Cannes-Kent? Is Kent’s future filming rather than farming?

The 66th Cannes Festival closes this week with all the glitz and drama you’d expect.
If Kent’s glory days of 2006 haven’t been achieved again with the Jury Prize at Cannes for Andrea Arnold’s Red Road then that’s part of a thin showing overall for the British film industry with no UK films showing at Cannes.

Zero.

But last week’s review of Kent film locations in the Kent on Sunday highlighted blockbuster shoots such as Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean and even Les Miserables to sit alongside home-grown talent such as Orlando Bloom of Canterbury and Brenda Blethyn and Timothy Spall of Ramsgate.

Albeit with most of the locations being either Chatham Dockyard (can there really be that many naval films?) or Knole Park (best-known for the Beatles Strawberry Fields Forever, the first pop video or the Magical Mystery Tour film) holding the end up for Kent’s TV small-screen industry with its heritage of Broadstairs’ Bagpuss and recent productions such as Margate’s Exodus, Gypo and John Hurt in the spooky Whistle and I’ll Come to You.

Yet should more be done?

I think so, having invested heavily in the East Kent Film Office and Studio project with Expansion East Kent now awaiting sign-off, having run film marketing agencies with the likes of James Bond and Mission Impossible movies and FilmLondon.

And there’s a wealth of grass-roots activity whether it’s the Canterbury Film Festival, the 28 Days of horror and film courses at Kent University all tapping into the rich film heritage in East Kent of A Canterbury Tale, and Powell and Pressburger’s Contraband.
Even Dreamland amusement park and its cinema is on the brink of resurrection, still fondly remembered for shoots such as Only Fools and Horses, along with newer long-term enterprises such as the Paramount theme park in North Kent.

Clearly these aren’t happening despite newer structural initiatives such as Kent TV or Kent Film Office – it’s some years since I had to turn down a Board role there. Yet the closure of the Film Council in London has been a retrograde step, even more so, at a time when the BFI is now emphasising regionalism in film. And hopefully not just a pale imitation of the Whitehall out of Whitehall strategy of, say, the BBC relocating to Salford.

But there’s a deeper hampering of film shorts and advertising via the COI closure, or the Advertising Museum languishing in the doldrums, or the painfully slow roll-out of broadband and wifi that has slowed the creative industries particularly and wider Kent economy unnecessarily.

A tighter lens on East Kent to generate film heat and light is required.

Earlier this month for example the CEBR/UKTI released an excellent report on the value of the creative industries to the UK economy. If public investment too often counts as selling guns to Arab dictators or another Tarmac Glory Project, then the film, advertising, television, videogames and arts represent an astonishing success story requiring just 0.1% of public spending, but generating 0.4% of national GDP.

An industry turnover of £12.4Bn and 110,000 jobs (some 0.45% of employment) plus double that number in indirect employment is higher than both the usual suspects of the arms industry and construction industry so favoured by government subsidy.

One particularly interesting statistic was that the arts add £26,817 of value to property in areas with high cultural diversity. And public investment develops creative properties such as War Horse from novel to stage to screen and back to stage again, as a form of creative recycling and certainty generating increased jobs and profits with every cross-arts cycle. Or there’s riskier arts ventures such as the staging of the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time now garnering Olivier awards, and fresh projects for the likes of Strange Cargo in Folkestone.

Perhaps more tangentially the report’s author banker, John Studzinki describes the arts in the globalisation race as developing critical thinking, creative problem-solving and communications skills. All linked to the bottom line and raw brass tacks of the UK economy highlighted by the Chancellor himself funding expansion at Leavesden for the plethora of new Star Wars films, animation and games franchises.

Increasingly perhaps the UK’s film industry will grow form its rather feeble cottage industry at present to a more substantial production arms benefitting, as the banks have done, from the benefits of time-zone, language and increasingly a 24/7 wired world.
Right now Kent will miss out of such a future.

Indeed we’re seeing the green shoots of recovery in East Kent with the Turner contemporary art gallery and plans for the Van Gogh Gallery as regeneration mechanisms. Too much of the activity though is broad-brush-stroke, one size fits-all-silver-bullet-wishful-thinking. Nothing beyond the Grand Projects has been done – and they stumble when the funding tap is turned off.

The Cannes and Kent analogy is certainly not untenable – the former was after all only a small village in 1947 in war-ravaged France seeking to stimulate the local economy. And fuller film activity could include deeper reliance on arts funding, for example Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives was the 2010 Cannes winner yet failed to gain a UK release at all.

While sure-fire movies at this year’s Cannes such as Michael Douglas and Matt Damon in Soderberghs’s Liberace biopic failed to gain studio funding in the USA. And the likes of Robert Redford now in All is Lost, were so hamstrung by the industry they developed that a separate strand of the Sundance Festival and roster of funding was required.

But is a full-blooded Kentish Hollywood viable with Tom Cruise hanging off Canterbury Cathedral in Mission Impossible 27? Or Bruce Willis in Die Hard 35 struggling to get home for Xmas after being locked in the gun cupboard at Maidstone Police HQ?

Probably not.

But Kent certainly should be at the front of the queue in LA and London – as well as the burgeoning film markets in India and China and East Asia. The established Busan and dynamic new-start Hua Hin Festivals have kick-started their film economies, with star-heat such as Ryan Gosling now debuting Bangkok noir at Cannes, in little more than a decade.

And a more realistic view would see an expansion of live TV and radio across say East Kent – like me are you bored if hearing “the news from Kent – today in Brighton” from the BBC as the news outlets consolidate?

A hardly inspiring world-view for those young Kent citizens that don’t want to plough a field, or tarmac it.

It’s time for lights, camera and action for East Kent.

Tim Garbutt is the Managing Director of Sincerity Agency in East Kent: www.sincerityagency.com and Patron of the Surin Village School Charity.

Dambusted.

Why Kent ignores the Dambuster heroes for their 70th anniversary?

The Dambusters Raid still seems incredible with its 70th anniversary today just gone, and yet the shame of its Kent connections going unrecognised.

With all of Europe occupied by Nazi Germany, and, in the lull of the airwar between the Blitz bombings on London and Kent airfields and the V1 and V2 rockets attacks on London and Kent, the Dambuster Raid of Operation Chastise on three dams in the Ruhr in May 1943 marked a quite extraordinary example of courage and innovation.

Nowadays a comical Carling Black Label ad or Shepherd Neame’s funny Spitfire ads and the Richard Todd film, now being remade by Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings fame, are the last few memories of the raid.

And the anniversary ignored in East Kent.

The Dambuster bouncing bombs were trialled off both the Broadstairs and Reculver coasts – designed to spin across the water, over torpedo nets, strike the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe dams and sink as depth charges to blow the dams open.

An almost unbelievable technical innovation matched only by daring if not suicidal flying skills.

With planes shot down over the Dutch coast both on the way out and on the way back, and 53 airmen out of 133, and 10 Lancaster bombers shot down the death toll was indeed high. Some planes were flying so low - even below treetop level! - and at night remember, that they were brought down by electricity pylons.

Yet the Mohne and Eder dams were successfully breached. The Sorpe dam remained largely intact – but after the spectacular heroism of nine attempted bomb runs in parallel to the dam by T for Tommy Lancaster bomber before successfully releasing its bombs.

10 bombing runs under fire at night over water and surrounded by steep mountains.

10.

The raid was so astonishing too in the medal haul: a Victoria Cross for Guy Gibson, just 24 years old – and no doubt UKIP would revel in his dog’s name today - and 10 Distinguished Flying Crosses amongst dozens of other medals. Even though the raid eventually turned out to be largely a morale-booster with some production of electricity restored within months and the dams rebuilt.

And yet, without the tragic necessity of total war, these raids would rightly be considered war crimes now – bombing dams was outlawed in the Geneva Convention in 1977. Along with the firebombing of Hamburg later that year and Tokyo over the following two years of the war – both raids even more damaging than the nuclear strikes on Japan - targeting the civilian populations became the main emphasis of the airwar.

Indeed the main casualties of 1,600 from the Dambuster floods were 749 Allied prisoners of war used as slave labour and the civilian German population. And perhaps equally of concern, even in this modern era of famine and UNMDG, was hundreds of acres of farmland put out of production until well into the 1950’s causing starvation in Germany and Netherlands, resulting in the formation of Oxfam amongst other charities.

And the legacy of the raid became the use of Tallboy bunker-buster bombs on the V1 and V2 rocket sites (and 1,000 bomber raid on Peenemunde and V1 factories), not dissimilar to the fuel-air bombs used on Taliban caves in modern day Afghanistan. As well as attacks on the V3 supergun sited near the French end of today’s Channel Tunnel (designed to bomb both Maidstone and London), and a forerunner of Saddam’s Scud strikes on Israel and planned Iraqi supergun.

While the heroism of the Dambusters may never be needed again, when the modern RAF is procuring 500 killer drones.

And over 349 push-button computer game drone attacks have taken place since 2008 in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen via spy drones from US airbases in Nevada and now RAF Waddington. The latter not so far from the 617 squadron airbase at RAF Scampton and Lancaster bombers of 70 years ago.

But what a shame that East Kent has confined its place in such an astonishing exploit to nothing – the heroism of the Dambusters is as ignored in its East Kent homeland as the Spanish Armada, Channel Dash heroes, or Dunkirk Little Ships

Toxic Three – now Two - and Dog in a Manger politics

They're dropping like flies. the Gang of Four gone. And now, after the KCC elections Alex King has been demoted from Deputy Leader.

So, the Toxic Three are now reduced to Carter and Wild: deliberately polluting Kent’s citizens with Infratil by removing the required monitors and ignoring the overflights by KLM and Cargolux now - and, previously banned aircraft.

Alex was previously the architect of the disasters of EUJet and KCCUSA so the chop was long overdue – but a new role of Chair of Policy Skills/HR which to some extent is the Deputy role.

The problem with politics as any doublehatter will know – is it’s hard to vote them out even when they’ve failed or are incompetent.

A mix of Buggins Turn of any old fool in the role and Dog in a Manger politics of preventing anyone else from doing the job, even if they’re more capable.

The rest of the KCC Cabinet is much the same – John Simmonds taking over as Deputy/Finance which is not ideal as he’s a supporter of the ridiculous KCC booze and guns and tobacco investments. These should have been divested long ago for investments in solar panels and Kent businesses.

Bright sparks like Mark Dance and Roger Gough have economy roles and there are one or two new faces.

And of course the main change will be UKIP and Roger Latchford as Opposition Leader. Interesting how many of the UKIPs were surprised themselves at being elected – they were on holiday on election day!

Der Kolonel is of course also notorious in the Gang of Four of resigning after the racist Moslem jokes and covering up the Manston monitors, it’s appalling and brazen that he’s resurfaced. After many years’ service in the Army Latchford’s panzers have reached their Stalingrad on the Medway: a cursory review of their policies will be laughable over the next few weeks.

And no votes for poisoning your own citizens.

Little will be done by UKIP but the concern is their closet racism will colour debates in Kent. Already we’ve had the racist nonsense of 29M Romanians and Bulgarians supposedly arriving in Kent next year.

Westminster certainly doesn’t think so – as 29M would be the total population of Romania and Bulgaria (!). And having entered the EU in 2005 they already can and do live and work in UK – and Kent has the highest concentration of Romanians in Canterbury, studying as students and working and paying tax.

Little has been said of the whole population of Croatia moving to Kent when they join the EU next month as it’s not much of a scare story.

The real concern I have is the very real problem of pandemics for Kent as a border county. The UK Chief Medical officer has issued a TB warning with some outbreaks in Romania. These facts will be distorted and coloured as dirty foreigners etc. etc., driving the problems underground.

When we need people at risk of epidemics to come forward and be vaccinated for everybody’s safety.

London is seen as the TB capital of Europe already.

While Kent, through the Pfizer/Discovery park site could be leading the way in regenerating the economy and ensuring safety as a strategic vaccine facility. From next year every child will be vaccinated with the flu vaccine for example. And Third World vaccine production is due to increase ahead of UNMDG2 in 2015.

While removing rabies restrictions at Ramsgate Port is inept and part of the changeover of Public Health roles from the NHS to Kent Council.

As Mayor and MP I will make sure these are prioritised.

From the RTC and TDC and KCC elections it’s clear Kent governance has collapsed into failure.

The new Mayor is simply part of the Buggins Turn and Dog in a Manger approach of the doublehatters crowding out any opposition through technicalities. I’m stumped as to how direct elections of Mayor are somehow not possible when they’re not forbidden under the constitution.

Or how a Mayor can be unanimously elected – without stating any policies.

Just the usual twist the facts to fit and backroom stage management.

No FOI – even after 8 years. Your tax is simply to prop up the civil servants to not actually do anything.
Ramsgate Port closed.
Pleasurama derelict.
Silence on Thor.
ModFire training fires on the aquifer.
Animal exports shifted to Dover.
The corruption of 0% salaries by Moores and McGonigal, and Infratil and ChinaGate and EKO – and coverup.
Pandemics as above, yet 3,000 jobs lost at Pfizer.
The destruction of the town centres with Westwood Cross.
No Climate Change policies at all – one brief highlight of the KCC election was the first-ever Green councillor for the Garden of England which will be the wave of the future: UKIP and Old Labour are simply of the past.

And worth mentioning some of the more dynamic civil servants with innovative water-embedded policies for ethical policies on water management with desalination plants rather than reservoirs on farmland.

But the proposed “Garden City” between Canterbury and Ramsgate of 15,000 extra houses (announced at midnight (!) on election day last week) is abysmal, undemocratic and pointless. Part of the usual developer’s charter to rape East Kent.

Dave Green the outgoing Mayor vaguely mentioned turning Albion House into a hotel then fell silent – no doubt anticipating the cramped council having to move back there and a review of the antiques/artefacts that seem to have been sold off.

And tree-planting needs fast-forwarding via schools with a tree for every adult planted: last week saw the highest ever CO2 concentrations recorded at 400ppm in Hawaii - carbon levels not seen for millions of years.

No Climate Change policies at all in Kent or even basic public safety such as tsunami sensors in the North Sea and English Channel and improved flood defences or sewer repairs leave the County adrift.

While with FTSE100 companies declaring over 8,311 subsidiaries in tax havens such as the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands and Jersey it makes Pleasurama look part of a pattern of tax avoidance ahead of the G8 Summit and astonishing KCC and TDC remain silent.

Yet, the reality is we could give the Duffers billions more in tax and almost nothing would be done.

With youth unemployment at 20% Thanet’s older generation have failed us.
Time for Change.

Garbutt4Mayor 2014 and Garbutt4MP May 2015 (or sooner if the elections are called earlier)

Time for Change

A slightly different look to future blog posts with these regular features updated:

1. Manston overflights

KLM and Cargolux – Buchanan and Pedro in the control tower are the problem
Write to them: here are their emails:
Charles.buchanan@infratil.com and peter.thompson@infratil.com
And a suggested draft email for you to amend/send:
Dear (xyz)
There are overflights by KLM and Cargolux. The latest was at (xyz). These are forbidden under the airport operating guidelines due to noise and air pollution and safety.
Please advise on fines, aircraft registration and pilot name details and how future overflights will be prevented.
Also water pollution from the Environment Agency requirement to clean up the site.
(your name)
A copy can be forwarded onto the CAA and Environment Agency.

2. J’accuse Scoundrels

A miscellany of scoundrels at KCC, TDC and RTC:
• Toxic Three: Carter, King and Wild – knowing of the pollution and monitors removal by Infratil they worked with them to try and gain £20M of further funding for 20 jobs, and the mysterious VisitKent £100k funding still not explained
• Roger Latchford: Gang of Four – missing air monitors when Deputy Leader at TDC and on KIACC public airport committee
• Everitt and Styles: RTC councillor and clerk – both dancing around the flimsy RTC audit and sign-off and salary costs from last year
• Moores and McGonigal: 0% salaries fraud: publicly stating 0% salary increases for Samuel and White of the Gang of Four – yet provided salary increases. The shtum payoffs still unknown.
• Ken Aids Gregory and Mike Shirtlifting Bint Harrison – just appalling councillors, why have they not resigned or been sacked. We can do without them.

3. Jobs! Jobs!! Jobs!!!

Don’t kid yourself there is an economic strategy for Thanet and job creation.

There isn’t.

Nothing.

The 24 hour cargo airport/ChinaGate/EKO/Road to Nowhere and Westwood Cross 4th town centre(!) were it.

Pleasurama and Dreamland are both derelict so nothing will happen for a year or two at the earliest. And then only a few dozen construction jobs initially.

Tourism has flatlined. Nothing is being done.

I need staff: paid and volunteers and office space for: MP campaign, East Kent Film Office and Studio awaiting KC signoff of funding and Pavilion.

I’m also interested in a CCU/KBS role and TEFL/CELTA at Churchill/KSE.

And working with Discovery Park/Pfizer and Kent Science Park and pharma companies.

The reality is nothing has been done. No jobs created and none to be created.

Ramsgate’s £17M council tax, TDC’s £60M tax and KCC’s £2.3Bn tax is simply wasted on hiring more and more civil servants to tell us there’s no money and nothing can be done.

And your councillors go along with it: better to do nothing and leave everything derelict in their last few years.

Time for Change

Manston. J'accuse.

J'accuse Infratil: Fitzgerald removing the required monitors from 2006 and Clarke and Buchanan continuing the lie of reporting pollution. Bring them back with Bogoievski and Baker for trial.

J'accuse TDC: assisting Infratil and covering up the lack of reporting and fines: McGonigal, Berry, Button and Sproates.

J'accuse the politicians of silence and complicity with Infratil: both MP's Sandys and Gale, the KCC Toxic Three and TDC Gang of Four, the Leaders of TDC and Chairs of the Airport Committees.

J'accuse KIACC: feeble control of public reporting on the pollution and Infratil and TDC's antics.

J'accuse Environment Agency: failing to enforce the required pollution standards and cleanup ignored by Infratil.

J'accuse Kent Police: failure to make the required arrests for endangering the public.

Time for Change.

Even now the water and air is polluted and there is no monitoring.

Even now there are illegal overflights by KLM and Cargolux.

J'accuse.

These are not mistakes.

Removing the detailed monitoring form a school and tower block and refusing to replace it.

Banned aircraft and overflights.

These are deliberate and calculated acts of pollution of the public to create an airport the size of Stansted by stealth.

And funded through public money.

A toxic mix of lies and corporate manslaughter over years.

They knew exactly what they were doing and now it's cover-up as much as possible to keep their salaries and pensions for as long as possible.

J'accuse.

Time for Manston to close and arrests at Infratil and TDC.

No runway. No buildings. No control tower. a field and the water supply underneath.

And jail sentences and fines.

The most blatant Kent pollution scandal ever.

J'accuse.

Time for Change.

Garbutt4Mayor 2014 and Garbutt4MP 2015.

Same old same old Duffocracy at RTC

Apparently the Mayor can only be elected by being elected by elected councillors. But they can’t elect members of the public. I didn't understand that either. Again Duffers world bumbles along on the rates.

So Dave resigned with warm words on inaction.

Nothing on Manston monitoring, fines and overflights.

Or Thor.

Or Pleasurama.

Or Port.

Then pre-arranged candidates and votes for Kim Gibson as Mayor – previously recommending a prison as an economic step forward for Ramsgate so we shouldn't expect too much.

I couldn’t see who was the new Deputy Mayor but very ceremonial for a ceremonial council so irrelevant, and didn’t wait for the farce of the accounts and Manston fines, Pleasurama contracts etc.

One for the Police eventually.

About 10 members of the public so mainly outnumbered by councillors and civil servants.

Unless you're over 60 it's not the council for you.

Almost all the councillors doublehatters with TDC, and TDC to blame for everything – they still don’t get that that’s them.

Oh well, another year wasted and another one to be wasted.

A tax strike and business rates strike always perks up the councillors: cancel your direct debits, pay it late, pay it wrong.

Ask for FOI on Manston fines and overflights and monitors.

Or allow the pollution and corruption to continue.

Shush.

Keep quiet.

Garbutt4Mayor - May 2014, and MP 2015 or sooner.

Time for Change.

Garbutt4Mayor 7pm RTC

Tomorrow (Wednesday 8th May) the Ramsgate Town Council Mayor election.

Time for Change.

Dave Green the current Mayor has resigned.

Time for Change.

The collapse of Ramsgate.

Time for Change.

Racist UKIP on the rise and return of the Gang of Four.

Time for Change.

Please turn up and vote for me.

Stop the Pollution. Stop the Corruption. Stop the Construction.

A Mayor for East Kent, East Europe and East Asia.

The pensioners have failed us: Thanet's worst generation.

Year Zero. Ground Zero.

Time for Change.

KCC: the corporate manslaughter, cancer and corruption election

Today’s your chance to vote on peripheral issues and faceless candidates.

If you do want to waste your vote then choose a non-Conservative candidate to reduce the KCC West Kent One-Party bias.

Or not vote and reduce the turnout.

Or spoil your ballot.

It’s up to you.

You can’t vote on Manston and Infratil and the air monitors removed – no candidate mentions it.

You can’t vote on the 0% salary fraud of senior civil servants – no candidate mentions it.

Nor top Temps staffing up on the rates.
Or Icelandic banks tax funds.
Or Thor mercury banned but open.
Or FOI of all salaries and expenses and staffing.
Or EKO.
Or the Labour Chinagate bungs.
Or Pleasurama BVI corruption.
Nothing.
So vote.
Pretend it’s a democracy.

Rather you’re electing Party fanatics to raise their hand when told to do so. Or with the MP’s like Sandys Party fanatics parachuted into a constituency to do as they’re told.

The main policy being increasing tax to pay for politicians and civil servants to tell you there’s no money to do anything.

And shtum payments for secrecy and coverup.

£200k salaries and no FOI even though it's been the law for 8 years. Because the civil servants want to keep the gravy train rolling while the wheels come off Kent.

A bit unfair on the hardworking politicians and civil servants - but there’s more than a grain of truth in it isn’t there. Especially in Kent.

Infratil run the council not you. Buchanan and Pedro do as they like and are funded by KCC and TDC. To pollute you. Even though they shouldn’t. It’s better to remove the monitors so there’s no pesky pollution data to contradict cancer jobs and tarmac projects on the rates.

Infratil deliberately polluted you. Even now. And your council helped them.

Shut up. Pay your tax. Vote. Do as you’re told.

Manston is corporate manslaughter. Infratil’s directors are so worried they’ve put the airport up for sale to reduce the risk of extradition.

KLM and Cargolux are deliberately and illegally overflying and polluting the towns.
HSE have denied any role in Thor even though they have site visits – they’re playing the blame game with the Environment Agency.

Southern Water are polluting with sewage spills and then passing claims to an insurance loss adjustor to reject them.

None of it mentioned for elections to Britain’s best council and £2Bntax-budget.

Shut up. Pay your tax. Vote. Do as you’re told.

Time for Change.

Time to close Manston.
Time to close Thor.
Time to close MODFire.
Time for full FOI.
And time for jobs.

The Kent economy has collapsed. Youth unemployment is 20% or higher – the worst ever.

Nothing has been done.

Nothing on Climate Change.

Nothing on Third World growth policies - when Britain has achieved perhaps its greatest policy since the abolition of slavery 200 years ago, by last week achieving 0.7% in aid. The first G8 nation to do so after 40 years.

Nothing on UNMDG after 13 years and 1,000 days to go.

Jobs! Jobs!! Jobs!!! Nothing. With £17M for the District and £2Bn for the county.

Nothing.

A Third World Thanet of stagnant democracy, corruption and failure.

I offered to take on the Pavillion years ago and open it and create jobs. I will.
I will create Poole’s Pool.
I will create the East Kent Film Office and Studio.
I will turf Pleasurama for the Summer.
I will bring a passenger ferry to the Port.
I will pedestrianize the seafront.
I will reform and reduce Ramsgate Town Council.
I will peg council tax to inflation.
I will publish full FOI for your scrutiny.
I will reclaim 0% salaries, EKO, Manston fines and bung money.

All these will create sustainable, productive jobs for you, your children and grandchildren. Not tarmac schemes.

You need to help though.

It's not easy.

We're at Year Zero. Ground Zero. The towns have died. It's worse than you think.

You need to help.

I need volunteers, staff and office space.

You need to stop paying your £17M Ramsgate council tax to TDC. Cancel the direct debits. Ring your bank today or go online and cancel it. That’s more useful than your vote today.

I'll open the RTC bank account and ask the Chief Constable to sign off every penny and publish it all online each month. Every penny.

No tax for poisoning your own citizens.

Your KCC vote for cancer and corporate manslaughter is wasted.

Time for Pentonville and the perp walk for Buchanan and Infratil.

No votes for poisoning your own citizens.

If they could have improved things they would have. They can’t, and they won’t.

They've failed.

Stop the Pollution. Stop the Corruption. Stop the Construction.

Time for Garbutt4Mayor: Wednesday 8th May.

Time for Change.

KCC corruption elections and Ramsgate Town Council: Garbutt4Mayor.

KCC elections? Silence on Manston and Pleasurama and 0% salaries. No public meetings. No policies.

So much for democracy. Fill in a form. Stay quiet, Hide behind the rosette. Get elected on a minimal turnout.

Don't vote. Don't pay your council tax. Pay it short. Pay it late. No tax for no democracy.

And Ramsgate Town Council and emergency meeting to sign off the accounts but exclude the public. The same manipulation through bureaucracy-bumf.

Don't attend.

If nobody supports them they haveno legitimacy.

And the Mayor ceremony next week withDave laready resigned.

Time for Garbutt4Mayor.

Time to stop the pollution, stop the corruption, stop the construction.

Your MP's and councillors and civil servants are corrupt and incompetent.

Time for Change.