Joe Robertson MP has accused officials of attempting to restrict what can be discussed at forthcoming cross-Solent ferry meetings, telling ministers in Parliament he will not be told how to represent Isle of Wight residents.
The exchange came on Parliament’s final sitting day before the Summer recess, ahead of a series of monthly meetings due to begin in September aimed at finding locally led solutions to the Island’s long-running ferry issues.
The meetings were promised by the Department for Transport following a ministerial visit to Cowes in April last year.
Brian Johnson, formerly of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, has been appointed to chair the discussions, which will include representatives from Wightlink, Red Funnel and Hovertravel, both Isle of Wight MPs, Isle of Wight Council leader Jonathan Bacon and a representative from the Solent Transport Users Group.
Mr Robertson said he had received a letter – not from maritime minister Keir Mather – which sought to limit the topics that could be discussed, including preventing the submission of evidence relating to ferry ticket prices and reliability from more than 10 years ago.
Questioning the minister in the House of Commons, the East Wight MP said:
“I thank the Minister for pausing the MCA’s brutal decision about coastguard rescue officers, and for convening meetings on cross-Solent ferry transport to the Isle of Wight, which will start next month.
“It is of some concern, however, that I have received a letter – not from him – telling me certain things that I was not allowed to discuss, including evidence of ticketing and reliability going back more than 10 years. I am sure he understands that the world did not start in 2016, and I will not be told by anyone how to best represent my constituents, or what I can or cannot say.”
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Responding, Mr Mather said:
“The hon. Gentleman of course knows best how to represent his constituents on these important matters.
“I believe that the dynamic he is pointing to is the dynamic of when dynamic pricing was introduced prior to 2010, and the need to be able to compare and contrast the impact of that on pricing. Evidence about that is of course important, and I hope it is factored into the ongoing work.”
The round table meetings are scheduled to continue throughout the remainder of 2026, with their findings to be presented to the maritime minister for further consideration.
Dynamic pricing, wrong, NHS for hospital patients are such a pain to sort out and often the discount costs more than a standard fare, how????, this is in affect a gagging order. We need some sort of fixed link and stop all these bloody ferry companies ripping us off. Have a word with “golden balls burnham” bring the ferries and hovercraft into public ownership.
Robertson, like Seldom Seen Seely and Andrew Turner before him, making plenty of noise, but actually achieving nothing.
Other than a few “monthly meetings”.
As far as “the letter” is concerned, if it is NOT from the Minister, then who IS it from?
We were led to believe that under Badenough, the Tories were to become more “transparent”, yet all Robertson says is that it NOT from the Minister.
Does not fall under the Official Secrets Act, does it?
Does it even exist and if it does, why is Robertson reluctant to share the name of the author with his constituents?
14 years of misrule have led us to where we are today and yet they still want to keep the truth from us.
Never trust the Tories.
“then who IS it from?”..
Probably from Red Funnel, or Wightlink….
“Never trust the Tories”..
Alas,.. reform (if we are so unfortunate that they get elected to government) would be even worse….
Mostly recycled / failed tories anyway
Starmer and tosser from the north same ol labour full of shit lies corruption.
It never ceases to amaze me at just how childish lefties are. So full of criticism of the “14 years of misrule” while conveniently forgetting the corruption and failures of just two years of the disastrous Starmer and Reeves. And of course offering NOTHING to help resolve the issue at hand. Still children do finally grow up – I hope.
Now tosser from the north to keep the shit alive.
“It never ceases to amaze me at just how childish lefties are” – if you are assuming that I am a “leftie”, you could not be more wrong!
Just because I lay the blame for our sufferance of two years of Two-Tier Kier firmly at the doorstep of the lying Barsteward Party AKA Conservatives, where it belongs, do you assume that I am a clone of the half-wit “wightlink” AKA “Sunshine”?
Next, you’ll be telling me that Labour “Won” the 2024 election.
They did no such thing!
The electorate had had enough of Theresa The Appeaser, Boris The Stud Farm, Liz “that’s my” Truss and Fishy Rishi, so they slung them out because they were “offering NOTHING to help resolve the issue at hand” namely unlimited BorisWave Immigration, for which this country will suffer for decades to come.
But hey, I suspect you actually believe Badenough when she says the Tories “will leave the ECHR”.
Watch out for flying pigs!
Oooh,.. you do get easily confused, don’t you… (or is it just you unquestioningly believe the false rhetoric of farage & co)
you start out criticising the ‘BorisWave of Immigration’, (which you seem to believe is one of the major problems facing this country, .. & then change the subject to leaving the ECHR… (as if that would make any difference to your perceived problem of immigration)
I trust you are aware that since 1980, the ECHR has only been used to prevent 13 deportations… so leaving it, would make f**k-all difference to that..
Leaving it, (and electing a reform government) would however have a much greater, detrimental, effect on the ‘British’ public. (whether white, native, or otherwise).
Well he will and nothing will come of it any way..