MP HITS OUT AT £511 FERRY FARES AND NEW CARBON LEVY IN COMMONS CLASH
Isle of Wight MP Joe Robertson has taken the Government to task over increases in energy bills and plans to apply the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) levy to the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route in July.
Speaking in the House of Commons Chamber in the King’s Speech Debate, Mr Robertson highlighted the increasing cost of energy and the impact which this has on individuals and businesses, by referring to the Government’s pre-election promises to cut energy bills by £300 and the £8.6billion costs incurred in setting up GB Energy.
During his Speech, the MP for Isle of Wight East again raised the issue of the ETS levy on ferries and how Island residents were being penalised by these charges, in addition to already high ferry fares.
Mr Robertson said:
“The security of energy and the price of energy is something that affects every household, every individual and every business up and down the country, in every constituency. It’s a matter that concerns everyone. When the Secretary of State was in opposition during the last election, he promised to cut household energy bills by £300, but instead, in Government, he’s presided over an increase in household energy bills of £200.
“There is nothing in The King’s Speech that will secure the country’s energy supply, that will bring down energy costs, and that will bring the jobs and investment that the government has promised.”
Whilst highlighting a return ferry fare of £511.00 on the Fishbourne to Portsmouth route, Mr Robertson went on to say:
“Next month, you can travel across the Solent to the Isle of Wight, take your car, and one return trip costs £511.00 for a 5 mile return crossing. The Government, instead of helping us, will levy a carbon emission tax that the ferry company cannot avoid because it cannot decarbonise its ferries and go electric. There is no grid charging capacity in Portsmouth Harbour or Southampton. This is the naval base of the United Kingdom and one of the biggest export container ports yet there is not the grid capacity to charge an Isle of Wight ferry.
“The EU are ring fencing the money they get from ETS to invest in grid capacity imports, however, the UK government are making no promises about investing in grid capacity.”
Mr Robertson recently wrote a joint letter with Richard Quigley MP, highlighting the Island’s reliance on ferry travel and calling for a delay or urgent reconsideration of the levy’s application.
In his response to the debate, Energy Minister Michael Shanks MP said Mr Robertson made a ‘bizarre’ argument.
