Have your say on Maidstone’s housing plansMaidstone Borough Council have opened up the following consultations: Heathlands Garden Settlement: Maidstone Borough Council - Heathlands Garden Settlement SPDLidsing Garden Community: Maidstone…
Surprise, surprise – Operation Brock is back on again until the 22nd December. It’s beyond infuriating.Brock jams up our roads when traffic grinds to a halt, lorries cut through villages, and families face delays getting to work. It was…
Taking action for safer country lanesRural roads are dangerous at the best of times. Add winter ice, and we know they can be lethal. The danger is not just for drivers at risk of a collision round a blind corner, but also walkers, cyclists…
I wrote to Sir Richard Branson to welcome the news that Virgin Rail has been approved to operate trains from England to France. I was clear: trains leaving London must stop at Ashford and Ebbsfleet, and I offered him my full support in…
We did it! Faversham Cottage Hospital is to reopen on 2 December, five months since it closed its doors.In July, the hospital closed without any warning. The NHS said it was temporary, but since then its future has seemed to hang in the…
This is Rachel Reeves' last chance to think again and axe the farm tax.Generations of farmers, like David in my constituency, have spent their whole lives building their family businesses. She should think again and axe the tax.
Following the success of several ‘meet and greets’ in pubs, cafes and village halls in the new parts of my constituency, I am now hosting events across the whole of Faversham and Mid Kent. My latest gatherings were in Harrietsham,…
I've had hundreds of emails from my constituents opposing the mandatory digital ID. Like you, I’m hugely concerned about the Labour Government’s recent announcement to roll out of mandatory digital IDs.Labour have tried to justify this…
We need an urgent legal change to protect freeholders and leaseholders against ‘fleeceholder’ fees.The last Government passed the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act which just needs some simple secondary legislation to put it into practice …
On Question Time last month, I was clear that Labour’s housing approach is wrong. Building on our countryside is not the answer to the housing problem.There are plans for over 20,000 new houses in Faversham and Mid Kent. It’ll change our…
As promised, I’ve written to Sir Richard Branson welcoming the approval of Virgin Rail to operate cross-Channel services. But I made clear that these services MUST stop in Kent at Ashford and Ebbsfleet stations.I spelled out how Virgin…
Businesses are telling me they are struggling. Over the last 18 months many have seen their business rates double, have been hard hit by the rise in employer national insurance (the ‘jobs tax’) and seen huge increases in energy bills. Pubs…
Unemployment is up for the 13th month in a row. It hasn’t been this high since February 2021 – during the pandemic. But we’re not in a pandemic anymore. A year and a half into the new government, we’re starting to see the impact of the…
What you have told me about how safe you feel on our country lanes…“Speeding on country lanes is a huge safety problem for everyone and it seems to be getting worse and worse. I used to walk my children to our village school but had to…
When the Eurostar gave up stopping at Ashford and Ebbsfleet during the pandemic we all thought it was temporary. Five years on, despite meetings and letters and lobbying, Eurostar's managers are still dragging their feet rather than commit…
This month marks Kemi Badenoch’s first anniversary as Leader of the Conservative Party and of His Majesty’s Opposition. Under Kemi’s leadership the Party is rebuilding itself on the foundations of Conservative principles: responsibility,…
Photo Credit: Ian Forsyth Getty Read my speech as Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary at Conservative Party Conference below ???? What a welfare state we're inOctober 6, 2025Good afternoon, Conference.Craig is an extraordinary inspiration…
There are 20,000 plus houses in the pipeline to be built across my constituency which include:Lenham Heath – 5,000 housesLidsing Garden Village – housesWinterbourne Fields – housesDuchy development, Faversham – 2,500 housesHighsted Park –…
Operation Brock jams up our roads every every time it’s deployed.Traffic grinds to a halt, lorries divert through villages, and families face endless queues just to get to work, school, or appointments. What was meant to be an occasional…
This Friday, residents and councillors will be joining me at a rally to call for an end to Operation Brock.On the day of the rally, I’m meeting with the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum and Kent County Council and parish councillors to…
Last month I was at Canterbury Cathedral for a very special occasion – the graduation of the first students from the Kent and Medway Medical School. Sitting in that magnificent building, surrounded by proud families, friends and staff, it…
The St George’s flag and Union Jack are symbols of a country I’m proud of. The country we have today is thanks to generations of people striving for a better life. There have been winners and losers through the centuries, but overall,…
Did you know that nearly a quarter of all Government expenditure is spent on pensions and benefits – with over £56bn spent on disability and housing benefits alone? The challenge is to make sure that people who can’t work get the…