It can’t be often that one smallish town plays host to two former Deputy Prime Ministers, a Peer of the Realm who is also a Secretary of State for Transport and the current Home Secretary, all on the same time – but that was what happened on Tuesday and the town in question was Dover.

Ever since I was elected in 1997 I’ve made a point of bringing Government Ministers into my constituency and I’ve ensured that every Home Secretary has paid us a visit. Alan Johnson is the sixth Home Secretary during my time in parliament and on Tuesday I was pleased to welcome him to Dover and accompany him on his visit to the port.

In Eastern Docks Border Agency staff demonstrated a new generation of scanner which was being operated for the first time and which uses state-of-the-art scanner technology to detect anything from illicit drugs and smuggled cigarettes to bootlegged booze and illegal immigrants.

After the port visit I took the Minister up to the Buckland Community Centre to meet my Councillor colleagues and other members of the local community who have been working with agency and enforcement partners to help reduce antisocial behaviour and make Buckland a better place to live in. He was very impressed and told them they were a great example of how local people could make a difference for the better.

Earlier in the day I was at Dover Priory Station to meet the High Speed Train from London and greet Lord Adonis, John Prescott and Michael Heseltine who were paying a flying visit to gauge people’s views on the benefits of having the Javelin trains connecting Dover and London. Everyone was predictably enthusiastic – but the trio might not have received such enthusiastic endorsement if they’d gone to Deal.

Their visit was designed to reinforce the importance of high speed rail services to regeneration and what better place to visit than Dover, where we have proposals for one of the most ambitious regeneration programs in the South.

When in government, it was Michael Heseltine who effectively shut down Britain’s mining industry – something which many of us will never forgive him for – but in his latter years he became an enthusiastic regenerator and it’s his work in this field that earned him his seat on Tuesday’s Javelin Train.

As well as serving as Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott oversaw Labour’s regeneration program and when we took office in 1997 he famously rescued the Channel Tunnel high speed line project which was virtually bankrupt. So John’s seat and HS1 was always going to be secure.

Lord Adonis, who has announced ambitious plans to extend the high speed network to Scotland, congratulated everyone who had made the new rail service such a success and said he wanted planners to learn lessons from the Dover experience.

And as to the abundance of VIP visitors – I don’t want to make comparisons between high speed trains and London buses but I’ve been waiting for a Ministerial visit for over six weeks and then, on Tuesday, four came along together.

© Hawkinge Gazette and Channel Coast News 2010