We always welcome a Letter to the Editor to share with our readers – unsurprisingly they don’t always reflect the views of this publication. If you have something you’d like to share, get in touch and of course, your considered comments are welcome below. This from Kay Smith on behalf of Unite the Isle of Wight. Ed
Background
At the last Full Council meeting when the budget was set Conservative Group Leader Councillor Dave Stewart described public services as being a ‘socialist ideology’.
Unite the Isle of Wight met with Andrew Turner MP last Friday which coincided with the launch of the ‘Fight for the Wight’ campaign by the County Press.
Yesterday (Tuesday) the group learned that on the same day of the campaign launch, Cllr Stewart and Cllr Ward were at a meeting with the Minister Greg Clark highlighting this new campaign and asking for more money for the Island. Unite the Isle of Wight has now had absolute clarity from the CP that the campaign is about bringing more money to the Island for Public Services. The following email was sent to Cllr Stewart yesterday.
Fight for the Wight Campaign, Isle of Wight Public Services and retraction of ‘Socialist Ideology’ statement
Dear Cllr Stewart,
Following on from the launch of the Fight for the Wight Campaign on Friday 4th March 2016 aimed at bringing money to the Island for Public services, supporters of Unite the Isle of Wight would like you and your Conservative party to embrace the spirit of this campaign. We would therefore like you to retract the statement that you made during the last Full Council meeting on the 24th February where you described public services as a ‘socialist ideology’.
You know that one of the main aims of the campaign is about bringing more money to the Island for public services and therefore your statement in that meeting is causing a lot of misunderstanding and creating a great deal of confusion amongst our supporters.
In the spirit of a united Island campaign it is important that you publicly retract that statement. Your visit to Greg Clark supports that you also value the need for those public services for island residents and we welcome that change of heart.
We look forward to hearing from you very soon as there is much work to be done in this 6 month campaign period.
Kind Regards, Kay Smith (on behalf of Unite the Isle of Wight)
Image: patrickkiteley under CC BY 2.0
