m for our cash-strapped government. The harbour board expects to receive the go-ahead for the "voluntary privatisation", which will likely see Nord-pas-de-Calais regional council, which also owns Calais, adding Dover to its roster of ports.
Chief exec Bob Goldfield explained: "The time is right for the voluntary privatisation of Dover. We want to invest around £400m on a second terminal and need to invest in the existing terminal, but are unable to because of public sector borrowing constraints. We want to throw off the shackles."
"Throwing off shackles," in a finance context generally means, "Engaging in dodgy behavior."
But still the short Frenchman is up there, or down there, having a good chuckle.
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