Stephen Morgan MP has doubled down on his commitment to the ‘LET’S STOP AQUIND’ campaign after joining local activists at a ‘static protest’ against the project.
Taking place along the local shoreline earlier this afternoon, the Portsmouth MP joined protestors in forming a line around where the interconnector project will be built.
AQUIND has received a heavy amount of criticism over links with backers of the project to the Conservative party, disruption to the local environment it could cause and conflicts of interest of the recently appointed chair of the universities regulator, Lord Wharton.
Mr Wharton is a former Tory MP, current advisor to AQUIND and in his new role as chair of the Office for Students (OfS), now has powers to sanction the University of Portsmouth, which has also expressed its opposition to the project.
The Member of Parliament for Portsmouth South, Stephen Morgan, commented,
“I’ve long argued that AQUIND would cause untold damage and disruption with no clear benefits to our local area. That’s why I joined local activists today in showing my opposition again to this development, which must be stopped.
“Beneath the cosy relationships Conservative Ministers have with their billionaire donors and others are choices that affect the day-to-day lives of people in Portsmouth.
“Our city deserves total transparency from this government and a real say in the decisions about the plans and I will continue to do all I can in Parliament to ensure Ministers listen to our demands and reject these proposals”.
A spokesperson for the ‘Let’s Stop Aquind’ campaign, Viola Langley, also said,
“We at Let’s Stop Aquind care deeply about our city and beyond. We call upon Her Majesty’s Government to put a stop to this destructive project.
“We residents demand our objections be heard.”
From a very early stage, Mr Morgan has taken a broad range of actions to halt plans for the largescale infrastructure project, including giving evidence to the Planning Inspectorate expressing his concerns around Aquind, tabling a number of written parliamentary questions and has written a number of letters to Ministers.
He has also vowed to take further action in Parliament in efforts to stop the project in the weeks ahead.
