December 18th, 2020.


Newhaven Port is to set to receive £6,215,839 in government funding that can be used for a range of improvements, from warehouses and control posts to traffic management systems. New infrastructure at ports will be needed whether or not the UK secures a negotiated agreement with the EU.

Newhaven Port is one of 41 ports that were successful in receiving funding totalling £194,334,631.

Maria Caulfield MP said: “It is fantastic news that Newhaven Port is to receive over £6.2 million for help to improve its infrastructure and securing the future of the ferry and jobs across Newhaven. Newhaven Port is vital to our local economy here in Newhaven and I am doing everything to back the Port."

Local Lib Dem parliamentary spokesperson and Newhaven resident, James MacCleary said: "I'm always delighted to welcome any investment in our town's businesses, but the scale and timing of this announcement illustrates the massive cost of Brexit.

"Maria Caulfield's claim that this is anything other than a panic response from the government to the disruption and delays that Brexit is already causing at our ports just lacks any credibility.

"I'm sure my fellow residents in the town will be as keen as I am to know what the money is actually for, as there has been a lot of secrecy around the details. Will it finally connect the Tories' infamous 'Road to Nowhere' to the port? Or will it be for a lorry park that Maria Caulfield has promised will never happen? One thing we do know is that it does nothing at all to support the ferry service which remains entirely reliant on French subsidies.

"Our roads are already falling apart and now Maria Caulfield is welcoming the idea of more lorries rerouting to Newhaven as some sort of opportunity! It reminds me of how Tory County Councillors told residents that the incinerator was a great opportunity for the town.

"Newhaven has a really bright future and I really hope that this money will be used to support that, rather than being poured into the government's ever-growing Brexit black hole."