Time for Change: Campaign for an Independent Green Thanet MP and Ramsgate Mayor

Our MP's Roger Gale and Steve ladyman both cliam that Thor mercury is safe and water pollution from Thor, Sericol and Infratil is our fault for tipping paint or oil down the sink. The fire at Thor in 2007 was claimed by Roger and the Police as off no danger and simply "close your windows". Thor in Margate closed in 1988 after health and safety concerns over poisoning workers, neighbours (Thor Margate sits next to a business park and housing estate and main road) and the water table. 20 people were subsequently poisoned in Africa and Thor closed in 1994 in Cato Ridge. Thor Margate still operated until last year. Confirmation of chemical storage and water pollution rests with the Environment Agency. What has been going on for 20 years? Below is an extract from the United Nations (UNEP and WHO) mercury report in Bangkok 2007. As you can see there is no safe dosage level (droplets can kill): as breathed in or passed onto the skin or drunk from the water or eaten from fish, it...

Some interesting facts from the Aerotoxic website on contaminated crew and passengers within aircraft – as detailed to Parliament. Worth remembering that the site: www.aerotoxic.org deals with contamination only inside the aircraft – you must use your imagination as to the effects of aviation fuel and chemicals on people on the ground around airports. Well you don’t need to as the symptoms for exposure are detailed below and many reports are available from US and Europe on the death rates around airports – as you’d expect breathing aviation fuel vapour is not good for your health. Especially children, the elderly and infirm. No doubt soon TDC and Infratil will be confirming exactly why noise and air monitors were removed from the tower blocks and schools in Thanet and where the much-promised mobile monitors to situate them in the towns as aircraft fly at low level are. And exactly what forecasts of the impact of 30 night flights or more as promised by Planestation and higher forecast f...

Thanet’s polluted water: MP’s misinformation and failure The Environment Agency is clearly struggling with the problems of their own making: "The Environment Agency last week revealed a 20-year plan to improve the water quality, which it says is “lower than we would hope.” The groundwater, which forms part of the drinking water supply, contains a variety of nitrates, pesticides and solvents, although the agency insisted there was “absolutely no risk” to human health. Experts said that while previous industrial accidents had exacerbated the problem, much of the contamination was caused by local people disposing of harmful substances like white spirit or engine oil incorrectly." No mention of the real problems: # Thor mercury: no clean-up in 20 years since the site supposedly closed in 1988 # Sericol: 500 tonnes of industrial solvent lost to the water table: the equivalent of about 4,000 oil barrels of chemicals # Infratil: deliberately allowing the drainage of aviation fuel ...

Paul Carter Leads Kent County Council and works with all the other public bodies and agencies on the public's behalf as funded from Westminster and Council tax. In the run-up to the County elections here's a selection of policies to date: 40% public sector economy KCC the County’s largest employer No inward investment of any size Failure to reform defunct councils like Thanet and Dover KCC bonuses and pay rises Thames Gateway: stalled No reform of KCC structures Margate centre: burned down Turner: 10 years for work to begin Pleasurama: derelict Infratil: breaching all safety guidelines and polluting a UNESCO Bay Thor mercury poisoning China Gateway failure Manston cargo airport: failure, water pollution and public endangerment Lydd airport: see Manston Rochester airport: see Lydd Boris Island airport: see Rochester Cliffe airport: see Boris Island SaveWye-Imperial: failed Margate: burned down Sericol: 500 tonnes chemical water pollution Pfizer: cutbacks Glaxo: closure Grupo Ant...

As if by magic the Labour manifesto for the County elections appears. Good. Tony Flaig has managed to fend off the attentions of Geoff Wild the Kent County Censor to obtain one manifesto. With 8 weeks to go. No sign of the Tory or LibDem or other manifestos. Now the details of the Labour manifesto. Most of it’s general flannel: “working with the Labour government”: I take that for granted as I think most people would. “Better education, lower crime”: as opposed to the alternative? Worse education, higher crime? Not worth the paper it’s printed on as a policy. A few “not invented here” policies - good "yah boo" stuff: cancelling Kent TV and the Local Boards and replacing them with the same but with a different name. What a waste of time and effort now these have been created instead of reforming and improving them: where is the detail on the alternatives? Some interesting points: scrapping Kent Healthwatch: a cost of £400,000! For an existing call centre! I contacted them over...

News of the official complaint for Tony McNulty's expenses claims as a Minister must surely provide greater reform of the system. Surely Messrs Gale, Ladyman and Sandys will step forward and sign up to the electoral refoms I will implement as MP: * full disclosure of all expenses - with receots: none of this "no receipt up to £250" business * full disclosure of staff and office costs: none of this "all lumped together " business * no family member employed: when did representignthe public become a family business? * an MP "annual report": successes and fasilures from the region and Westminster: who knows what Messrs Ladyman, Sandys and Gale think or do - expecept the decline of our towns * an open diary: all meetings listed and displayed for full transparency: too many MP's spedn their time with lobby groups or other MP's * all additional costs/expenses detailede: none of this "vouchers for John Lewis kitchens" business In short full...

Good to see Roger Gale MP meeting with the Commonwealth MP’s from Kenya and other parts of Africa. Let’s hope they provide aid and democratic support to Margate. “Your town burned down Mr Gale? You had 2M tourists when you became MP but it’s now none? And your council is one of the worst in Europe? Thor has poisoned the water table and workers with mercury? How can Kenya help?” Surely Roger should be calling an emergency regeneration conference in Margate and drafting in KCC? Why is Thor mercury Margate still not cleared up under Roger’s watch? Has Roger given up? With the failure of the Gang of Four it looks as though he has. A council tax strike seems the only way forward given the massive failures of Coastal Kent: decades of under-investment, corrurption and plain incompetence. I've no doubt that Roger is a good constituency MP but the political failuire and regeneration failure from the Party machine in his constituency is clear to see. The old guard is changing in Thanet: Stev...

Council tax strike: you might want to think about the Audit Commission responsibilities on ensuring good Governance, value for money and general proper use of public funds. http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/complaints/whistleblowing.asp Rare I know at TDC. But there’s the document and telephone contact and email for reporting any misused of public funds (or time). A couple spring to my mind: # closing museums: no manifesto item # ChinaGate: where is the £25,000 developers donation: is that being returned top the public? # Margate burning down # Ramsgate’s seafront buildings falling down # Noise and air monitoring at Manston: the Gang of Four’s Samuel and White tell us there is since 2005 but can’t actually confirm what # Salaries, allowances and pensions # Disabled budget double glazing for council offices # Years and decades of deprivation and failed policies # Thor mercury poisoning # Infratil pollution into the sea and the aquifer under the airport # 500 tonnes of industrial solve...

And sack the other two in the Gang of Four on your way out. Remaining in power now is simply impossible. A Failed Council. Failed Leaders. Failed policies such as ChinaGate. Endangering public health with ManstonGate and Thor and Sericol. Resign. A council tax strike is necessary. I advise the public to stop paying council tax in a campaign of civil disobedience: * cancel direct debits * delay cash payments. * delay then post council tax payments with unsigned cheques. As MP I will enforce a council tax and business rates rebate for years and decades of failure. Our councillors, civil servants and MP's have failed us. Sack them and begin a council tax strike as part of my Parliamentary election manifesto. Our sheep-MP's remain silent. I call on them to adopt the electoral reform policies: Policy #6. As MP I will provide "open book" reporting on MP salary, expenses and allowances. Our current MP's have nearly £100,000, with payments for wives and family, for repres...

You have to wonder don't you: * the most underperforming Council in Britain * Standards Boards nonsense from two of the Gang of Four instead of policy to improve the area * domestic tourism with its greatest potential in 30 years and no TDC policies * disastrous town centre and seafront management: buidlings burning down and falling down * TDC policy failuire: unanimous votes for dodgy ChinaGate: not a brick laid and £25,000 mislaid * ManstonGate: sheep-councillor votes * Ignoring the water pollution by Infratil with 106 fines of a DVD player * Richard Samuel and Brian White of the Gang of Four allowing the removal of noise monitors and fudging air monitoring * Thor mercury pollution and no clean-up except in Africa * Sericol 500 tonnes of pollution * silence from our sheep-MP's The social contract is broken. Failure and 72% of council tax sent to Maidstone and the £2B KCC. As MP I'll call for a council tax rebate and reductions for failure for the years and decades of disa...

A round-up of various points today: 1. The Standards Board and Gang of Four. What childish behaviour and waste of public time and funds. Silly of all concerned when a proper apology would have done. 2. The Standards Board: used incorrectly in Thanet as part of childish name-calling and politicking. Councillors refusing to comment on the issues they’re elected on for the people they serve. Bureaucracy, waste and childishness. The Standards Board is designed for major breaches and proper corruption not this pointless jockeying for position. Wasting time and effort in improving Thanet. One of the most deprived areas in Western Europe. 3. Policy #1: Sack the Gang of Four. It’s good Roger Latchford is offering his resignation. It should be accepted with good grace, and Sandy’s too. I hope Roger and Sandy will serve the council and area in other ways. I already seek their support for the Legion Free Town and the Surin Village School Charity and many others would seek their commitment and ind...

Politics should be representing and safeguarding the public and providing fair and open debate. Too much now is simply funding the political parties that are already well-funded by the State – or public already. And covering over failure and incompetence. In the name of ther Party Machine. A return to early Nineteenth century politics of the affluent and well-educated excluding the majority. With the Party Machine, badly, substituting for the affluent and well-educated. After 100 years Labour has now achieved its aims and lost its way. The Tories are still trying to recover from the radicalism of the Thatcherite era and Nasty Party policies. The LibDems do a bit of everything. The Civil Service is overpaid, ineffective and slow. The Quangos and Civil Service expansion or the Serco-isation of the civil service are a symbol of this failure. The purpose of a small and efficient civil service providing social policies for the public and scrutinised by the public’s elected officials has be...

A bit of miscellaneous stuff today in a round-up: * Manston airport: the Gang of Four allowing repeated noise and air pollution. There seems the bizarre idea that noise may Ramsgate only but that the downdraft of aviation fuel doesn't affect the whole of East Kent. Hence the "political" decision to switch flights from Ramsgate to Herne Bay as the noise and air pollution complaints rise. And removing the noise and air monitors from the towns: no data no problem. The seriousness of aviation fuel pollution hardly needs spelling out but a long article at the end of this post from Caroline Lucas MEP who spoke in Ramsgate with AirportWatch in December on Manston and Infratil: the article is about the dangers to the few hundred passengers INSIDE a jumbo jet as contaminated air is fed back into the plane. Scale that up to the hundreds of thousands of people in East Kent. And Lydd. And Rochester for Kent's cargo airport policy. Lot of pollution. Lot of early deaths. I've b...

See post below for latest info on a seminar in Ashford by the Environemnt Agency to debate the water poisoning - for the next 15 years. Unbelievable after 20 years already. Silence from our councillors, MP's and civil servants. KCC think it's not their problem. TDC aren't sure and the Environment Agency weren't sure but know it will take a long time. Did Thor not close down in Margate? Here's a news artcile from 1997(!) on the Africans who died when Thor was closed down in 1993: A British multinational chemical company has agreed to pay pounds 1.3m in compensation to 20 South African workers who were poisoned by mercury. Four of the black workers have died and a number of the others are suffering severe brain and other neurological damage. The workers had accused Thor Chemicals Holdings, of Margate, in Kent, of adopting working practices in South Africa which would not have been allowed in Britain. Yesterday's landmark settlement, which followed the filing of cl...

I had a quick email invitation last night(!) for a presentation and discussion by the EnvironmentAgency on Monday(!) in Ashford(!) on Thanet's(!) water supply. I won't be attending at short notice - but shouldn't it be held in Thanet so the tea and coffee and water can be drunk from the same supplies as the rest of the public? Shouldn't the Taste Test along with scientific data be the EA's proof? And where are TDC and KCC on Toxic Thanet: Sericol, Thor and Infratil? Last week the EA "suggested" an update for TDC: no response as yet. No protection of the public and clearly with Infratil all safety standards have been waived to prop up 100 jobs and avoid another political failure like Grupo and all the other failed regeneration programmes. I drink the water here but it's not recommended. Infratil and Manston built on top of the drinking water supply. Broken radar, noise monitors removed: if the politicians want to let the airport remove all the safety ch...

Honeyballs and Ladymanballs. I’ve been rather taken aback at the messages of support and encouragement for Independent MP. Like most people in Thanet I knew the council and MP’s were failing the public and it just seems to be of a depth of discontent that I’ve never heard of in Britain. It’s not like this in other regions. Thanet is in the bottom 10% of councils and deprivation in UK. After decades. Suspending council tax and rebates seems sensible if a region is completely failed with no plan for improvement as at Thanet. We have a complete failure of the politicians and senior civil servants in Thanet. Now in the run-up to the MEP and Town Council elections in June, the politicians are stirring looking for “good news” hence sudden announcements of ferries and so on. Thor has taken me off track a little from policy - with almost 20 years of failure to prevent mercury poisoning of the soil and water. And not a peep pout of our councillors or civil servants. As with ChinaGate. As with M...

MP's latest Gazette article summary: "Everything's great. Everyone else is rubbish. It wasn't me it was someone else". With a 700 majority one of the lowest in the UK after 10 years. Steve Ladyman's final weeks and months descend into failure. Will our lame duck MP not resign and go to the electorate? The ChinaGate £25,000 remains unpaid to the public for their land. The Tesco bag of receipts is unopened. Harbour blocked at a seaside town. Aviation fuel pollution on the beaches. Mercury pollution in the soil and water. Buildings falling down. Margate burning down. Silence from Laura Sandys. The party machines collapse. Failed. Failed . Failed. Time for Change.