East Wight MP sets out red lines for combined mayor negotiations.
Joe Robertson, MP for Isle of Wight East, has set out ‘five red lines’ for the ongoing negotiations for a directly elected mayor covering the Isle of Wight.
In a letter written to Local Government Minister, Jim McMahon MP, Mr Robertson has set out key demands which he says are in the overwhelming interests of the Island, including powers over the cross-Solent ferry operators and ring-fenced funding for the Island which cannot be ‘raided’ by Hampshire. The Island’s unique challenges as the only 2 constituencies in England separated by sea must be recognised in the final deal which should be put to the Island public for a vote, the MP says.
Mr Robertson has opposed the Government's plans for a council merger and a combined mayor with Hampshire since they were first announced, and following a demonstration outside County Hall on 22nd February, the four council leaders wrote to the Government asking for the Isle of Wight Council to remain a standalone authority. However, the local elections due on 1st May will not take place until at least 2026, and the councils are pressing ahead with plans for a combined mayor who will represent a patch where the Island population will form only 7 per cent.
In his letter to Mr McMahon, Mr Robertson says his red lines are based on his own survey of over 1,600 residents. In addition to powers over the ferries and ringfenced funds, Mr Robertson says that the Island should be negotiating for its own mayor, independent of Hampshire, and the final proposal should be put to a vote of Islanders who should have the final say whether they want a mayor when they have seen the final deal on the table.
Joe Robertson MP said, "I am asking the local authority leaders, including the Isle of Wight Council Leader, to negotiate hard with the Government and not simply accept an off-the-shelf offer that does not work for the Island.
“This is the moment to make the case for the unique challenges we face as an English island in the strongest possible terms, so that we can have substantial, ring-fenced funds for the long term which cannot be raided by Hampshire.
“If we don’t secure a fair arrangement for the Island while we still have the power to block the Government’s plans for a mayor, we will have squandered an opportunity and once again find ourselves being “done to”. Now is the time to show strength in negotiations not weakness.”
