News

.... a weekly column from Michael Howard MP

18 January 2007

 

I know that many of you have been severely inconvenienced, yet again, by Operation Stack. I wholly share your frustration. I have suffered it myself. 

The good news is that the Channel Corridor Partnership, which includes all relevant local authorities together with Eurotunnel and the Dover Harbour Board, has been meeting to try and find an agreed solution to put to Government. They met most recently last Friday and made some progress towards agreement. 

The bad news is that it may take them another year to get to the point where all the details are finalised. That will be small comfort to all of us who have to put up with the delays we suffer when anything goes wrong at the Tunnel or at Dover. 

I shall do all I can to hurry them up and to encourage the authorities to come up with some better interim solutions in the meantime. 

Last weekend I had one of my regular meetings with the Leader and Chief Executive of Shepway District Council and then went to Selsted School. Many of you will remember that I campaigned vigorously last year, together with many others, to keep Selsted and Harcourt Primary Schools open in the face of Kent County Council’s plans to close them. 

Selsted is certainly flourishing with a significant increase in its rolls, thoroughly justifying the decision to keep it open. I hope to visit Harcourt in the very near future. 

On Sunday I attended the farewell service at Holy Trinity Church in Folkestone for John Tapper who has been such a popular communal leader. I know I speak for very many in wishing him and Elizabeth a very happy retirement. 

In the evening I went to Canterbury cathedral for the service to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the founding of Kent Police. What an awesome debt we owe to the thousands of police officers who have helped to protect our local communities over all those years. And what an appropriate way of acknowledging it.