This is part of a series of eighteen questions from The Democracy Club asked of the Isle of Wight candidates in the 2010 General Election (background).
Local statement three: Current ferry operators provide a very poor and expensive service for travel to the mainland. Alternatives and their funding should be sought by the Isle’s MP in the next Parliament.
| Candidate | Position | Comment | |
| Ian Dunsire (English Democrats Party) | strongly agrees | “A key English Democrat strategy. UK Govt and EU should lift their restrictions on subsidising IOW ferries. Scotland receives £67m per annum from English taxpayers for ferry subsidies.” | |
| Bob Keats (Green Party) | agrees | “It’s not a well worded question but the monopoly supply should be frequently reviewed and the travel costs accross the Solent may need to be subsidised to encourage the economy.” | |
| Pete Harris (Independent) | agrees | “Where a third service could operate out of and to would be a major headache. The posibilty should be investigated though. As an alternative, an Island based cooperative might be formed to buy out and run one of the existing services.” | |
| Paul Martin (Middle England Party) | agrees | “We need a third link run by the Island for the benefit of the Island.” | |
| Paul David Randle-Jolliffe (Independent) | strongly agrees | “I would favour a third locally owned by the whole community ferry service.” | |
| Mark Chiverton (Labour Party) | strongly agrees | “The IW has suffered from extremely expensive cross-Solent transport for decades. This affects everyone in terms of the cost of holidays, daytrips, commuting and industry and must be urgently addressed.” | |
| Michael Tarrant (UK Independence Party – UKIP) | strongly agrees | “Perhaps the Isle of Wight Council could be more proactive in this issue?” | |
| Jill Wareham (Liberal Democrats) | agrees |
Those who didn’t provide responses: Andrew Turner – Conservative, Geof Clynch – BNP and Edward Corby – Independent
The idea for this whole idea came from the excellent The Democracy Club and answers are hosted by the splendid
Election issue of TheyWorkForYou.
Image: Horia Varlan under CC BY 2.0
