Lets hope they rub Southampton's face in it!
Steady on!
Well, as someone who lives fairly close to Southampton, I don't!
Who says that Liverpool will (or can) take business away from Southampton? I would think that the smaller ports such as the Tyne would suffer more. The unseemly row between Southampton and Liverpool has got out of hand stoked, it is probably fair to say, by the local media.
ChasB46 - To say that getting into the city and to where the ships are takes as long as getting from Birmingham to Southampton is stretching it a bit. It's not *quite* that bad, certainly outside of the rush hours, but I agree that there are ridiculous amounts of traffic lights through the city (am I right in thinking it's the most traffic light-infested city in the country, if not Europe?) and watch out for the speed cameras on the way in - don't ever be in a hurry to catch a cruise ship or ferry if you're held up by those lights! My mum got done for speeding through Southampton on her way to catch a Red Funnel ferry back to the Isle of Wight, a few years ago, and I have missed ferries myself. Not condoning my mum's speeding, I hasten to add!