Grayling accused of trying to hold Brexit ferry trial in private

Chris Grayling has been accused of trying to conduct large parts of a trial over the £14m Brexit ferry fiasco in private, against the principle of open justice, the high court has heard. The transport secretary is being sued by Eurotunnel over the allegedly unlawful award of a government contract to Seaborne Freight, a company with no ships, and two other ferry companies, in a case due to start on Friday. Lawyers for Eurotunnel told the high court on Monday that the minister was trying to keep the majority of documents in relation to the contract out of the public domain. They said they did not know his reasons but argued that if Grayling was trying to avoid adverse publicity or embarrassment then this was not legally justifiable.