Around 50 Islanders – including the Green Party’s Vix Lowthion and Labour’s Richard Quigley – met at St James’ Square to demand a general election be held immediately.
In the view of the protestors, after a chaotic few weeks in Westminster – and the UK’s 3rd Prime Minister entering 10 Downing Street in 2022 – the plight of ordinary citizens is being ignored.
The protest was organised by cross-party groups Enough is Enough and Unite the Wight, who believe that residents are facing a huge cost of living crisis – which won’t be tackled without a significant change in national leadership.
The demonstrators banged saucepans and marched to St James’s Square to show their displeasure with the current government.
“Thousands of islanders are facing a winter of crisis when it comes to energy, wages, housing and cuts to public services. They are at crisis point and really worried about their families and their future.
“Many local organisations are pulling together to offer food, shelter and warmth for residents which is fantastic. But to get meaningful change, to earn the confidence and support of the British people, we must have a General Election and a leader who is elected by the people, not a small group of MPs.”
Richard Quigley, from the Isle of Wight Labour Party, said:
“After 12 years of mismanagement, we the general public are having to pay for this Tory mess. Workers such as teachers and nurses are finding themselves running out of money by the 20th of the month. An ordinary family can’t pay for a 3-bedroom house. Decent people want better for themselves and family and won’t get it from this government.”
“Labour absolutely have a chance of winning on the Isler of Wight, especially if the seat splits in 2. I’ve had 2 lifelong Tory voters come to me to say they want to join Labour. They believe the current Conservative Party no longer represents them.
“In the 2019 election, it’s been estimated that the Conservatives took around 7,000 pro-Brexit Labour votes. But Brexit is now history. We have to make it work.”
Daniel Galpin of Unite the Wight said:
“We want his government out, and we’ll keep fighting till this happens. We’ve had 12 weeks of chaos which followed 12 years of austerity.
“We are realistic and pragmatic enough to realize that there won’t be an election soon. Turkey’s won’t vote for Christmas. However, we want action on wages, the cost of living and in every other department. This is not just about a change in government.”
90 countries globally are taking to the street and demonstrating about the cost of living, fuel crisis and poverty. Whilst the actions of the 47 (taking off the politicians who want their parties to be voted into power) are admirable, this isn’t a local problem. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-63185186
The energy price crisis is not a local problem but the recent chaos in government and the way they say on their hands doing nothing for six months is most definitely a UK problem.
Not convinced that 50 represents the views of the island population of 140,000 plus.
To be fair, I’m not convinced that your 1 comment represents the Islands population either.
We’re you 1 of them ?????
Personally whoever gets in really aren’t worth the X on the ballot paper !!!!
All trying to be seen to be different but underneath all tarred and feathered with the same brush !!!!
Tarred and feathered by same brush or owned and paid for by the same elite people
I’m going to set up a gathering to demand that the current government continue- as per legislation…
Oh another Tory voter. Lol. The Conservative party are meant to conserve the uk instead they conserve their own wealth and give our hard earned money to people that have no right to it and have not contributed to the coffers. So yes the Tory party should leave on the first flight to Rwanda and all the half Whits that have voted the self righteous bunch of chumps in. The uk was once a strong contender on the world stage now we are just just a laughing stock because all the Tory’s can do i hide behind their bank balances while the rest of the country starve and freeze to death. People have a very short memory. We had milk snatcher wreck the uk and every single last one before and after. We should follow suite of Switzerland.
A Very A Typical Socialist rant there!
Fairly pointless exercise. Asking Sunak to call a General Election is like asking someone to play Russian Roulette.
With a bullet in every chamber.
None of their banners demand answers on the floating bridge secrecy. An issue which affects most islanders financially.
You hit the nail on the head.
Water under the (floating) bridge, now, DD.
All on final salary pensions & benefited from cheap property prices no doubt, luddites!
No, actually some people. Had to take further education to earn a roof over their head. It’s not a Tory party issue it’s global and if you look back to 12 years ago you will find it was the same then and, believe it or not it was a Labour government that said there’s no money left. Consider socialist values that all are equal they do it by taxation but trust me, there will always be fat cats at the top socialist table.
further education? what a low interest handout that they’ll never have to payback? more burden to the grafters of society! while the left demand a free living!
Have people got nothing better to do than hang half baked pieces of cardboard up
demonstrating on something that will not happen. Judging from the picture it seems the elderly
have nothing constructive to do.
Many of us “elderly” would love to have something constructive to do but ageism excludes us. It’s a mixed blessing that there is plenty of volunteering that needs doing thanks to Britain’s social meltdown (Mrs Thatcher: “There is no such thing as society”).
means testing that’s what the elderly need!
You obviously don’t look hard enough. I notice two company’s recently taking on people over 70
Ah yes, because Mr Sunak is going to decide that because 50 people from the Isle of Wight have protested about the inadequacy of the current party in Parliament – that he must hold a general election ♀️
Honestly – the principle of this is in good faith, but we are just tiny little minions – no amount of protests will change who is in power.
So nobody protests and government proceeds thinking (or wishing to believe) that it has a mandate. Brilliant!
The Govt has a mandate for 5 years. That’s the law. You can protest as much as you like… 5 it is.
Daft lot, I can’t see Rishi caving into the demands of a few left wing Islanders
exactly – they are wasting their time – there will be no election until required by parliament.
the greens and labour are unelectable and would simply spend far more of other peoples money than the tories do.
people have been used to 40 years of low interest rates and low inflation – those days are over and we are back to normal – get used to it, go without if you haven’t got the cash and make cuts and accept that the days where freeloading benefit cash was a good lifestyle are over
Hold a general election , what’s the successful party going to do to get this country out of the mess ,,,,,, nothing absolutely nothing we’re in the sh1t and going to be buried in it You won’t see prices coming down to last years levels ever again so
option 1 win lottery
option 2 work harder longer have many jobs so they can take more tax more national insurance off ya
option 3 get on the benefit system you’ll get everything
Quigley says , I have two life long conservatives who wil vote labour. Oh good should make all the difference, even showing the disgust or annoyance at the conservatives people will vote lib demorcrat or greens before they waste their vote on labour, We have long memories , we remember your incompetance last time, nothing has changed.
I remember what the Tory’s have done in the last 12 years. Britain has never been better, they have my vote until I’m dead.
Sorry this is the Isle of Wight, the Tories win before the ballot papers are ticked .. no serious competition to challenge them .. and I am not Tory, I just cannot see the point of voting anymore …many of the islanders older generation fall for the Tory lies every time ..
UK Parliament is run by the WEF, which ever party is in Power will do what the WEF
Instruct them to do.
Bunch of short memory hypocrites. Nobody voted Gordon Brown in as prime minister when war criminal Blair did a runner did they? Voting is just a waste of your own valuable time as all politicians of all political parties are pathological liars. No matter who you waste your time voting for you will just end up with more of the same.
Woop woop 50 and I wonder how many voted in the last election?
We probably need a revolution, not another useless government of whatever persuasion.
I blame the Brexit voters, believed the lies that were sold to them, and have turned this country into the sick man of Europe…no one will say they have been conned, too much loss of face. Waiting for the sunny brexit uplands that will never come…Tories have just made a bigger hole in the slow puncture that was there already…
sign and reshare widely all over the uk a petition on the uk government and parliament petition page call an immediate general election to end the chaos of the current government it currently has 895,770 signatures it can be signed and reshared from anywhere in the uk
it means nothing and would naturally be signed by labour, libs and greens only
pointless waste of time
do you really know that or are you merely guessing
Melons – Green on the outside, red on the inside…..
Should be prosecuted for leaving litter on the streets
Although I’m not Tory I’m not Labour either I remember Labour giving free care to over 80’s till the money ran out and then they started charging according to how much they had in their bank accounts. Also Labour is notorious for borrowing borrowing, borrowing and will lead us into even more debt . This country needs a complete change .
no it doesn’t – it needs the people of the country to stop expecting handouts, make cuts and realise that you are not entitled to have everything that someone else has, the world isn’t fair, it isn’t equal and never will be and nature favours the stronger. The only thing the government need to do, is kick all the leeching asylum seekers out of the hotels onto the streets and tell them – no money, no food now clear off back to france or any other safe country you travelled through on your way here
Why was this not promoted better? I would have loved to have joined in.
Mind you, with the new laws coming in, they could all be arrested, have ankle tags put on, and put on house arrest without ever being charged of any crime.
Welcome to prison UK.
anyone remember the tory slogan eat out to help out? well heres one for them to help out get out
I’m sorry but Britain is debt ridden so whoever is in power there’s very little they can do. Maybe put up taxes to help the poor, but that’s a vote loser. Stopping the war in Ukraine would help. The government can’t be expected to help everyone out, take some responsibility for your own lives. Most people don’t want a intrusive government just a fair chance in life.
Thought it was 40 that attended this jolly day out?