Santa visits Snodland

Santa visited Snodland this evening, accompanied by the Mayor of Tonbridge & Malling, and the local children (and parents!) had a great time. There must of been at least 200 people singing carols before the sleigh arrived and after the Mayor had finished her rock star moment of waving the mic when the music stopped, conducting the crowd to the rest of "I wish it could be Christmas everyday..." she began the countdown to the switch on of the lights. Santa delayed the departure of the sleigh by insisting on shaking the hands of every small person within an arms length of the sleigh before precariously balancing on a ledge worrying Mrs Claus, who was standing next to me as she watched it return to the Town Hall! Thankfully the rain held off until the fun had finished and all the little children left even more excited about Christmas. I think it is fair to say that Santa loves Snodland, and Snodland most definitely loves Santa!!!

Cutting Ribbons and Kissing Babies

I was honoured to be asked to cut a ribbon and officially open the new conservatory of the Robin Hood pub. Landlords Dave and Jo have worked really hard to turn the conservatory into a modern venue with excellent, locally sourced food. As a team we go regularly to the pub for lunch after a morning's canvass so it felt great to be standing in front of their regular Friday afternoon punters and welcome them into the new dining area. Their baby boy was there so I got to kiss a baby too!

This morning I joined local councillors and residents in Burham to Bash the Trash. The initiative, which TMBC promotes, has really taken off especially in the villages. I went round the edges of the recreation ground before heading off to join Kent Conservative Future who had come over to help with some canvassing. We had a good team of 20 out in total and finished off in the cafe in Walderslade village for some bacon butties to warm up after. I then popped over to Luton for the Church's Christmas Fayre. It was nice to see how busy it was - fingers crossed I have guessed the right number of sweeties in the jar!!!

Off shortly to see Santa and the Mayor turn on the Christmas lights in Snodland and then back home to prepare for an evening in of X Factor (Go Stacey) and emails.

Karting fun with Aylesford Youth Club

The Aylesford Youth Club is going from strength to strength and last night was a demonstration of how successful it has become. Thanks to the hard work of the volunteers and the generosity of Buckmore Park Kart Club, 32 youngsters enjoyed a go-karting session and the internationally successful Kart track. Both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button won competitions at the track owned by motor racing legend John Surtees and I think many of the youngsters, both boys and girls, were wondering after if they were going to be a future Formula 1 champion!

It wasn't only the kids that enjoyed it! Having been told I was too old to race in a kids kart (which I am!) I thought I was only going to get to sit and watch the fun. But (thankfully for me) one of the 16 year old lads was too big for the kart and since he was old enough to go in an adult kart we both got to have a whizz around the track. It was the fastest 10 minutes ever and Tom, my opponent, managed to save face in front of his mates by not losing to a woman - albeit due to some pretty hilarious cheating...!!! I have raced around Silverstone in an E-type jag before but this was much harder and certainly more raw. In a car you feel safer (for starters you are strapped in) and you know if you crash, roll, spin etc there is at least some metal between you and the track. The kart is open, heavy and fast and very very close to the ground. But in the words of some of the kids last night - it was awesome.

To add to the excitement, whilst we were there Buckmore Park Kart Club received notification that it had been awarded third in the whole of the UK in the Motor Sports Association Club of the Year Award. This is wonderful recognition for a club that does so much to promote participation by younger members and has a relationship with Mid Kent College as part of the Lets Go Karting initiative. The Club does a lot to ensure that people who cannot ordinarily afford to participate in motor sports can access schemes in order to open up new avenues to them. The Club also does a lot to help improve literacy and numeracy through schemes as well as teaches vocational skills to some youngsters. My congratulations go to the Club for this well deserved award.

Are we about to see some common sense?

The Medway photographer "Monaxle" who was arrested earlier in the year under terrorism legislation for basically taking photos has published a post on his website giving an update on the matter. By the looks of it we are about to see some common sense prevail...You can read Alex's post HERE.

Education, traffic and active retirement!

I have had an excellent 24 hours. I visited Kingfisher primary school in Princes Park yesterday morning and was very impressed by the hard working and dedicated Headmistress and her team. The foundation class is exactly what early years should be about - play and social integration. The school also has a tiny but much needed Sure Start centre and following an afternoon meeting with several Cabinet members of Medway Council, I was able to confirm to the Headmistress that despite the delay on the original timetable, it will be extended early in the New Year.

The meeting with portfolio holders was interesting. It is always useful to get an update on some of the current and future issues affecting Medway. Schools were obviously top of the agenda!

This morning I had a meeting with a resident about issues in Chatham - it was a very informative meeting and there is lots for me to follow up on with the Council and other organisations. Although whilst getting my car parking ticket I noticed several rats scurrying through piles of litter and food waste and immediately reported it so that it can come and get cleared up and the rats dealt with.



And now I've just come back from the inaugural meeting of the Aylesford Active Retirement Association. There were over 90 people in the Capel Morris Centre and it looks like from the opening meeting that it is going to be a well supported group. I rather am rather envious of all the activities they have planned! Now I am about to get into my jeans and head up to Buckmore Park with the Youth Club for an afternoon of go-karting. Watch out the Stig!!

Temples and Health Trusts

Am off from work (Aviva) this week so am spending the week meeting people and organisations that I don't get to see when campaigning is limited to the weekend. Today I met with a gentleman who is lobbying for a Hindu temple/community centre and I have to say he made a very compelling case! After a good lunch in Chimi Changas, I headed off to the Medway Maritime for a meeting with the Chief Executive of the Kent Mental Health Trust followed by an update meeting with the Chairman and Interim Chief Executive of the Medway Maritime Hospital. Both were hugely helpful and am really pleased I blocked out the afternoon to spend time learning more about the challenges facing the local health services.

Tomorrow, down to Folkestone for an interview followed by carpet fitters, telecanvassing and dinner with my neighbour!

Protect pensioners from Brown’s plans to scrap benefits

I was alarmed to learn that the small print of Labour’s plans to create a National Care Service reveals they will scrap Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance for pensioners to pay for it.

An average £3,400 a year will be snatched away from 2.4 million pensioners – equivalent to a quarter of the average pensioner’s income. In Chatham & Aylesford this would affect a shocking 2,670 pensioners. Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance are based on need; they are not means tested and are intended to cover the extra costs arising from the impact the disability has on the life of the disabled person. The key feature of these benefits is that they can be spent by disabled people how they wish, without restrictions, to best support their individual care needs.

It is clear that Gordon Brown has chosen to penalise one of the most vulnerable groups in our society for the sake of another of his eye-catching announcements. As with every Labour initiative, someone has to pay and, as with many of them, it is once again those who are least able to afford it who are hit by Brown. These benefits provide vital support for disabled pensioners, giving them the chance to lead an independent life with the freedom to tailor their care to their needs. Of course, we need to do more to help people with their care costs, but it is completely wrong to do so at the expense of disabled pensioners.

David Cameron has made it clear that the Conservatives will protect Chatham & Aylesford's pensioners and fight against Gordon Brown’s plan to scrap benefits for the disabled.

A week is a long time...

This week has been incredibly busy starting with a dinner on Monday to celebrate the retirement of John Blundell, the Director of the Institute of Economic Affairs. David Davis MP and journalist Simon Heffer spoke well about the policies that John has advocated over the years and the impact they have had on global economics. I was lucky enough to be sitting next to two Sky journalists and the future Director, a former Lib Dem staffer, who I think was rather daunted at the task ahead by the end of the evening. Amusingly I was accused of not being a free marketeer after questioning the amount and value of money in football - i.e. was Ronaldo really worth £80m?

On Tuesday, I joined the team at the phone bank for some telephone canvassing. My sheet was Larkfield and I had a really positive response, as did my colleagues telephoning in other areas. One chap called me an angel but a huge number of people said "we gotta get this lot out"! The team came away feeling positive and looking forward to next week's session.

Watching the Queen open Parliament on Wednesday, I felt embarrassed for her. The State Opening of Parliament is a major constitutional function and yet it felt like it was all about the Labour Party saving itself, not serving the country. Gordon Brown has nothing to offer except a series of half-measures aimed at partisan point-scoring – even Cabinet Ministers admit that their programme is about playing politics not improving people’s lives. There was nothing in the Queen's Speech for the hard working man, woman or family in Chatham & Aylesford. A point, Sir John Stanley MP made as well on Thursday when I went to speak to his Executive Association. I had (have) a dreadful cough and rather rudely disrupted the proceedings with my spluttering before croaking my way through my own speech! Having tweaked my hamstring at training on Wednesday, I felt a tad crocked!!

The hamstring isn't feeling too great tonight after delivering our latest newsletter with Tashi to probably the longest road in the constituency - Churchill - before going up to help in Blue Bell Hill. I am however getting lots of sympathy at home so have my feet up watching my sister's best friend from school, captain the England Ladies Rugby team against New Zealand at a rainy Twickerham.

Dinner with the Chairman

Tonight, Chatham & Aylesford Conservatives had its annual dinner at the Larkfield Priory Hotel and we were honoured to have the Conservative Party Chairman Eric Pickles as our guest speaker. Eric gave a thought provoking and inspiring speech about what we need to do to win the next General Election - returning a Conservative MP for Chatham & Aylesford is an essential step on that road to victory.

It was a wonderful evening - the food was delicious, the company excellent and we raised vital funds for the campaign ahead.

Charity Rugby at Aylesford Bulls

At training last night it was announced that Meridian Girls had won, for the second year running, the silver medal at the Medway Sports Club of the Year awards. The club, and especially the management, deserve nothing less as they all put in hours of voluntary time to make sure that everything runs smoothly. In the meantime my girls are third in the league with a game in hand - we have a crunch game on Sunday against Bearsted...I am not sure it will decide the outcome of the league but it is pretty important!!

After training, I went to a charity Rugby match at the Aylesford Bulls between a President's XV and an Army team. The "Poppy Day Match" was played in aid of Help for Heroes and was extremely well attended by supporters of the Club, the Royal British Legion, the Parish Council and local residents. I only managed to get to the last 30 minutes but at least I saw an Aylesford try! I don't know how much the game raised for Help for Heroes but with very persuasive army personnel collecting money from the supporters I imagine it will be a significant sum.