More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
As political humiliations go, that endured by Home Secretary Priti Patel was about as painful as it could be.
No amount of spin could disguise the fact that being forced to hand the French authorities some £50m to step up patrols along the French coast was a heavy blow in the propaganda war over the continuing crisis of asylum seekers crossing the channel.
Imagine if the boot had been on the other foot and we had extracted a similar sum from the French authorities? The government spin doctors would have been going into overdrive.
But that is politics and the Home Secretary did her best to dress it all up as an example of how the relationships between the two were strong.
Appearing before a select committee to be quizzed by MPs, she might have expected some hostile verbal bowling from opposition but she was harpooned by one of her own, Tim Laughton. He landed a telling blow when he asked if this was throwing good money after bad. To which there wasn’t much of a coherent reply.
Arguing that there was now a “widespread dispersal” of launches along the entire French coastline beyond Calais was possibly not the most effective riposte, as it begged the question as to what would happen if increased activity by the French police simply displaced launches being made along unpatrolled stretches?
For all the rhetoric around a crackdown on would be asylum seekers, the refrain that Brexit would give back control of our borders seems to some questionable, to say the least.
There is no such thing as a free lunch. Unless you are a county councillor attending full council meetings, who are provided with lunch and refreshments to help see them through the day.
There is nothing wrong with that but the fact that ultimately it is taxpayers who meet the costs has been called into question by a newly elected Conservative councillor.
Andrew Kennedy, who represents the Malling North East division, has triggered a bit of a political bunfight, suggesting that members of the council should perhaps pay for these lunches out of their own pocket rather than taxpayers.
He has written to the cabinet member for finance Peter Oakford outlining his views, arguing: “While I support a policy of properly funding services to those in need, I would challenge any elected member to justify to their residents the principle that services are being reduced and taxes increased while the 81 Members of Kent County Council continue to enjoy meals at taxpayers' expense.”
Admitting that his position is unlikely to find favour with some of his own colleagues, he suggests that members could pay something towards meeting the costs: “Members could then decide whether to eat at County Hall, bring their own sandwiches or eat at one of the hundreds of pubs, cafes and restaurants in and around Maidstone who would welcome the custom as they struggle to recover from the pandemic.”
He is right. This is not the first time the issue has been raised; several years ago the opposition Liberal Democrats suggested something similar as the county council wrestled with another budget cutting millions of pounds from services.
And while some of his colleagues have apparently taken him to task and suggested that, given the sums, this is gesture politics, it seems constituents are in agreement. Perhaps the issue should be put to a public vote?
"The refrain that Brexit would give back control of our borders seems to some questionable, to say the least..."
The use of consultants by local councils is nothing new but the sums involved can certainly raise eyebrows.
The disclosure that Kent County Council to his to take on external property consultants at a cost of £2m to advise it on its plans to reorganise its offices is a case in point.
The council is weighing up whether to downsize and vacate County Hall but lacks the in-house expertise required.
Step in the consultants.
One of the virtues of Operation Brock - don’t scoff - is that the moveable barrier can be implemented quickly. The only issue is that it seems to move at a sedate pace when it comes to lifting it.
Hence the intervention by MP Damian Green, who pressed ministers to act with some urgency and take up the barrier as “soon as humanly possible.”
Ministers have promised a meeting with Kent MPs. Let’s hope they don’t have to wait too long.
We can live without the croquet lawns, mind you.
