Last Friday I joined Jacques Gounon, the Chairman of Eurotunnel, to officially open the new access area for road freight joining the tunnel’s services at Folkestone. This completes a major investment from Eurotunnel in improving the speed and efficiency of its operations in Kent, that will help both freight, and passengers travelling in private cars […]
Events in Calais over the last ten days have given us further cause for concern. Firstly, we have seen the threat of the return of major industrial action at the Port. Ferry workers set fire to tyres in protest at the failure of DFDS, as they see it, to honour commitments they have made regarding […]
On Friday last week I was delighted to be able to help present a large number of football kits, donated by the charity Kit Aid, to support the Folkestone based organisation, Green Kordofan. Green Kordofan was started in 2011 by Raga Gibreel, and champions sport for development to support the people of South Kordofan, who […]
Over the last week I have been in contact with many people across the District regarding the proposed lorry parking scheme for the M20 motorway near to Stanford. Given the massive disturbance caused by Operation Stack last summer, there are many people who say we should get on and build the lorry park straightaway, whilst […]
The consultation on the long term solution for Operation Stack has now begun and will close on 25th January 2016. You can find out more about the detailed plans here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/operation-stack-consultation-on-new-lorry-area-launches-today . It is important that everyone has there say. Thanks to the £250million funding that we have secured from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, […]
George Osborne used his statement in the House of Commons last week, setting out the government’s spending review, to announce that he had allocated £250million towards preventing the chaos caused by Operation Stack. This is great news for Kent, and I am pleased that the Chancellor listened to our campaign for government funding to build […]
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has today announced a quarter of a billion pounds to deliver a long term solution to Operation Stack. This investment of £250 million will enable the construction of off road lorry parking facilities, accessed directly from the M20 which can be used whenever delays occur. The announcement today follows a […]
On Wednesday this week the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, will set out the government’s spending commitments for this parliament. We have already seen important announcements from the government on increasing frontline resources for the National Health Service and our armed forces, which are to be welcomed. Another of the key areas we have […]
In two weeks time the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne will present his Autumn Statement to the House of Commons. This speech will set out the government’s spending commitments and the budgets for the different departments. Last week I led a delegation of 12 MPs from Kent to see the Chancellor to urge him […]
The House of Commons returned this week after the summer recess and business has been dominated by the consequences of the migration and refugee crisis in Europe; an issue we have also been working on over the last few months. I was in the chamber on Monday to listen to the Prime Minister setting out the package of […]