Isle of Wight ferries are biggest local General Election issue

On the Isle of Wight we can rely on our national sport of moaning about cross-Solent transport reaching stentorian levels as we approach polling day.

Last election, in 2019, the laughable movement for a so-called 'Freedom Tunnel' diverted attention from real debate about solutions to the Island's ferry woes.

This time the acute crisis on the Solent seems likely to prove a defining theme of our votes in both West and East Wight.

It amazes me that we are so easily distracted from this problem.

Leaving the fixed link ideas to one side, even now there is yet another idea for a shiny new ferry service to divert us.

But we don't need another ferry service. We need to make the ones that we already have work properly.

If the existing routes were reliable, regular, and timetabled according to travellers' needs rather than commercial opportunities, I doubt we would hear so many complaints.

And we already know how we can start the process of achieving this. Funnily enough it was a Conservative MP who most recently tried to set that in motion.

As long ago as 2009, Andrew Turner MP campaigned for the Office of Fair Trading to refer Isle of Wight ferry services to the Competition Commission. This was refused.

Since then Mr Turner, and then his successor Bob Seely MP, continued with discussions and awareness-raising in Westminster.

Despite these 15 years of intercession, in March this year the current government confirmed that it still had no interest in intervening in the cross-Solent travel market.

Transport minister Lord Davies said: "The current Solent ferry market is functional, as it offers a range of services for Islanders, with multiple operators providing commercially viable routes, competing for passengers. The Department is therefore not considering the introduction of Public Service Obligations or other interventions in the market."

By contrast there was last week a surprisingly specific statement from the bloke the bookies expect to lead the next government.

Keir Starmer finds himself in the unusual position of making promises he will likely need to keep.

He said “I am baffled why this hasn’t been tackled before. Labour would ask the Competition and Markets Authority to look at the [ferries] situation and whether intervention is needed."

The Competition and Markets Authority is responsible for strengthening business competition and preventing and reducing anti-competitive activities.

So they could oblige ferry operators to provide a basic level of service, for example.

It was no surprise when a few days later the Conservatives promised a vaguer but still welcome "review to explore all options to provide more choice and drive down fares".

Therefore, regardless of who wins the new Isle of Wight parliamentary seats, we'll be closer to a new examination of the problem than we have been since 2009.

And so we should all keep our eyes on the new parliament to make sure this particular election promise does not get delayed by 'operational difficulties'.