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

Clearly night flights at Manston is a very silly policy by one or two of our councillors and civil servants. Especially given their repeated 106 breaches. Equally silly are weekend overflights and the “loop” training flights for untrained pilots. With the highest lung cancer rate in Kent and the runway built on the drinking water, and air pollution drifting over the population of over 130,000 it’s very silly and very dangerous. Thank goodness the proposals are being double-checked. But what if there’s a crash? Scooping up the wet bits with a shovel and binbag? An apology? The new TDC cleaner, greener and safer strategy makes far more sense. Certainly in improving the inward-facing council itself. Reports, Policies, Payroll, Presentations, Meetings open and available. Maybe the old-style Party Machine has failed and a mix of Independents and Progressive Labour, Tory etc Parties are required. And more should be done. Regeneration has collapsed following ManstonGate, ChinaGate, SFP Pleasu...

Last time I looked Thanet’s and Kent Police (and Sussex and the Met) were paid from public funds. From, memory I thin it’s about 5% of council tax. Plus national tax. One of the strengths of the British Police is that they’re not a State force but of the people and for the people. We seem to have a culture of ”public sector partnerships” though. I don’t recall the council or fire brigade or anyone else having a partnership with the police. Only the public have a partnership with the police. And the Police serve the public. Uphold law and order. Without fear or favour. If someone’s stolen noise monitors or stolen or misused public funds or any other public sector crime then the Police should investigate. MP’s go to jail. Councillors go to jail. Civil servants go to jail. Councils approve public expenditure from Cabinet policies. And Committee polices and scrutiny oversight. Against manifestos. Against policies. Against the law. And ultimately public approval. 0% salary increases that a...

While the politicians bicker and rake over the ashes of their policies, the civil servants are slowly getting to grips with the dead of Thanet. The highest lung cancer rate in Kent. The most polluted water in the South East. Massive pollution scandals such as Infratil and Thor mercury. And now the beginnings of a policy from TDC: NI 120 The all-age all cause mortality rate 1,650 (estimate) TBA * TBA* TBA Of course this figure is “made-up” rather than estimated as it doesn’t contain any reference to NHS data or coroners reports. Looks too low to me. Yet in Thanet we die 11 years earlier from the usual Kent death rate of 81 years: a 14% shortfall. Even upwards of 30% given that only 4% of UK deaths are before the age of 45. So it’s clear that for the last 5 years and longer absolutely nothing has been done to reverse the death rate. And in fact policies such as removing noise and air monitors, expanding the airport and sitting on their hands have actually increased the death rate. A deat...

The current 106 is clear: no night flights between 11pm and 7am – the option to allow for KCC’s USA flights from 6am was dropped after KCC stopped supporting the airport. The 106 also states that fines are incurred for noise. And other breaches of the 106: overflights, training flights etc. Infratil even changed the training flights guidelines themselves. Infratil confirm with TDC that these could incur upto £4M per year. Givne Infratil and TDC removed the nosie and air monitors then all flights are in breach of the 106. Which of the Gang of Four approved that? From 2006. If the option for £4M of fines for the public’s Community Fund has been waived then who has done that? Which council meeting? Which Cabinet meeting? Which Airport Committee meeting? Where are the minutes and costings? Sounds to me as if Infratil and young Matt are talking up reasons for their failure at Manston. The lad's achieved nothing at Manston: simply every breach of safety possible: with an EU investigation...

How silly. Trying to extend the night flight times by 90 minutes. And also trying to introduce the possibility of scheduled night flights and waiving any night flight fines. The current 106 is clear: no night flights between 11pm and 7am – the option to allow for KCC’s USA flights from 6am was dropped. The 106 also states that fines are incurred for noise. If the option for £4M of fines for the public’s Community Fund has been waived then who has done that? We need to invoice TDC and Infratil the missing funds. Will the CAA draft the invoice? Which council meeting waived these funds? Which Cabinet meeting? Which Airport Committee meeting? Where are the minutes and costings? The 106 also restricts the Loop training flights – but Infratil have waived that restriction themselves. Who at TDC allowed that? Which Council meeting? Which Cabinet meeting? Which Airpot Committee? The 106 requires noise and air monitoring – but TDC and Infratil removed the noise and air monitors? From 2006. So wh...

Improvements begin with the next generation. Thanet as one of the most corrupt, polluted and incompetent regions of Kent – as recognised by the government itself- requires a higher standard in education on governance, environment and history. As MP I will support improvements to the “Thanet Standard” of school and college curriculum with 30 minute lessons on: # Health problems: lung cancer etc – as a one of the highest rates of lung cancer in Kent and an early death rate of 11 years from the rest of Kent more needs to be done: publishing coroners reports by postcode, highlighting cancer in the environment eg the missing contaminated land/pollution register, EA updates on “how not to pollute the water supply” # Good governance: production of 35 years of failure: recording the decline of the pre-eminent seaside towns in the UK through a mix of political and policy failure # Excellent governance: producing copies of every schoolchild of Tom Paine of Margate and Sandwich’s pamphlet on US d...

What are they doing? TDC’s Brian and Richard of the Gang of Four and Pleasurama. A fireball and hole in the ground for 10 years. And now tax haven companies from the Caribbean to the Continent. It seems the Pleasurama Directors are now listed as “c/o SBP Banque, Geneva, Switzerland”. And Essex. There seems two references to SBP: one with a slightly different address as affiliated to Lehman Bros bank. Which went bust-in-billions last year. The other with the SBP Banque CEO and Trading Director resigning last month and several irregularities with the Swiss Banking authorities. There may well be another SBP based in Geneva but they look to be one and the same. And they’re handling the largest property development in Ramsgate? With Brian and Richard? And the same or similar SFP Ventures was also listed in the British Virgin Islands and then the UK and now Geneva? And Essex? And “SFP Ventures” standing for “Site of Former Pleasurama Ventures” it looks like little more than a brass-plate com...