Oh dear. Might nasty Nigel Farage be heading back to Thanet? Writing in the Daily Telegraph on 17th August, the former leader of UKIP and Parliamentary Candidate for South Thanet in 2005 and 2015 said “I’m back”. Although his piece was very much in relation to the disastrous Conservative government BREXIT negotiations, this is very […]
Category: General
Successful Summer Kitchen to continue
The Summer Kitchen has been a fantastic project to be involved in over recent months. I take my hat off to Sharon Goodyer who heads up Thanet’s community kitchen scheme. She was explaining her plans for providing affordable meals to Thanet families to me over two years ago. I thought then what a good idea, […]
Our Kitchen serves up goodness in Thanet
I first heard Sharon Goodyer talking about this “big plan” for Our Kitchen a couple of years ago. I thought it was a great ambition but wondered if she could succeed. It was daunting. Well, I didn’t know Sharon then as well as I know her now! She is a force of nature. Sharon has […]
Kent wheelchair users greatly disadvantaged by Millbrook Healthcare
The plight of wheelchair users came before Kent County Council Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) meeting on Friday 20th July. As the County Councillor for Ramsgate I was absolutely incensed by the abject failure of the private company, Millbrook Healthcare to deliver a much needed wheelchair provision contact. I am equally angry at the […]
Social housing – dithering is not an option
I have never seen such a bad housing situation as the current crisis in Thanet. I meet rough sleepers on a daily basis. Many people visiting our isle comment on the number of occupied doorways and individuals begging in the town centres. This is the visible homeless. I’m fighting to raise the profile of the […]
Thanet’s homeless need government action
There are a considerable number of local parents dealing with the impacts of homelessness in Thanet. As local authority housing stock has decreased and the number of private landlords who will not accept tenants on benefits increases, families are getting caught in calamitous housing scenarios. Homelessness in Thanet is on the increase. As a local […]
Happy Birthday to our NHS
I have been involved working in the NHS for about 25 years. My first job as a GMB union organiser in the East Midlands meant working in Kingsmill Hospital in Mansfield (among others) representing the cleaning staff. I was called in when the employees had been TUPE’d to a private cleaning company. In other words […]
Manston Airport is the sensible option for new social housing
Westminster officials have ruled that thousands of new homes must be built in Thanet. The question now is whether to build them on multiple sites around the isle, including on prime agricultural land, or to use the redundant site of the former Manston Airport. BBC Radio Kent were discussing this thorny issue this morning and […]
Armed Forces Day in Ramsgate
On Saturday I attended the Armed Forces Day service which was held near the seafront in Ramsgate. Along with the other Town, District and Westminster officials, and hundreds of locals and tourists, I watched current and ex-service personnel and young cadets parade from the Sailors’ Church to the obelisk near the Royal Victoria Pavillion. I […]
Appearing on Paul on Politics
It was a pleasure to accept another invitation to appear on KMTV’s political discussion show, Paul on Politics. On this edition we covered recent news topics including Theresa May’s announcement about additional funding for the NHS, the possibility of decriminalising cannabis, waste management in Kent and, of course, the football World Cup. With studio guests […]