With a general election weeks away,
Conservative leader David Cameron was back campaigning in Kent
today with a pledge to scrap Government plans to increase
National Insurance payments.

And he also promised that in the
coming weeks he would be returning for more visits: "You are going
to see a lot more of me."

His visit to Sittingbourne to a
supermarket distribution centre was the second in two weeks,
underlining just how important the county will be when it comes to
deciding who will get the keys to Downing Street.

Mr Cameron used his latest visit to
announce a Conservative government would scrap planned rises in
National Insurance contributions, something he said would benefit
thousands of people in Kent earning less than £45,000.

The Government's tax rise was "the
last thing families need, the last thing businesses need and the
last thing that an economy coming out of recession needs."

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Cameron speaks to workers
in Kemsley

He denied his return visit to a key
marginal constituency - Sittingbourne and Sheppey - reflected party
nerves over a narrowing of the gap in the party's poll lead.

He also brushed aside the news that
former Tory party donor Stuart Wheeler, who lives in Chilham,
intended to stand as an independent candidate at the election.

"It is a free country...he can
stand against me in Witney [Cameron's constituency] if he likes,"
he said.

However, he acknowledged the county
would be a vital battleground in the forthcoming campaign.

He said: "I'm excited by the
election campaign and the chance to give people the choice, which
is five more years of Gordon Brown or change with the
Conservatives, who have the dynamism, energy and leadership to get
the country moving again."

Read Paul's
blog on Cameron's visit and other news in Kent
politics>>>

He also used the visit to emphasise
that a future Conservative government would not be supporting
proposals by London Mayor Boris Johnson for an estuary airport.

"We do not have any plans for an
estuary airport. What we do have plans for is to cancel the third
runway at Heathrow and to have a high speed rail link which is the
answer to the problems we have."

During his visit to the huge
distribution centre for Morrisons at Sittingbourne, Mr Cameron
fielded questions from workers.

Quizzed about discipline and
anti-social behaviour among youngsters, he promised that schools
would have the power to force parents to sign binding home-school
contracts and tougher penalties for those found carrying
knives.