This week the House of Commons will be asked to approve the Brexit deal negotiated by Boris Johnson at the European Council meeting in Brussels. It will certainly have my full support and the Prime Minister deserves credit for getting the other European leaders to review and change the withdrawal agreement, something many commentators believed […]
The meeting of the European Council in Brussels this week will be central to the Government’s plan to deliver Brexit by 31st October. At the time of writing this column it appears that genuine progress is being made to agree a new deal with the European Union which would be acceptable to us and therefore […]
The Queen will deliver her speech in the House of Lords on Monday next week, to mark the start of a new parliamentary session. This gives the Government an opportunity to set out its priorities for legislation in the year ahead. This ‘Queen’s Speech’ is long overdue, with the last one being delivered over two […]
Last Friday I was delighted to be invited to officially ‘open’ a new bench and rest stop on the North Downs Way near to the top of Tolsford Hill. This project has been led by the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and I was joined for the occasion by its Chairman Chris […]
Last Friday I was pleased to be invited to Martello Primary school in Folkestone to meet the students and discuss what they had learned during their democracy week. As part of this the pupils had also conducted their own elections for the positions of Head Girl and Head Boy for the coming year. I was […]
Last Sunday I attended once again the annual Battle of Britain service at St Stephen’s Church in Lympne. This year marks the 79th anniversary of that epic struggle between the RAF and the German air force above the skies of Kent, when the fate of western Europe hung by a thread. Defeat would have given […]
In the early hours of Tuesday 10th September, the House of Commons prorogued, ending the longest parliamentary session for over three hundred years. Instead of the normal twelve-month session this last one has run continuously since June 2017. When Parliament returns on 14th October, The Queen will deliver her first speech to Parliament in over […]
This week is traditionally seen as the start of the new parliamentary year, as the House of Commons returns from its summer recess. However, the first items of business focus our attention on the problems that were not solved in the previous session, rather than on new challenges. In particular the overwhelming need for us […]
Since Boris Johnson was appointed as Prime Minister at the end of July, the primary focus of the government has rightly been preparing the United Kingdom to leave the European Union at the end of October. There have been renewed efforts to re-open the negotiations on the withdrawal agreement between this country and the EU, […]
Over the last four years, Hythe Town Council’s dementia awareness forum has done great work to raise the profile in the local community of the needs of people living with dementia, as well as their carers. Last Friday I was invited by Dudley Shipton and Ann Mayne who lead the forum to a special event […]