Brexit ferry chaos could cost extra £28,000,000 if leave date is delayed

If you thought the Brexit process could not get any worse you’d be mistaken.

It could now cost even more money to leave the European Union after MPs voted to instruct Theresa May to seek an extension to Article 50.

The delay may lead to more money being paid to ferry operators to provide extra services to cope with a no-deal Brexit.

It would be a further embarrassment for Chris Grayling’s Department for Transport, which has already been criticised for the collapse of a contract with Seaborne Freight, which had no ferries.

The Government has also had to fork out £33 million to pay Eurotunnel in an out-of-court settlement.

The cost of a delay to Brexit could amount to £28 million because ferry companies had already committed resources, the Financial Times reported.

Brittany Ferries said it have already ‘incurred a series of direct costs and resource commitments’ and ‘the new schedule cannot now be changed, even as an extension to Article 50 seems likely’.

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A Department for Transport spokesman said: ‘As the Prime Minister has made clear, the legal default in UK and EU law remains that the UK will leave the EU without a deal unless something else is agreed.

‘Leaving with a deal is still our priority, but as a responsible Government it is only right that we push on with contingency measures, that will ensure critical goods such as medicines can continue to enter the UK.

‘The Government has always been clear that any extra capacity that is not used, can be sold back to the market.’

The National Audit Office previously warned of potential problems should Brexit be delayed.

It said in a memorandum in February: ‘If the date of the UK’s Exit from the EU changes, and there is still the possibility of a no-deal EU Exit, the Department will need to decide how it wishes to proceed with the contracts.’