MP and Top Actress Join Forces over Houseboat Charges

2.53.00pm GMT Mon 8th Mar 2010

Vincent Cable MP with campaigners Susan Penhaligon and Pauline Oliver.

Vincent Cable MP is working with actress Susan Penhaligon (famous for the series "Bouquet of Barbed Wire") to highlight the plight of residential boat owners on the Thames faced with massive increases in licence fees to the Port of London Authority.

Susan Penhaligon, who has a boat at Kew Bridge, has launched a campaign on behalf of her fellow residential boat owners. Vincent Cable has, so far, held two debates in Parliament on behalf of the 200+ residents in the Twickenham constituency who live on boats, have no security of tenure and are faced with big arbitrary increases in licence fees. He writes this week for the Evening Standard on the subject.

"There have been several cases recently of residents on Ducks Walk and Thistleworth Marina facing exorbitant increases in licence fees and this is a pattern up and down the river. There has to be some regulation of this monopoly charging", said Vincent Cable.