The fatal stabbing in Folkestone last month of Osman Shazad, an Afghan teenager in the asylum system, has raised many questions from the community. That people were shocked at the news of this crime, confirms that it is rare for a town like Folkestone, but we still want to understand more about how and why […]
This week in Parliament I was reminded of an episode of the classic 1980s sitcom Auf Wiedersehen Pet, which provides one of the best explanations of and arguments against the alternative vote system. In order to decide upon a colour to paint their hut, the lads decide to vote expressing a first choice and an […]
The positive approach taken by local and national Government and the business community since the announcement last week that Pfizer will be leaving Sandwich can give us some hope for the future and could also be a model for working together. When I received a phone call on Tuesday morning last week from Richard Blackburn […]
Creating growth in our local economy and supporting businesses have been high on my list of priorities since my election last year. We want to see jobs for people and opportunities that will keep our talented school leavers and graduates in the area. In a time when the pace of change grows ever faster and […]
Localism has been one of the watch words for the new Government and this week in Parliament we took further steps towards making it a reality. On Monday the Localism Bill passed its first hurdle in the House of Commons and when it has completed its stages through parliament will mark a significant transfer of […]
The public meeting on the potential to deliver a new nuclear power station at Dungeness will be held a week on Saturday, on 22nd January. This follows the meeting I held with the Energy Minister Charles Hendry before Christmas, along with Shepway District Council. The meeting will be attended by officials from the Department for […]
I hope that you have had a good Christmas break and New Year. The snow hung around long enough to give is a white Christmas in the Elham Valley, but also the frozen ground that prevented the East Kent hunt from holding their traditional Boxing Day meet. Instead members of the hunt brought the hounds […]
Sarah, Claudia, Hugo and I wish you all best wishes for a Happy Christmas and New Year. For those who are dreaming of a white Christmas, your wish may come true this year, but at this time of peace and goodwill we should also think of those people who will be away from their loved […]
Last week in parliament was dominated by the vote on tuition fees and the student protests in central London. Like many of you I was appalled at the violent scenes and the behaviour of some of the protestors. We live in a free and open society and anyone should have the right to demonstrate, but […]
There seems to be a strong consensus that the snow we had last week was the worst that anyone can remember at this stage of the winter. In addition to this we also had some very low temperatures. Last Friday evening when I was driving between my surgeries in Dymchurch and Hythe the temperature gauge […]