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Pirates beseige maritime minister over ferries farrago

Credit: BBC

It’s not just the SNP who can’t sort out their ferries. A new row has broken out much further south over the failure to provide affordable transport to the 140,000 residents on the Isle of Wight. The local Tory MP Joe Robertson is leading the charge over rocketing ferry prices, which mean a return trip to the mainland will now cost locals a whopping £486.

Such is the level of local discontent that residents are taking matters into their own hands. A meeting of MPs and ferry bosses yesterday in Cowes was convened to discuss the state of cross-Solent ferries. Unfortunately for Mike Kane, the Maritime Minister, the event was gatecrashed by a group of protesters, dressed in the garb of Long John Silver. They loudly chanted ‘modern day pirates, robbing our Island’ and ‘you should be ashamed. You’re robbing pirates’. Shiver me timbers…

One ‘pirate’ even accosted the Minister and demanded to know what he is going to do.

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Steerpike
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Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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