It has been another busy week on the political front in Kent - here's a round-up of this week's big stories:

In the aftermath of the devastating terrorist attacks in Paris, Kent crime commissioner Ann Barnes appealed to the Home Secretary to put on hold planned budget cuts to police forces, saying that Kent was a special case because of its proximity to Europe.

There was no sign of Corbyn mania reaching Kent as Labour lost a safe ward in a by-election in Ashford to the Conservatives, with Ukip coming second. The turnout was pretty grim, mind you - although not as grim as the faces of Labour activists...not so much JezWeCan as JezWeCan't...

The saga of Manston airport took another turn this week and it wasn't good news for campaigners hoping that Thanet council would be urged to re-think its decision not to pursue a CPO in partnership with American investors RiverOak.

Councillors voted against a rethink, leaving the prospects of Manston re-opening as an airport looking arguably even more remote.

Is the government set to make it more difficult to find out what public bodies are doing in our name and with our money?

The deadline for a consultation on reforms to the Freedom of Information Act ended and a panel set up to assess whether the Act is too burdensome on councils, government departments and others is getting to work.

Here's a reminder of why we and many others don't think reforms are needed....

There was some evidence that hospitals in east Kent are slowlyimproving although it is not quite off the critical list. Inspectors said the trust was still in special measures but that significant improvements had been made.

Asked he was worth his six-figure salary as the trust's chief trouble shooter, Chris Brown said it was a matter for the board. Still, going from inadequate to requires improvement is progress of sorts and suggests that recovery is coming - albeit slowly.