THE Labour Party on the Isle of Wight is calling for the Island's ferry companies to be taken into public ownership.

The comments follow a government decision to temporarily change the competition laws that prevent them working together, as reported yesterday by the County Press.

Read more: Government: Isle of Wight ferries can work together to maintain essential links

Isle of Wight Labour says that the same laws also ensure ticket prices remain competitve.

Island Labour’s chairperson, Julian Critchley, said: "It's obviously the right thing to do, to ensure that Islanders are not cut off from the mainland, either in person or in terms of goods and services which we need."

"The question which this should be raising in everyone's minds is: If Islanders' best interests are clearly served by a single coordinated service at this time, then why would we return to the pre-virus situation?

"What the government's action does is to rightly recognise that the ferries are an essential vital public service, not an optional private choice. They need to be brought into public ownership, so we can maintain a co-ordinated, effective, and cheaper service at all times, not just in a crisis."