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.
Liberal Democrats have achieved a higher vote share than in the General Election a year ago - coming ahead of the Labour Party for only the second time. The BBC projected national share of the vote:
If you were going to come up with a good working definition of a "bad news week", a diary from the Labour Party over the past few days would probable do it. A Labour Health Secretary being mauled by a nurses conference, the Home Secretary admitting to "losing track" of prisoners without considering them for deportation, and John Prescott. The less said about the latter, the better - it makes Season feel queasy.
