Go Whites!

Congratulations to Dover Athletic on becoming Ryman League Division One South champions.

Winning the league was a tremendous feat and a great success for the club and our community. I was personally overjoyed to see the team lift the cup recently following the Sittingbourne game and take it for a well deserved walk around the pitch! The team deserve the highest praise for their great effort and the brilliant result.

Yet congratulations are also due to everyone at the club who helped achieve victory. Not least the club's board. The long, near 4 year, march back from relegations and financial problems didn't just happen by chance. It happened because of the unity of purpose shared by everyone at the club from the board downward. This I saw for myself attending the presentation dinner at the Ramada.

The Whites are so fortunate to be so well supported. There are regularly over 1,200 supporters in the Dover terraces. With this kind of support, the team can only go from strength to strength. Go Whites!

Gordon Brown's 10p tax con

Last week the Government made a "U Turn" on the abolition of the 10p tax band. Except . . . it's all a massive con!

The rebels (who include Dover's MP Gwynfor Prosser) have been duped by Gordon Brown and the Government. In the Dover constituency the estimated 5,000 losers are reduced to 3,000 losers only. It's a disgrace that 3,000 of our poorest neighbours will still lose out. Especially when real local earnings have been falling and the cost of living rising.

Who would have thought that a Labour Government would cut taxes for the rich and raise taxes for the poorest?

Carnival Selection Day

Today I attended the carnival selection. This is, clearly, a risky thing for anyone, anywhere near politics to go!! However, it was great fun and I had the wonderful Mandie Sehmbi to look after me, as you can see.

A particular congratulations to Marek whose lovely daughter (left photo) was chosen as a carnival rose.

Meeting the A258 Action Group

The A258 road from Dover to Deal is a disgrace. For years it has been a serious danger and nothing has been done about it. Lots of warm words, no action. So I arranged for the families who have lost loved ones on this dangerous road to meet Theresa Villiers MP, Shadow Transport Secretary.

It was a really good meeting. I learned a lot. The families were so passionate and sincere. They fight, not for themselves, but so that other families do not suffer the loss they have suffered. That's real compassion. I was greatly moved and will do all I can to help.

Elvington surgery

Residents of Elvington and Eythorne have been concerned about their GP services for some time. Today the primary care trust held a public meeting to discuss what should be done.

The views of residents were represented with great strength by District Cllrs Jennifer Record (pictured right) and David Lloyd Jones along with Parish cllr Reg Hansell (middle). Hopefully we shall see some action and I will keep monitoring the situation.

6,722 Dover & Deal households risk repossession say experts

So says Experian, the credit rating experts. 6,722 households in Dover & Deal have poor credit ratings and are "at risk" of falling behind on mortage payments or repossession.

The evidence shows that as the credit crunch bites, mortgage rates are rising sharply, mortgages are harder to find and property prices across the UK are falling at their sharpest rate for 30 years.

The Government needs to act quickly before it is too late. They need to help get people access to mortgages and better rates. Otherwise we will see what is currently worry turn into a real house price slide. One person I spoke to in Deal last week told me they had a mortage offer at a nearly 10% interest rate. I nearly fell off my chair.

The financial system is complicated - but the Government should follow the advice of Shadow Chancellor George Osborne and allow banks to sell mortages to the Bank of England in return for Government bonds. That would enable banks quickly to get hold of more cash and start lending again - at better rates. The Government also needs to do more to help the least well off. Now is the time to save the 10p rate of tax, not raise taxes on the least well off as planned.

Labour increase taxes on the poorest

Figures show that millions of the UK's poorest people will pay more in tax as a result of the scrapping of the 10p rate band. The Government has confirmed that 5.3 million will lose out under the changes - over 5,000 of whom live in Dover & Deal.

I was delighted to see that Dover's Labour MP signed a Parliamentary Motion opposing the changes. Yet to make a real difference he will need to vote against the tax change itself. It will come to Parliament for a vote shortly.

The poorest in our communities are already hard pressed by rising prices and the credit crunch. There just isn't the room to pay even more tax. I urge Mr Prosser follow his instincts and stand up for hard working people in Dover & Deal when it counts by voting against this unfair and unjust measure.

Housing in Whitfield

Meeting with the Whitfield Action Group impressed on me how concerned people in Whitfield are about the proposals to build thousands of houses locally. And rightly so. The Whitfield we know and love could be ruined. Sunk into a characterless New Town.

We know that if more than 8,000 new homes are built in our area, it will be Whitfield that bears the brunt. Any plan for over 10,000 houses is likely to seriously impact Whitfield. Of course, we all support regeneration, more jobs and money locally. We know that could mean new homes. Yet new homes should be built only when really needed - according to actual demand rather than a plan. The worst possible result would be for the Whitfield we know and love to be lost, with little gain for our local economy.

I think Whitfield works. It has a sense of community most places can only dream about. People are engaged and involved in what goes on locally. It would be a shame to lose all that in a soulless New Town. We have seen excessive development across the South East in recent years. We are sinking into a sea of concrete and congestion. East Kent is wonderful - yet is threatened with ending up like the rest of the South East. Right now, we have a lot of quantity of life and quality of life. I think that quality of life is worth preserving.

Labour MP backs Post Office Closures

The closure of so many Post Offices has been a tragedy for our community. I and the local Conservatives fought the closure programme tooth and nail.

Dover's Labour MP, Gwynfor Prosser, claimed he was against the closures too. So what exactly was he doing voting in favour of the Government's closure programme? It's very disappointing that he didn't back the community - and even more disappointing that he seems to say one thing to constituents and do another thing in Parliament. It doesn't seem a very straight thing to do.

Local wages fall £1,000 in five years

Local wages have fallen in real terms by £1,000 in five years. Our wages now lag Kent and the UK.

Official figures from the Office of National Statistics show that wage earners living in Dover & Deal have fallen behind by £2,000 a year compared with Kent and the UK in the last five years.

To my mind, these shocking figures result from the Government's failure to invest locally, failure to provide our community with its fair share and that this is taking a toll on local wages.

In 2002, the average local wage was £17,900 - the same as for Kent as a whole and almost £1,000 more than the then UK average of £16,964. In 2007, the average local wage was £19,000 - while Kent has shot up to £21,000 and the UK leapfrogged us to £20,000. Real local wages, after adjusting for inflation, have fallen from £20,500 to £19,000, a stand of living fall of over £1,000 since in five years.

This is a matter of real concern to me. For too long there has been underfunding locally. We need a fairer share of investment to take us forward. This is why we need urgently the road upgrades that should have happened 10 years ago. This is why Dover Council's regeneration plans are so important. This is why we need a change from talk to action and delivery. No-one should doubt how serious things are. We absolutely have to move Dover & Deal back into the fast lane.