Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Bob Seely, has come under fire from Islanders on social media and been labelled a ‘hypocrite’.
Over the weekend, Bob took to Twitter to praise the country’s Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, for scrapping the second phase of HS2.
One Islander, who goes under the account @Isle_of_Wight, pointed out that the Isle of Wight MP had actually voted in favour of the second phase of HS2 in January 2018.
“It seems that he has forgotten how he previously voted”
Another got in touch with News OnTheWight to say,
“I feel incensed to write regarding our MP and his standards. He is currently mocking other political parties about their Flip flop policies. It seems that he has forgotten how he previously voted.
“If Bob was to concentrate on what matters on the Island then try and attack others then he may get a bit of respect. His newsletter tells us what he has done for the Island, it beefs up his successes that he may have some input, but not much.
“Bob is a embarrassment to the Island and hopefully, fingers crossed, in the next General Election he may be shunted back to the Mainland.”
Seely’s u-turn on HS2 support
According to Public Whip Website, Seely has rebelled on less than 2 per cent of votes in Parliament. Although he did previously vote in favour of the phase two of HS2, he has spoken out against it since.
In June 2019, Bob Seely claimed that one of the reasons he switched from Michael Gove to Boris Johnson in the leadership race, was that because he had hopes Johnson would scrap HS2.
The following month, Seely explained in a press release that he had resigned from his role as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) for the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) after refusing to back the Government’s controversial High Speed Rail (HS2) project in a Commons vote.
Seely’s response
News OnTheWight has been in touch with Bob Seely to ask how he responds to the facts raised by Islanders on Twitter. He told News OnTheWight,
“When I was a new MP I voted for it as part of government policy. However, when I started to look into the costs and the lack of a strong case for it, I changed my mind on it. I then refused to support the policy anymore and when there was another vote, I refused to support the Government and resigned from my PPS role.
“I believe the government could spend that money in other ways that will have a more positive impact on people’s lives.”
Article edit
1.27pm 25th Sep 2023 – BS comment added
