By Isle of Wight Observer
East Wight MP, Joe Robertson, has sharply criticised the Government’s decision to cancel the UK Islands Forum, calling the move “a disgrace” in a letter to Miatta Fahnbulleh, Minister for Devolution, Faith and Communities.
The Islands Forum, created in 2022, was designed to give island communities a direct route into Government and support work on shared challenges, such as connectivity. The associated Islands Forum Connectivity Project has also been cancelled.
In a letter to island leaders, the Minister said the issues facing island communities “stretch beyond my department’s priorities and direct control,” adding that “a difficult financial inheritance and tough spending choices” meant the programme could not continue.
Mr Robertson said the decision had been taken “unilaterally” and “without any consultation with MPs,” and warning that the Isle of Wight risked losing a key mechanism for ensuring its concerns were heard in Westminster. He also criticised the Government’s wider approach to the Island, citing a £13.4 million reduction in council funding over the next three years, delays to devolution arrangements, and new levies affecting ferry travel and tourism. He also said that funding taken from the Isle of Wight had been redirected to “Northern cities”.
He wrote: “Islanders are facing a perfect storm – cuts to Council funding, blocked access to devolution funding, a tax on car ferries and possible taxation powers on overnight visitors.”
Mr Robertson has asked for urgent clarification on how the Island’s voice will now be represented, and what – if anything – will replace the Connectivity Project, ahead of the Isle of Wight Council’s budget vote on February 25.
