Today (Saturday 2 October 2021) local people gathered at the Guildhall Square for the latest ‘Stop AQUIND’ public event.
For the event, Stephen Morgan MP said:
“My thanks to all of you for your hard work and determination to keep pressure on this Conservative government to make sure they put an end to this disastrous project for our city.
“AQUIND is a project that’s mired in Tory cronyism, offering nothing for our city, but bringing with it untold disruption to our daily lives and damage to our precious natural environment.
“From my 6,200 signature public petition that was signed by local people and submitted to Parliament last month, to the open letter from our local paper delivered to the Business Secretary just yesterday, one thing is clear.
“The people of Portsmouth are united. The AQUIND Interconnector Project must be stopped.
“If the decision does not go our city’s way, the council must take the fight immediately to a judicial review. It is in their power to start that work, and to start it now. Let’s use today’s event to tell the council they must now do so now.
“From its outset, I have been and will continue to be by your side. I have written a string of letters to Ministers, tabled a range of parliamentary questions and submitted evidence to the planning inspectorate detailing our shared concerns.
“It cannot be right that a decision that will acutely affect the people of Portsmouth will be made hundreds of miles away behind a desk in Whitehall.
“Despite this being a government of dither and delay, Kwasi Kwarteng cannot keep running forever from the main task he was put in the job to do: make decisions.
“But it’s high time now this crony government finally listened to our concerns.
“The Business Secretary must provide certainty to the thousands of city residents whose daily lives will be affected by this disastrous project.
“Government has the power to stop AQUIND. Its high time Tory Ministers do so.”
