The Transport Secretary Chris Grayling yesterday assured this programme that his department had done “detailed work” on the financial and operational plans of the British company Seaborne Freight, which has been contracted to supply ferries between Ramsgate and Ostend in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

But we have been told that the chief executive, Ben Sharp, once ran a shipping company that ceased trading – owing more than a million pounds to multiple businesses

Mr Sharp has denied the allegations.