News

The Prosser Perspective.... a weekly column from Dover and Deal MP Gwyn Prosser

11 September 2008

If you are reading this article on Thursday morning you can take a big sigh of relief because it means the much predicted end of the world didn’t happen and the planet wasn’t swallowed up by a black hole by the controversial particle accelerator experiment in Geneva.

Back home in Dover we have been concerning ourselves with more down matters. Last week I met with Anne Knight who has just joined the Dover Pride Partnership to help us pull together all the players who are committed to delivering Dover’s ambitious regeneration plans. Anne comes to us from the Regional Development Agency so she knows all about the financing and delivery of major projects.

Wednesday, 3rd September was Merchant Navy Day. The role of the seafarers of the Merchant Service who kept our supply lines open during the Second World War was never really recognised and for a generation former and serving MN personnel pressed successive governments to establish an official Merchant Navy Day and I was pleased to be part of that campaign.

It wasn’t until this Government took office in 1997 that John Prescott, another former Merchant Mariner, agreed to formally proclaim September 3rd (the day WW2 broke out) as Merchant Navy Day and along with lots of former shipmates – I had the privilege of attending the first MN Memorial Service in London with him.

It took me a few more years to persuade our District Council to hold our own Merchant Navy Day memorial services in Dover and to fly the red ensign in the Stone Hall but in fairness to past and present Chairmen and Officials they agreed to do so and they’ve made a pretty good job of it.

Of course, this year’s MN Day was a very special occasion because it coincided with the unveiling of Dover’s permanent memorial on the seafront and there was a great turn out of veterans to lay wreaths and remember those who were lost. I met enough former shipmates to crew a fair size cruise liner but I think some colleagues would need help in finding their sea legs again.

On Friday I attended an important meeting of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee at County Hall to discuss progress on Dover’s new Community Hospital and consider its best location.

There is now £20 million of funding available to bring back to Dover many of the services which – regrettably – have been farmed out elsewhere but the decision on where to locate the new hospital has yet to be taken.

I think the Health Trusts have dithered far too long in sorting out health care in Dover and I will support the location which guarantees delivery without any more delay, which is accessible to the majority of my Dover constituents and which is capable of expanding to meet Dover’s future requirements.

They say that black holes or not – the masses of data collected from the Geneva experiment will take more than five years to analyse – I want Dover’s new Community Hospital to be up and running long before that.