We are a cross-party group who support London’s river tourism. The Covid crisis has devastated passenger boat tourism and it remains unclear if boat trips can resume this summer — a key time for this industry. Alongside this we are deeply concerned about plans from the Government’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) which risk forcing dozens of passenger boats off the Thames as they will have to be rebuilt.
The operators are SMEs and family-run businesses which have worked on the river for generations. The double whammy of Covid and these unnecessary MCA proposals will do potentially terminal damage to London’s maritime heritage, river jobs and tourism. They should be changed so that no boats are forced off the river and the sector can recover.
Lord Salisbury KG KCVO PC DL, Chair of Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant
Admiral Lord West of Spithead GCB, DSC, PC
Lord Owen CH FRCP, President, River Thames Society
Rt Hon Sir Ed Davey MP, Leader, Liberal Democrats
Nickie Aiken MP (CON)
Ruth Cadbury MP, (LAB)
Gareth Bacon, MP (CON)
Sarah Olney MP, (LIB DEM)
Andrew Rosindell MP (CON)
Tony Arbour AM (CON)
Tony Devenish AM (CON)
Editor's reply
Dear Lord Salisbury and co
The cheerful sight of pleasure boats such as Dunkirk veteran Princess Freda chugging down the Thames is part of the London summer — but this season will be close to a wipe-out. Safety can never taken for granted, as the Marchioness disaster still reminds us. But amid this year’s exceptional circumstances it seems prudent for the MCA to take another look at its proposals to make sure they are appropriate for the craft that have operated on the Thames for many decades.
Jonathan Prynn, Consumer Business Editor
Safe journey, all
Travelling to work in a car is no alternative to public transport, with 46 per cent of households in London not even owning one. TfL has adopted the Streetspace for London plan to create space for socially-distancing pedestrians and cyclists. Let’s focus on longer-term projects too: Cycleway 9, and adding live data on TfL’s travel app that can highlight congestion on the Tube and buses. Let’s travel safely into the post-pandemic world.
Ian Mulcahey, Principal at Gensler
