UK-SHORE visit from junior minister.

Joseph Cox, 19 March 2022, Tags:

Copy of full letter sent to the Echo.

Dear Editor,

The Department for Transport headline this month was UK SHORE to take maritime ‘back to the future’ with green investment, and Southampton was venerated with a visit from a DFT minister Robert Courts MP. Well, there are local elections just on the horizon.

The minister’s main Parliamentary interests are to do with defence but working for the DFT he will be able to understand that there has been little investment in cleaner shipping over the years and there is so much to do to play catch up with the likes of Sweden when it comes to large scale hydrogen powered vessels.

Readers may remember REAP Systems (Renewable Energy and Advanced Propulsions) that were based in Southampton and fitted a Venice taxi with a hybrid engine. REAP moved to Lymington as a cost cutting exercise, and like so many genuine tech start-ups struggle with orders.

So while we are on the subject of cleaner energy; it really should not have taken a war in Europe to get the Conservatives to go full throttle for wind-power.

The whole of the Southampton area could have had so much more economic benefit had the Tories not wiped out the prospect of future on-shore wind generation.  I personally even believe Hampshire Tories were some of the instigators for David Cameron’s gratuitous policy to ban subsidies for on-shore wind power back in 2015.  

Also the bankrupt decision by Bournemouth Tories to scupper the Navitus Bay wind farm proposals, 12miles out from Old Harry Rocks was a bad decision for our energy security and economic survival.

Joe Cox

Green Party Candidate for Bargate