More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
He has got the keys to Number 10. But now he’s officially Prime Minister, what can Kent expect from Boris on the key issues and challenges for the county? Political Editor Paul Francis on what Kent will want from the new PM.
Operation Brock
The new PM’s pledge to “do or die” over the Halloween Brexit deadline is likely to set nerves jangling. Why? The no deal scenario means councils, border authorities and ports are more likely to be called on to implement contingency plans that have been gathering dust on shelves since March.
And that includes the unloved Operation Brock and in particular the contra-flow on the M20. Boris may hand over the poisoned chalice to a new transport secretary but will face a clamour to get the M20 fully open as soon as he can.
With school holidays underway, images of road gridlock and queues of traffic to the Channel ports won’t be what the new PM will want to see in his first few weeks in office.
A cross-party committee of MPs recently questioned whether the government contingency plans had been updated and if momentum had been lost since the March Brexit deadline had passed.
The new PM has signalled he understands the pressure Kent’s road network is under - telling a hustings meeting in Maidstone that he was aware of the case for some major investment in schemes such as the dualling of the A2. But will he deliver?
More grammar schools?
Unlike his predecessor Theresa May, the PM has proved cautious on an issue that is an article of faith for many Conservatives. Asked on a visit to Kent if he would seek to lift the ban on new grammar schools, he used careful language, saying that he “championed competition” but his focus was to ensure that funding for all schools was fairer - which ought to go down well with teachers.
He didn’t seem awfully enthused by the idea in the same way Theresa May was but the issue may well come under the spotlight when a decision has to be made about a proposal for a new coastal grammar in east Kent.
Canterbury’s Barton Court and Faversham’s Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School have entered a two-horse race to open a ‘satellite’ between Herne Bay and Whitstable.
While these proposals are being put forward as annexes to existing grammars - and thereby not covered by the ban on entirely new ones - that won’t necessarily curb the debate.
Boris Island - the sequel?
The government’s own aviation commission ruled it out; Medway Conservative MPs have been assured that he won’t revive the idea and his campaign team have insisted it is not on his agenda. So, why is there suspicion that the new PM has not completely abandoned his project for an estuary airport in north Kent?
Partly because the plan for a third runway at Heathrow will be in the headlines again next year when the airport operator submits an application for a Development Consent Order - required because it is a nationally important infrastructure project - as part of its expansion plans.
This will mean a public inquiry and the arguments for and against the third runway - now expected to cost £2.9bn - will be replayed.
Mr Johnson - who represents a constituency in the area - has previously vowed to do all he can to block the expansion. Whether that means he’d be prepared to formally revisit the concept of “Boris Island” is another matter.
Through the roof: Kent’s house-building explosion
If any issue in Kent has become a political hot topic, it is the unprecedented explosion in house-building across the county as councils face applications for tens of thousands of new homes. Few areas are immune. Leading the pack is Ebbsfleet Garden City in north Kent; then there is the 10,000 homes to be built as part of the Otterpool Park scheme on land in Folkestone; 11,500 homes are earmarked for farmland in the Highsted Valley near Sittingbourne’s Kent Science Park.
The Garden of England is, says critics, in danger of becoming the Concrete Garden of England - and these developments are often in “true blue” Conservative heartland. Council chiefs say existing infrastructure is already creaking under the pressure and fear the scale of development will put more traffic on roads; leave schools with too few places and GPs unable to cope.
The new PM has indicated that he wants to safeguard green belt land and push developers to use brownfield land first.
But politically, he has to square the bigger circle: the age demographic in the Conservative Party means it has to find ways of encouraging younger people and building more affordable homes would be one way of attracting new members.
A fair deal on Kent’s trains
A decision on who will get the franchise to run Kent’s rail services has been put back, with the government agreeing with the current operator of Southeastern services an extension in its contract to November and an option for a further extension to April 2020.
With ticket prices - especially on the High Speed 1 services - among the highest in the country, rail users will be looking for a better deal.
As will Kent MPs - they fired a warning shot back in 2017 when they responded to the consultation on the new franchise to demand a better deal for passengers.
In an unprecedented move, eleven Conservative MPs united to demand that under the new franchise, customers got a far better service.
The government was urged by the MPs to ensure the next operator of rail services in the south east addresses "dangerously" over-crowded trains and offers better ticket prices.
