Joe Robertson, MP for Isle of Wight East, has slammed the Government’s consultation about a combined mayor authority for Hampshire and Isle of Wight as a ‘shambles’ and an ‘insult to Islanders’.
Published last week, the Government is seeking views on its proposal to create a combined mayor authority for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight with a directly elected Mayor.
Joe has been a critic of the devolution proposals since they were announced in December, and he says that his worst fears are being realised in the Government’s own consultation papers.
Speaking after the consultation went online, the East Wight MP said:
“The Isle of Wight won’t appear in the name of the new Combined Authority which will be called ‘Hampshire and Solent’. The so-called consultation doesn’t even ask whether residents are happy about this or whether we actually want a Mayor at all. It is an insult to Islanders.”
He went on to say:
“The Mayor will have responsibility for local transport and improving connectivity for the whole area. The proposals talk extensively about buses, trains and roads but don’t mention ferries at all in over 1,000 words written about improving connectivity. Ferries are the biggest transport issue on the Island and the Island is connected to nowhere without them.
“Devolution is an off-the-shelf proposal for mainland England which will not cater for our unique circumstances as an Island at all.”
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Mr Robertson is also concerned that the consultation will not capture and publish Islanders’ views distinct from the mainland.
“When residents complete the survey, we are asked to enter the first three digits of our postcode, which for everyone on the Island is PO3. But PO3 is a postcode on Portsea Island in Portsmouth, so our responses will be lumped in with the City.
“The consultation is a complete shambles, and we won’t even be able to tell how Islanders are actually responding.
“That is why I have launched my own survey at www.combinedmayor.co.uk to ask the questions we actually want to answer like, do we want a mainland-based Mayor at all? I urge residents to complete my own survey along with the Government’s so-called ‘consultation’ where they can register disagreement that the Mayor will somehow be a good thing.”
It doesn’t ask whether residents are ‘happy’ about this as it presumes that anyone who is or isn’t will have already read the white paper published back in December and will have weighed up all the facts, as well as the evidence from other devolved areas. ‘Happy’ is an emotion, and most grown-ups base their decisions on facts, not emotions. And diddums, it doesn’t even mention our area by name. Sob. Boo hoo. Grow up.
Joe get with it the Island needs to be run by someone with
Balls, the island is a lawless place.
A mayor will bring in rules etc
You are the East Wight MP, do you ever travel around
East Wight?!
Regent Street Shanklin vehicles park on Pavements
making the Street dangerous for pedestrians & motorists.
High Street Sandown outside the First Class Barbers
Vehicles park on Zig Zags
Outside Sandown Pier, Pier Street and outside
Napoleon’s Landing and nr The Premier Inn
Vehicles park on Double Yellow Lines
MOST LAWLESS PLACE IN THE COUNTRY, HENCE WE
NEED A MAYOR LIKE SADIQ KHAN
LOL
And what does the other MP on the island have to say for his constituents on the matter???
joe seems to be the only one working for islanders…
No, just the only one who takes plenty of time out of his presumably busy day to be his own mouthpiece trying to gee-up joe public with whataboutery rather than facts. It’s called running an agenda. It would be far better that instead of relying on politicians to feed us potentially biased information we look at the facts for themselves. Greater Manchester for example. Liverpool. Or are we too busy being isolationist to notice what goes on outside because we’re too busy listening to Mr Dead Cat?