By Carole Dennett
Islanders could be forgiven for feeling somewhat startled this week, when the Isle of Wight was dragged into a discussion about international diplomacy. During a BBC interview about the Prime Minister’s visit to China, Kemi Badenoch said that Keir Starmer was “probably going to give away the Isle of Wight before he comes back”.
Why did the Tory leader decide the Island should be treated like an unwanted raffle prize at a Conservative Association coffee morning? Did she think a controversial Chinese super-embassy would be a no-brainer for our highly-regarded planning committee? Had it occurred to her that 140,000 Islanders are struggling with more roadworks than a country with 1.4 billion residents? Or perhaps she briefly imagined a world where the formation of the People’s Republic of the Isle of Wight would finally stop our councillors bickering with each other.
Perhaps a more plausible explanation is that IW East MP, Joe Robertson, has been moaning at her again about the small matter of cross-Solent ferries, and she’s fed up with it. After all, if anything is being “given away,” it’s usually the contents of our bank accounts every time we need to cross the Solent. Has Joe mentioned ‘Red’ Funnel once too often?
But, if the Island is up for grabs, couldn’t we at least negotiate something in return? A reliable ferry service that runs on time and doesn’t require a second mortgage would be a start.
On second thoughts – it’s never going to happen. If Westminster did try to give the Island away, the fact-finding handover trip would all go wrong. The 10am ferry would be cancelled due to “lack of essential staff” , the 11.30am would be late due to “technical issues” and by 1pm the whole deal would be postponed due to “operational reasons”.
The Island is safe – the cross-Solent ferry companies won’t let us go.
Tilly Walder