News shared by Richard Quigley, Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Labour Party. In his own words. Ed
Keir Stamer made an official statement on the Isle of Wight ferry services on Monday this week (3rd June).
He said,
“Labour is committed to finding a solution to the issues with Wightlink and Red Funnel, and I am baffled why this hasn’t been tackled before.
“Labour would ask the CMA to look at the situation and whether intervention is needed.”
The Competition and Markets Authority, is the body that can take action if a market isn’t operating as it should.
Isle of Wight West candidate for the Labour party Richard Quigley, met with the shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh before the snap election was announced and asked for a commitment to look for a solution to the issues caused by current state of ferry operations.
Richard explained,
“Louise has been extremely helpful and given me access to her team to find a solution, very little has been done since previous MP Andrew Turner submitted a case to the CMA back in 2009.”
Welcome news to cross-Solent ferry users
The Labour party commitment will be welcome news to cross-Solent ferry users, who disagree with the Conservative party view that everything is fine.
Lord Gower, Transport Minister, confirmed in March that the Conservative government will not act because “the Solent ferry market is functional, as it offers a range of services for Islanders, with multiple operators providing commercially viable routes”.
Richard added,
“We all know it’s not an easy or overnight solution, but this is the first time a leader of one of the main parties has acknowledged just how big a problem it is. It’s become a barrier to opportunity for work, family visits and you can’t even see the end of a show as you have to hot foot it back for the last boat.
“There is more work to do, as we need regulation of fares and timetables, but, should we have a Labour government, we have a clear commitment to taking action.”
