Catherine Beader MEP

Assisted Area Status: MEP reports positive meeting with Vince Cable

Readers will remember that one of our MEPs for the area, Catherine Bearder, visited Shanklin Town Council in April.

Catherine spoke with the town council on the subject of Assisted Area Status, which the Isle of Wight council will be making representations on once the consultation process begins.

Earlier this week, Catherine met with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable. She told OnTheWight,

“I was pleased to be able to meet Vince Cable on Thursday and explain why I think the Isle of Wight should be recognised as an assisted area.

“He was very receptive and now the community needs to get together to put in a formal application. I’ll be coming over to the Island to help make some further progress.”

Many thanks to Steve Butler from the Ryde Trades Union Council for alerting OnTheWight to the meeting.