This week the Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out his plan to take the country out of the lockdown and the COVID restrictions that we have endured to varying degrees of severity for nearly a year. The final deadline for the lifting of all social contact restrictions will be 21st June. The longest day finally […]
I would like to thank all of the NHS staff and volunteers who have worked so hard since December to deliver the COVID-19 vaccine across the Folkestone and Hythe constituency. It has been a fantastic effort that everyone over the age of 70, as well as those in the most vulnerable groups in society has […]
Last week a fire was started deliberately at Napier Barracks in Folkestone, following a dispute between asylum claimants being accommodated there, and the staff that run the facility. There can be no excuse for this action. Arson is a criminal offense, and it could have led to loss of life. I'm grateful for the emergency […]
On 26 January the first mass vaccination centre in Kent for COVID-19 opened its doors in Folkestone town centre. This is based in the building known as Folca, which was formerly the Debenhams department store. Last week I visited the building along with the Leader of Folkestone and Hythe District Council, Cllr David Monk, to […]
It's excellent news that this week sees the start of mass COVID vaccination in Folkestone at the Civic Centre, as well as at Lydd Airport on Romney Marsh. The Folkestone centre will be open seven days a week and operate eleven hours a day. It is expected that they will perform over 2000 vaccinations per […]
Our NHS is leading the world in the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine. We were the first country to use the Pfizer vaccine, and we now have regulatory approval for the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, and the Moderna vaccine. We have vaccinated more people against coronavirus as a proportion of our population than any other country […]
This is not the Happy New Year we were hoping for. Before Christmas the daily data produced by the Government, showing the numbers of new cases of coronavirus in Kent, was starting to look more positive. In Folkestone and Hythe there had been a sustained fall in the rolling seven-day average of new cases, from […]
On Christmas Eve the Prime Minister announced that the Government had successfully negotiated a deal with the European Union on our future trading relationship. This will be debated in Parliament on 30th December, so that it can be ratified before the end of 2020. The deal delivers on the commitment made at the general election […]
Since the start of this month we've seen a rapidly deteriorating position with the regards to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. On the 1st of December the rolling seven-day average infection rate per 100,000 people in the Folkestone and Hythe district was 193, whereas three weeks later it is nearly 700. In other parts […]
This week the government has reviewed the tiers in England for the COVID-19 social contact restrictions. Not only is Kent staying within tier 3, but the whole of London and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire have been included as well. I know that this will be disappointing for very many people who would have hoped […]