Brexit Ferry Firm Accused Of Copying Web Page From A Takeaway Shop
The party’s deputy leader Tom Watson tweeted: “Seaborne Freight. No ships, no trading history and website TCs copied and pasted from a takeaway delivery site…”
Ilford MP Mike Gapes posted: “Well. Well. Fish and Chips, Curry, Chinese, Kebab or Pizza. Seaborne Freight certainly have plans to Take Away our money.”
And Bristol North West MP Darren Jones added: “Hilarious. Government Hard Brexit start-up champion Seaborne Freight Limited reserves the right to sue you if you order a hoax pizza.”
The Best for Britain campaign for a second referendum meanwhile discovered a string of additional errors and discrepancies on the website, including:
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phone lines that appear to be unmanned
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a log-in portal that redirects to Google
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web features which are “for show” images rather than interactive items, such as the language setting
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no advertisements for any job vacancies despite the company needing to be ready for action by the end of March.
Labour MP and Best for Britain supporter Tonia Antoniazzi said: “This is beyond a joke.
“It’s not just that the government have panic-hired a firm with no ships to conduct ferry services.
“That firm has literally nothing prepared to suggests the £13.8m handed over to them is a sound investment.
“The whole thing looks like a scam website. I can’t think of a worse way to show the world we’re ready for Brexit.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said the section of the terms and conditions which appeared to be copied from a takeaway was a mistake which had now been rectified.
They said: “Before any contract was signed, due diligence on Seaborne Freight was carried out both by senior officials at the Department for Transport, and highly reputable independent third party organisations with significant experience and expertise into Seaborne’s financial, technical and legal underpinning.
“This section of the terms and conditions on the company’s website was put up in error. This has now been rectified.”