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

2016 as you probably know now heralds the start of the SDG Sustainable Development Goals though to 2030. The challenge isn’t so much achieving the SDG goals as how fast they can be achieved. And it is fitting that Thailand as 2016 Chair of the UN G77 Group (essentially every nation except EU, Russia and USA – so a powerful development bloc within UN) has called for an emphasis on Climate Change and Disaster Reduction. On the latter we’ve seen in just the last few weeks, massive Winter storms in New York, an earthquake in Taiwan and typhoon in Fiji. Both issues are important given the continued impact of Climate Change – not just the hottest year ever (again), but now the warmest and wettest ever December in UK. And also one of the coldest ever Winters in East Asia and a drought in Thailand. While Philippines is facing yet another battering of over 20 storms this year from the El Nino weather system. #G77 Reform Opportunity. Surely a mix of military procurement on cargo hel...

Having read the annual letter from Bill and Melinda Gates a few things are surprising. https://www.gatesnotes.com/2016-Annual-Letter Simplifying it down, the letter emphasises achieving energy ie solar power for Africa (Bill) and time ie women’s rights (Melinda), as the superpower they would like. On the last point of women’s rights, with Saudi Arabia the last nation of any size to now allow women the vote (where elections can be held apart from the one party states and dictatorships, or the last few equal opportunities nations such as UAE or Brunei where nobody can vote) surely women’s rights are a women’s problem? Don’t get me wrong I’m not arguing that either there aren’t gender equality issues such as women’s representation in parliament (only c.20% in UK) or on large corporate Boards (almost all the FTSE 250 only now with at least one female director) or equal pay for the same job. Or even issues such as Female Genital Mutilation, again mainly in Africa, or child marriage...

The Kent Police guncops increase is rather peculiar. Not just the knee-jerk random increase -requested by the Home Office- of all guncops throughout the UK by 50% after the Paris Attacks. But peculiar in that Kent has no major population centres and few attractions to compare to a Paris-style terror attack. Peculiar too that the police response to random attacks on a rock concert or newspaper office or café was not criticised and - apart from a cop on every corner - is not preventable. Peculiar too that Kent Police already has c.80 guncops so one wonders what the extra 37 cops will be doing? Sat in a van tooled up and ready to go somewhere in Kent? An hour’s notice? Or spread out across the existing 21 police stations – so of little extra use? If anything it’s a vote of no faith by central government in the existing 80 guncops and terrorist policies. And very peculiar that this 3.4% council tax increase: £5 for every Kent household was rushed through over Xmas with no full ...

Tim Garbutt has announced his candidacy and manifesto to replace Ann Barnes as Police and Crime Commissioner of Kent in the 5th May 2016 PCC election. Tim said: “Clearly after 15 years of Ann Barnes as PCC and the appalling laughing-stock Channel 4 documentary, Kent needs a change. But the main political parties provide no basis for such change: LibDems and Greens are unable so far to even bother to field candidates. While Labour have only just announced another party robot for the Buggins Turn politics that infects Kent. And neither Leaky Borders Bolton of UKIP with his Midas Touch in Reverse for frontiers, nor the Invisible Tory robot have been heard of before or since announcing their candidacy way back in November. Or there’s weirdo candidates such as Fergus Wilson calling for fines for immigrants…when such fines already exist… and likening them to cattle shows how far Kent has fallen. While the bizarre English Democrats are attempting to out-racist UKIP with a fear of...

Khun Sutapa Amornivart, EVP and Chief Economist at Siam Commercial Bank, wrote wisely and well in yesterday’s Bangkok Post article on why mega-investment projects are required in Thailand: http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/840904/mega-investment-is-no-longer-a-choice The macro-economics of the US Federal Reserve, Nikkei and Chinese trade aside, the deeper and specific concerns detailed for the Thai economy are real: reduced Asian exports, drought along with the new cold snap, plus reduced prices for commodities such as rice, and rubber, and so on. Transport megaprojects (3TN THB combined) are the shot in the arm the Thai economy needs to avoid softer growth. And rather than a mere bubble of liquidity, if managed well, the longer-term investment should provide the stable, peaceful and prosperous growth Thailand and ASEAN needs. The glittering, world-class, success of both Bangkok’s SkyTrain and the MRT underground show the way. Almost ending the nightmare BKK traffic ...

Essex police seem to be trying to outdo TDC in being featured in Private Eye. This week they’re cited for covering up the murder (denied since 2002) of Lee Balkwell it seems he was concussed with a stun gun(!) then crushed by a cement mixer(!) on a farm linked to guns and drugs. Deny, deny, forensic evidence destroyed, deny, delay and then last October some 13 years later Essex Police quietly settled out of court agreeing on incompetence but denying corruption. Although one of the retired policemen then confirmed he was part of a corrupt circle of cops working with David Hunt described in High Court as an organised crime lord. All this hard on the heels last year too of the Same Essex Serious Crime Squad confusing the Goldfinger gangster murder of a shotgun wound to the chest…as a heart attack. Worth remembering the Essex Police serious crime dept is jointly organised with Kent Police… And this week TingTong Janice the UKIP MEP for South East cleared by Kent Police of fraud…...

The Nation opinion piece today on the need to safeguard and expand the critical Thai tourism industry was timely and excellent given the peak of the farang inbound tourism this month. Thailand’s aim of 30M tourist is similar to the UK – the latter the only non-Asian tourism group to increase in recent years: now almost 1m visitors to Amazing Thailand. An influx of British tourists that is equivalent to the population of the Rose City of Chiang Mai you mention – almost every month. And double the population of Phuket. And Britain’s tourist fans of Thailand voted with their feet and stayed - and actually increased - during the recent political troubles - as the Chinese and Russian tourists fled. And as the UN forecasts tourism as the #1 global industry of the 21st century - and in keeping with the importance to Thailand of over 19% of Thai GDP and 8% of the workforce you mention – then surely a UK-Thai Tourism joint venture would benefit both nations? At the very l...