By Carole Dennett
Fulfilling the pledge made during his election campaign that he would put the Island’s ailing ferry services at the top of his agenda, Isle of Wight East MP, Joe Robertson, raised the issue the first time he was called to ask a question at Prime Minister’s Questions this week.
Mr Robertson told Kier Starmer; “My constituents on the Isle of Wight are entirely reliant on foreign-owned, debt-laden unregulated ferry companies for essential travel. But in the United Kingdom public transport is regulated and subsidised, like buses, trains and Scottish ferries.
He asked: “Does the Prime Minister agree with me that this Isle of Wight anomaly must come to an end, and will the government intervene in order to protect passengers from excessive ferry prices and bad services?”
The Prime Minister responded: “I thank him for raising this and he’s right that the ferry services for his constituents have simply not been good enough, and I know that both he and my Honourable Friend, the member for the Isle of Wight West (Richard Quigley), share a commitment to ensuring their constituents receive a better service. The Maritime Minister has met the ferry and hovercraft operators, the leader of the council and other stakeholders.
“There will be further meetings, and I will make sure that he is fully informed by the Minister by of the progress on this issue for his constituents.”
Both Mr Robertson and Mr Quigley have been pressing the Maritime Minister to intervene to ensure that ferry services are improved, and together with council leader, Phil Jordan, jointly signed an Islanders’ Charter, setting out principles which will lead to better and cheaper ferry crossings, including standards on accountability, reliability and service standards, fair and transparent pricing and the requirement for long-term investment.
A set number of questions to the Prime Minister are asked by the official leader of the opposition and other party leaders, all other MPs enter a ballot to appear on the Order Paper and ask their own question. As there are 650 MPs and fewer than 15 MPs get called from the order paper each week, there are only limited opportunities to raise issues in the most high-profile session in the House of Commons.
Speaking after he came out of the House of Commons chamber, Mr Robertson said: “I’m pleased the Prime Minister shared his very clear opinion that the ferry services have not been good enough.
“There is now continual dialogue between me and Richard Quigley, the Isle of Wight Council and the government. Current and potential owners should take note that the government is not going to stand by and do nothing unless they make significant improvements.
“The Islanders’ Charter agreed by us as the Island’s democratically-elected representatives, demonstrates that there is a united front between Islanders of all political parties and of none that things must change.”
Mr Quigley said he was delighted that Mr Robertson had raised the issue on behalf of all Islanders. He told the IW Observer this afternoon: “Joe and I have promised to work together to improve our ferry services, and we are doing that. It is far more important for the future of the Island than any political differences we may have. We had a coffee together this morning and it was great to be in the chamber this afternoon and hear the Prime Minister agree that our ferry services have not been good enough. The message that we are united on this issue is certainly getting through.”
The Islanders’ Charter is evidence for the first time for many years that the Isle of Wight Council and the MP (now two MPs) for the Isle of Wight have worked together to bring about improvements to the ferry services.