Guy Platten, CEO of the UK Chamber of Shipping, has taken a swipe at Singapore, while insisting Britain has a bright maritime future post-Brexit.
Writing in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, Platten dismissed claims that in order to survive after Brexit, the UK shipping sector would have to follow the Singaporean model by “pandering” to businesses.
“Unlike Singapore, the UK has numerous advantages that have allowed British shipping to flourish. In spite of the doom and gloom surrounding Brexit, the UK’s shipping will be the backbone of a truly ‘global Britain’ once we eventually leave the European Union,” Platten maintained.
Platten, one of the most vocal Brexit champions in the British shipping community, did concede that Singapore has grabbed a large market share of international shipping in recent years. However, he pointed out that a number of shipping companies have moved operations away from the Southeast Asian city-state in the past year.
“The UK doesn’t have to share the same fate. It has more to offer than low financial barriers and less red tape, and the success of the sector must not be underestimated,” Platten argued.
Guy Platten thinks that British shipping is successful.
Guy Platten supports Brexit.
Most of the shipping industry operates in a reality based environment, in which the problems of Singapore are the problems of success, and the notions that Singapore has “low financial barriers” and “an absence of red tape” are the infantile fantasies of the English silly Right, whose knowledge of the real world can be a bit shaky.
Whilst Mr Platten does his bit for the gaiety of nations, some British citizens still strive to be taken seriously in shipping. In this endeavour, we are not materially assisted by the Chamber of Shipping of the United Kingdom, a body which has much to learn from its equivalents in Hong Kong and Singapore.