The Liberal Democrat Home Affairs team today applied to renew their passports to prevent their details from being added to the ID cards database. Locally, Shepway Lib Dem Chair and Treasurer and Anti-ID Card campaigners, Tim Prater & Darren Briddock, have also applied to renew their passport in protest at the new ID card scheme.
Four prisoners are walking out of prisons without authorisation every day, new figures revealed today by the Liberal Democrats show. Over 13,500 prisoners have escaped, absconded or disappeared while on temporary release in the last 10 years.
Anti-ID Card campaigners have highlighted two separate issues this week which increase fears for the forthcoming Identity Card scheme. The identities of 13,000 civil servants have been stolen from Department of Work and Pensions databases by organised criminals, and around 600,000 documents have been reported lost or stolen by the Identity and Passport Service.
Sandgate Conservative Councillor Joy Macmillan has resigned from the Party in Shepway. Joy Macmillan announced she was to become an Independent councillor on Tuesday night following a Conservative group meeting. Shepway Liberal Democrat Councillors backed Joy Macmillan in her bid to remain as Deputy Chair of the Council for a second year, and praised her courage.
The Conservative MP and former minister for Bromley and Chislehurst, Eric Forth, has died having been recently diagnosed with cancer.
A report proposing the merger of Harcourt and Morehall Primary Schools and closure of Selsted CE Primary School has been presented to the School Organisation Advisory Board (SOAB) by the Area Education officer today. SOAB members have voted to put the report out to public consultation.
The White Lion Hotel in Cheriton, Folkestone was been cordoned off by armed police after an 18-year-old man was shot in the leg on Friday evening.
The Folkestone Herald reports that mobile speed cameras will be operating in Shepway next week. The vehicles will be in the district on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday week commencing 15th May.
The Local Education Authority is planning to put a proposal to Conservative Kent Council Council to "merge" Harcourt and Morehall Primary Schools in Folkestone onto the Morehall School site (effectively closing Harcourt).
Figures obtained under the Freedom of information Act by the Campaign Against the Arms trade (CAAT) showed Kent's local authority pension funds invested almost £9 million in arms manufacturers in 2005.
Many people will have seen TV reports about our spring and autumn conferences, but too many of our members are unaware that they can also attend, either for the whole conference, or just for a day.
Councillor Neil Matthews has become the new Mayor of Hythe. Neil was unanimously elected at the Annual Council Meeting on Thursday, 4th May 2006. Congratulations to Neil from all at Shepway Liberal Democrats.
