Right the Wight Wrong
The cost of ferries to the Island has long been the subject of discussion. I presume the companies providing a ferry service have to make a profit but their prices are coming under some fairly severe scrutiny.
The Island’s MP, Andrew Turner is doing something about it (from his recent email):
“I have received many complaints about the cost of crossing the Solent and other matters relating to Island ferry services. I have been convinced for some time that we should seek an investigation into these issues by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), and when I raised the matter with the Secretary of State for Transport last year he confirmed that the OFT should be involved if there are concerns that the ferry companies disadvantage Islanders and other users.
As you may know I suffered a stroke last year and whilst it is certainly not an experience I would have chosen, during my recovery I have been able to devote time to prepare a request to the OFT to launch an investigation. It is by no means certain that they will do so, and one of the things we need to do is convince them that this issue affects many people. I have therefore launched a campaign to get support from as many people as possible for an investigation to be carried out.
I am pleased to be able to report that a number of mainland MPs are supporting the campaign on a cross-party basis.
The purpose of this e-mail is to ask for your support for the campaign and also for you to let me know how the ferry services affect you. You can find out all about the campaign at www.islandmp.org. You can also use the website to register your support and submit any comments you would like to make.
I do hope that you will support the campaign as this affects all of us who live on this lovely Island – as well as many of our friends, families and business colleagues on the mainland.”
Feel free to visit and sign up to the campaign.
Filed under: Isle of Wight
