Even before the removal of the Winter Fuel Payment, Marie Curie estimated 68,000 retirees die in poverty each year.
News and opinion
![Archive image of adults in a life drawing class](https://karen4labour.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/story_head_Karen_KCC_adult_education_cuts_120724_1920x600-750x410.jpg)
No more KCC funding for adult education ‘leisure’ courses
This week I have slammed Kent County Council’s cuts to funding for adult education in the arts.
![A picture of three delegates at TUC Women's Conference](https://karen4labour.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/story_head_karen_TUC_women_conference_1920x600-750x410.jpg)
Attending TUC Women’s Conference
I was privileged to attend the TUC women’s conference on the 6th – 8th of March at Congress House London.
![Montage image of an air freight Boing 747 and the Ramsgate skyline.](https://karen4labour.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/story_head_Karen_BBCRadioKent_Manston_Airport_080224_1920x600-750x410.jpg)
Do we need Manston Airport?
Campaigners against the redevelopment of Manston into an air cargo hub have won the right to appeal an earlier decision that gave the green light to developers.
![A view of the BBC TV studio in Kent](https://karen4labour.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/story_head_karen_Politics_South_East_140124_Adoption_Apology_1920x600-750x410.jpg)
Border chaos, forced adoption and Gatwick expansion
In November last year the BBC asked whether I’d appear again on Sunday Politics South East. I said I would, as long as they covered forced adoption, a topic close to my heart.
![Class 395 Southeastern train interior with very few passengers at Thanet Parkway](https://karen4labour.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/story_head_karen_Thanet_Parkway_300_passengers_per_day_090923_1920x600_v3-750x410.jpg)
Thanet Parkway: 300 passengers a day for £35m?
Thanet Parkway station only has 300 users per day. I have long maintained that this station is quite simply in the wrong location and that Thanet didn’t need yet another station.
![A picture Thanet Parkway railway station with a train at platform 1](https://karen4labour.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/story_head_karen_Thanet_Parkway_Opening_310723_1920x600-750x410.jpg)
Thanet Parkway Station. A dangerous white elephant.
Thanet Parkway railway station opened this morning. At a cost of at least £45 million and rising – the final bills aren’t in.
![Seeing Red story header image](https://karen4labour.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Seeing_Red_Story_Header_750x410.jpg)
Seeing Red: If you think it is bad now…
Seeing Red is my regular column in The Isle of Thanet News. This opinion piece was first published on December 6, 2022.
![A thank you NHS sign in a window](https://karen4labour.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/story_head_NHS75years_050723_1920x600-750x410.jpg)
Marking the 75th birthday of our NHS
Today we celebrate something important, something that we all share in common. It’s the 75th birthday of our NHS. Happy birthday!
![Seeing Red story header image](https://karen4labour.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Seeing_Red_Story_Header_750x410.jpg)
Seeing Red: Manston excess food pile – what a waste
Seeing Red is my regular column in The Isle of Thanet News. This opinion piece was first published on December 6, 2022.