The Liberal Democrats will today table a Bill to the House of Commons to introduce fixed parliamentary terms of four years. The measure, which represents long-standing party policy, comes after Gordon Brown ruled out holding a General Election this autumn, and described the possibility of a poll in 2008 as "very unlikely".
Dover Labour MP Gwyn Prosser's attack on the Conservatives, "MP slams Davis' plans to scrap ID card scheme", Kent on Sunday, 7th October 2007, were not entirely unexpected, but so very wrong. Gwyn was on the Home Office Working Party that dreamt up and planned the whole ID card scheme so he obviously backs "his baby" at every opportunity.
Where were YOU when you learned Brown had bottled it? For me, it was a text on Saturday afternoon Vice Chair Neil Matthews which caused me to jump for the remote: "Have you seen the news? GE". Thanks for that Neil - my pulse will one day return to normal. I guess.
Royal Mail has said that there will be no post for a week from 4 October following a series of strikes by the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) over pay, pensions and modernisation. The The 48 hour strike starting yesterday at noon will be followed by another two-day stoppage from 3am on Monday.
The South East England European Candidate Selection Hustings Meeting meeting scheduled for Eastleigh, Hampshire this Saturday (6th October) has been cancelled.
The BBC reports that a British Army soldier has been killed and two others injured in an explosion in southern Afghanistan. The soldiers, serving with the 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles were returning to base at Kandahar Airfield when the blast happened.
Shepway Council Chief Executive Alistair Stewart has announced that Shepway Corporate Director for Planning and the Environment, Jeff Stack, has been offered and accepted the post of Director of Environmental Services at Broxbourne Borough Council in Hertfordshire.
Liberal Democrat MEP for Folkestone & Hythe, Sharon Bowles, has today called on the government to reverse its policy of post office closures across the county. Her remarks came as the Post Office announced its first wave of branch closures, with 58 Kent Post Offices - including 5 in Folkestone and Hythe - earmarked for the axe.
Kent Police are appealing for help identifying a group of youths who assaulted and hurled abuse at a street cleaner in Folkestone. The 62-year-old broke his arm when he was pushed over by one of the yobs on the zig zag path near The Leas on Friday 28 September.
Post Office plans to axe 2,500 Post Offices by the end of 2008 came home to Folkestone and Hythe today as they announced the first 180 Post Offices to face closure. Of those, FIVE are in Folkestone and Hythe, adding to the TEN lost in the last 8 years.
A group of Folkestone Town Councillors have taken action to shame Shepway Council into maintaining and cleaning its litter bins in the centre of Folkestone. Despite repeated requests to Shepway Council, the stainless steel bins in the main pedestrianised shopping centre have not been properly cleaned seemingly since they were installed, and were covered in grime, cigarette ash, stickers and worse.
From 1 April 2008, Kent Police will charge for the majority of events, which require police presence, in line with guidelines set out by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).
