Rochester and Strood by-election results

Well, after a very long night and a couple of hours snatched sleep I thought I’d write about what the heck happened yesterday.

Firstly the UKIP victory in the Parliamentary By-election. To be honest it was no big surprise. A month ago when it was announced there was a belief that it was all flash in the pan and that Mark Reckless would be handed an embarrassing defeat at the hands of his former masters or even Labour.

As the time has gone on the amount of UKIP activists, doners and support has grown (or been bussed in) and Rochester has been worked hard. This was met by the Tories and Labour who have had MP after MP down and even the Prime Minister. This was never going to be a normal election.

Ultimately the majority attained was nothing to significant. With a turnout of over 50% Mark only managed to get a majority of 3000 over Kelly Tolhurst (his majority back in 2010 was 10,000). The Tories were celebrating this last night. They know that come May when UKIP will be spreading their activists and money over a larger area of North Kent, especially if Farage is going to stand in Thanet, that Mark will see this lead eroded.

What does this mean for Medway politics in the local election (held on the same day as the General)? Well it could lead to one of two outcomes.

The first is that this victory may buoy up the local party and they will make a valiant charge snapping up council seats drastically altering the shape of the local authority. This is their aim.

The second is that with the removal of resources could force them to make tough decisions. As Mark’s lead is fairly tenuous they may be forced to through what resources they have available to keep him at the cost of local councillors.

This of course is fairly hypothetical we’d have to see.

Needless to say that the Tories are stung and will be coming for them.

As will the Labour party. Naushaba Kahn fought a tough campaign with a lot of support from the local party and Westminster elect. If anything there was a belief that this was Labour's chance to regain the swing seat with the usual right of centre voters torn between UKIP and Tories.

Although they worked hard and attracted a lot of support they failed to make much of a media imprint and ultimately ended well shy of Mark scoring only 6.713 votes.

This has massive ramifications for Ed Miliband and the Labour party, not necessarily the hard working local party.

Labour's main definition at the moment is not the Coalition and let's face it the Tories (and we've signed off on them or are guilty by association) have pushed through some really nasty stuff - badger culls, ATOS, cuts to services, tuition fees... the list is exhaustive and all along, week after week we have to suffer Ed saying he and Labour would never agree to any of this and Ed Balls promising that Labour's economic plan (whatever it is) was much better.

With the extreme views of UKIP and the unpopularity of the  Conservative Government you would have thought the swing seat may have swung back to Labour. The fact it didn't suggests another two things.

The first that voters saw the Conservatives with Kelly Tolhurst's Local girl, local issues campaign as the best alternative and didn't want to split the anti UKIP vote or, and perhaps more alarmingly for Labour, that there is a serious problem with their message.

The whole situation must be even more concerning for the Conservatives. They threw the Kitchen sink at UKIP and although performed really well coming short by a small margin in both the parliamentary and the Hoo Peninsula ward by-election (Ron Sands (CON)  got 1965 against Chris Irvine's (UKIP) 2850) they still failed, despite the resources flung, to make it closer.

As I've said, this could be a temporary blip or it could be the opening of the flood gates. Already some of the old stalwart supporters of the Medway Conservatives have already jumped ship and it might be the beginning of a landslide. There is also a general malaise against the local Tories and should UKIP erupt like a tumour with a handful of Tory Councillors going purple between now and May it could change the face of Medway's Council.

Now with heavy heart I turn to the Libdem result.  It looks awful. Geoff Juby got under 1% in the parliamentary and I gained just over 1% in the Hoo by-election. Geoff's share of the vote collapsed by 15% of its 2010 share. It is being hailed as the worse performance of the Liberal Democrats in a By-election ever...

Now this will sound like a lot of excuses but here is the truth.

Geoff worked hard, and I mean damn hard with a dedicated team of local activists with a few visits from Westminster but this was not Eastleigh. This was not to be our battle ground, not a target seat this time around and Clegg et al did not appear with armies of Libdems busing in from across the country bank rolled by HQ and shadowy donors. This was a local battle led by a local candidate backed up by local activists.

This was always going to be a battle between the Tories and UKIP.

As for me. I am ecstatic about my 1% after all I did absolutely no canvassing or campaigning. Hoo was never a seat we could have won, nor did we have any presence out there. As many regular readers know my son was born on 10th October, had his first operation on 13th and I have been busy with my family settling in George. I'm amazed I got that many votes by doing nothing and I would like to thank everyone who did vote for me, next time will be definitely different.

The two great stories to come out of this election was firstly -

Britain first only got 56 votes. This, although depressing that they got more votes than some of the Independents is uplifting (I got more votes than them in one ward by election!!!) because even the Monster raving loony party did better than them! Truly a laughing stock.

The other is the results of the Green party. They fought a good campaign with a good candidate and scored a respectable fourth place with (1692 votes) in the parliamentary and local (314 votes). This was a great result for them and I've already sent my congratulations via Twitter.

Not to take anything away from them but the rise in support may be because they are now the non-UKIP protest party.  Ten years ago that was the Libdem party (though my Mum always voted Green!) but with the Coalition we've become part of the establishment so people tend to vote for a non-governmental party. If you don't want UKIP then the next best choice is Green. We could see some serious gains by the Greens next year if UKIP continue to develop in the towns.

I know a lot of this is all speculation bolstered with educated guesses but there is so much that could happen that at this moment in time (with four hours sleep) I'm not prepared to tie my colours to the mast until February or even April.

I will however close with a warning however to the other parties. The results of last night belay how strong we are in our wards, getting rid of the Libdems in Medway is going to be a tough proposition.

Britain First are Toxic and blight Rochester

I fear the days of Mosley are returning, at least to Rochester

As a liberal, and an opened minded person I firmly believe in the freedom of speech for all. This is tempered with the addendum that you can say what you want as long as it does not interfere with another person’s freedoms.

This said, I am horrified that Britain First have come to Rochester yet again.

Reports say 50 Britain First “activists” in uniformed dress arrived at Rochester railway station attempting to march up the High Street with Union Jacks unfurled but we’re held off by 100 odd locals chanting and the Kent Police line that was trying to defuse violence. As I write this, I understand the BF are back on the train to where ever they have come from and that Rochester is attempting to return to some semblance of order.

I am against any such “organisation” on so many principles.

Firstly the very name is prejudice. Britain First.

Britain is an artificially constructed country spurned on by English military might and economic superiority and based on genocide of the clans and forced assimilation. Britain is in the process of devolution and almost broke itself apart this year and only hung on by a small margin in Scotland.

The other thing is; define a Briton. How long must your family have lived on this island before you are classed as a Briton? Do you have to be a Christian (or non Muslim)? A similar situation grew up in 20s Germany with a certain party saying that Germany was for the Germans and that non-Germans should be expelled or if they remained had rights withdrawn from them and well… we all know how that ended!

Britain is no longer an Imperial power that can dictate world policy, nor is it a homogenously (or majority) white Christian nation of Britons. As the Empire collapsed we have attracted former subjects who wanted to come to the mother land. As we became one with the post War Europe we attracted migrants to our shores, not just as “benefit tourists” but as people who wanted to flee oppression from the Soviets or dictators or came to forge a better life in a land of opportunity for them and their families much as many did to America. Some of them served in the British armed forces to defeat the Nazis but did not or could not return to the Eastern bloc as they had been over run by the Russians – what more do they need to do to be accepted? They are part of us now, second and third generations living in Britain as part of our society.

I thought I may have been overly judgemental so I checked out their Twitter and Facebook page and immediately wished I hadn’t.

Just check out this post…. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=650218521790079

It made my blood run cold.

The labels being thrown around, Liberals, Transsexuals, Communists...  I mean what the hell?

This is truly the voice of hate and mistrust. A voice I had hoped had been consigned to the waste paper bin of history or consigned to thugs like the EDL not an actual "political party" that is running for a Parliamentary seat - in MY neighbourhood!

This is the hate and prejudice that tore the world apart, cost the lives of so many people and should have died in Berlin in '45. I thought we were better than this, I thought we had evolved past this, the BUF and Mosley are a dark spot on the history of this nation and should have been forgotten and not replayed on the streets of Rochester. What gives them the right to dictate what lifestyle is right? Tell people how to live their lives? This is prejudice of the highest order.

In this Centenary year of the First World War, where nationalistic belief in ones own superiority caused the slaughter of innocence, where young men flocked to the flags of their nations and marched towards their deaths singing patriotic songs. Only 75 years after another nationalistic government that believed in Germany for the Germans and in ubermenschen (Teutons) and Untermenschen (Jews, Muslims, foreigners, Homosexuals, Jehovah's witnesses, Communists etc etc...) reopened the same wounds let us remember that we are better than this.

We have evolved past these notions and hate.  

Mark Reckless' defection

Defector: Mark Reckless.

The news broke yesterday, whilst I was at a wedding, that Mark Reckless had defected to UKIP from the Conservative party. This was somewhat of a surprise to me but I really guess it shouldn't have

For sometime I had believed that although stridently anti-EU and having rebelled against Coalition line time and again, Mark Reckless was Conservative through and through but his position would have meant that UKIP would be unlikely to win in Rochester and Strood in 2015 and would do very little to dent his voter base.

I totally hadn't considered that he would defect.
been.

Apparently I wasn't the only one.

I've exceptionally mixed views about defection. Although it is noble to follow one's belief to whatever end it can have some pretty nasty ramifications. A long while ago I wrote:

It is a decision that no one should take lightly, a decision that should be thought through thoroughly and not rushed. After all... like [Benedict] Arnold, once you've left you can never go back and some bridges can never be unburnt, for you will always be a turncoat.

According to Mark's website he has thought this through extensively, something I can well believe (I had a similar experience once) and ultimately came to this decision. He lists these reasons in depth in his article but ultimately it boils down to electoral promises and frustrations that he could not represent the people of Rochester and Strood as a Conservative anymore.

My previous prediction for the General Election in Medway was for UKIP not to bother standing a candidate as Mark was pretty much in that ground anyway... However this defection is going to shift the dynamic a whole lot more.

Earlier today I saw statistics that suggested that Mark will get re-elected easily based on the percentage of people in the Medway Council area who voted UKIP. If I remember correctly that despite being true across the region it was not the case in the Rochester & Strood wards. These wards mostly voted Conservative.

So we could see the return of a Conservative MP rather than Mark's re-election?

Not necessarily.

The Conservatives in Medway have been divided between the Rainhams and the Rochesters for quite some time and this defection could be the tumbling of small stones that sets of an avalanche. Already Councillor Chris Irvine, who is exceptionally close to Mark and works for him at Westminster, has quit the Conservative party and according to his twitter stream, will be consulting the residents of his ward as to what they would like him to do. If more were to follow...

We could see a larger UKIP powerbase with vast local experience than expected in the old Cathedral city.

This could also be Labour's big chance. The Medway towns have been swing seats for some time and although I had postulated that Mark would come through unscathed that was before the right vote was completely bisected. Naushabah Kahn, the Labour candidate for Rochester and Strood, has been making ground recently. Feelings against the Coalition do run high across Medway and they may be enough for her to capitalise on it, especially for a local girl who is talking about the things that matter to the working person who doesn't care as much about the EU as they do the NHS or Immigration as much as they do cut services. According to Medway Labour's Press release Ms Kahn stated;

With such division in the Medway Tory party, it’s clear that there is only one choice in Medway for the progressive, fair vote and that is Labour. We have a 10 year plan to save the NHS, including the extra resource of 20,000 more nurses, 8,000 more GPs and 5,000 more careworkers. In Rochester and Strood, we have a choice between a Labour party that will save the NHS or a Tory party that is in a race with UKIP to the far-right

Usual Party stuff but it is a sentiment that will draw people in.

Who knows, all I can say is that Medway is about to become really interesting politically over the next few months and part of me really laments my retirement which starts as of tomorrow.

I hope someone is going to cover this properly.

Just as a postscript and returning to the Benedict Arnold post and burned bridges, there is a sense of betrayal among some locals, be it electorate that voted Conservative and suddenly find a UKIP foothold in their constituency, local Conservatives who have seen all their hard work in supporting Mark thrown away, and also colleagues.

Indeed Tracey Crouch, MP for Chatham & Aylesford was quoted as saying (and sums up the feeling for local Conservatives);

He looked me in the eye and promised me he wasn't going to defect. I feel very angry and let down.
 

Labour bluster over Medway LibDems

Some years ago I saw the last Deutsche wöchenschau, the Third Reich's newsreel dated March 1945. Whilst Messerschmitt fighters took off from waterlogged agricultural fields and streams of exhausted boys and old men in a mixture of uniforms marched past the camera the narrator pronounced ultimate victory would be theres. The Luftwaffe were blasting American planes from the air and the Russians were being turned back at the Oder. Whether the German people took anything from it is debatable but we know it was just noise.

Medway Labour have a lot riding on this election. The Coalition has not always been popular in low income areas where Tory led cuts have injured local services. The normally unassailable Medway Conservatives suddenly look vulnerable, especially as the locals are on the same day as the General election. These marginal seats could swing red again and I believe Gillingham & Rainham will.

Ever since tuition fees Medway Labour have been predicting the death of the Medway Libdems with an alarming frequency but I can assure you that there is still life in them. There are regular Focus deliveries, canvassing, street letters and campaigning just in a smaller area than Labour. Our membership is up and hardly flocking to Labour as they have suggested - I'm aware of only one in the last two years.

That is their weakness. They are pressing on all fronts to get the Tories out locally and in Westminster. Across Gillingham & Rainham, Rochester & Strood and Chatham & Aylesford. Even with Union funding their resources are not endless and they are stretching themselves thin. Although an all out offensive in Gillingham South may turn it red (I'll be moving) they will not get Watling ward. An all out offensive in Gillingham south would come at a cost of taking other fronts like Chatham & Aylesford where a strong MP might do enoug on personal performance over the popularity of Coalition policy.

The other problem Labour are facing is UKIP.

The common opinion is that UKIP are the bane electoral bane of the Tories but we've found that Labour are losing just as much support where as LibDem supporters are less likely to go Purple. Farrage is seen to be more in touch with the common person and their concerns rather than the Tory lite esq Milibamd led Labour. Seats in urban areas like Chatham central, Luton and Wayfield and even Gillingham North are fairly undecided and require shoring up before the election - further blunting their offensive capability. They also have to worry about their own seats from the weirdly popular Medway Tories. Rumour has it that Chris Irvine is on the offensive to take Labour's bulwark Cllr Murray's seat!

Labour, although set to gain ground along with UKIP who are becoming rapid favourites following unparalleled support across the estuary but it may be tempered and not the sure victory they are hoping and predicting. They'll also find the last bastions of LibDem seats a hard nut to crack and the red tide may be halted.

Let's just hope that come May I don't look like King Canute!!!

Battle field Medway 2015 - my retraction

I made a boo-boo and now am retreating

Occasionally I get things wrong... Ok, I get things wrong most, if not all, of the time.

At the time of writing my last post I believed I was writing fact.

When I was young I was taught, by my police Sergeant Grandfather taught me three tricks for investigation.

1. Rarely ask questions, you can learn more from just listening.

2. If you hear something once it is a rumour, twice coincidence, three times there is something in it.

The third thing he taught me, that was backed up by my History degree is always have evidence to back up your claims.

I have been reliably informed by Cllr Vince Maple (leader of the Medway Labour group), Cllr Tristan Osborne (Labour's press officer) and three activists that, and here comes the embarrassing part, Isaac Igwe has not been selected as Rochester & Strood's Labour candidate. At the time of writing they have no candidate yet.

I'd heard the rumour from three separate sources but hey - we all make mistakes.

So sorry for causing confusion, especially to Alan Collins, who based his blogpost on my faulty intel and also to Mark Reckless himself who contacted me to verify my claims.

Whether or not Isaac is the candidate or not is fairly irrelevant at this stage. Should Polls stay the same and barring a political disaster my prediction will stay the same for the same reasons. I am relieved that my reasoning has been supported by Alan Collins' predictive computer programme, if you've not read his post you really should.

Of course no one but my wife claims to be infallible and it is entirely possible that with the right candidate, enough hard work and campaigning then we could see Rochester & Strood go Gold...

Dear Nick... Letter of protest over Medway City status bid

RE Request to reject the City Status bid by the Medway Towns.

                                                                                                                        17^th January 2012

Dear Deputy Prime Minister,

We write to you in your capacity as final arbiter regarding the City-status bids to plead the case for not granting Medway City Status. The reasons for this are three-fold: 

Firstly, the cost: Medway Council has played down the cost saying it will only cost 8 pence per resident. We do not believe this is a fair reflection of the cost when considering changes to signage alone, in all its forms and applications, which would be numerous. This comes at a time when the Council is trying to save £15m by 2015, having already overspent by £2m on the unpopular new Bus station’s original budget and wasted a further £2.3m as a result of other examples of poor planning.

Additionally, with the Council’s proposed selling off and closure of day care centres for the elderly, along with residential care homes; making redundancies; cutting other services, we believe that the City-Status bid is another unnecessary burden for the Medway Town’s council-tax-payer.

Secondly, there is no evidence to suggest that City Status would be of any benefit to the towns. We understand that Brighton and Hove believe the only thing that city status brought them was a great deal of debt. We are concerned that city status would only add to the financial squeeze in Medway with no benefits. The Medway towns already has great potential with plenty of space for new business; a large work force; good transport connections to London, the rest of the country and Europe. City Status will not change that.

Thirdly, this is not something the people of the Medway Towns want or even care about, not that Medway Council would know, as the consultation process has been woeful. Our activists reported that on the doorstep, very few people expressed support; many more expressed their rejection, but most were apathetic towards the whole concept.

The Leader of the Council, Rodney Chambers OBE, admitted after the second failed attempt, a third bid would not be in the best interests of the Conservative group or the people  of the Medway Towns, yet here they are doing it all again.

Each one of the Medway Towns has a rich heritage of its’ own and historically, they have achieved much by themselves. Labelling the towns as one, i.e. the City of Medway, will see each town slowly lose its' individuality. They each have their own cultures, their own communities and a City of Medway would be an artificial construct. Most residents are proud that they live in Gillingham, Rainham, Chatham, Rochester or Strood…. we all live in the unitary authority of Medway Council, but none would say they live in Medway.

The whole bid for City status for the Medway towns is undemocratic, unwanted and unaffordable. Please consider our petition accordingly.

Yours faithfully,          

Chris Sams (Secretary)

Tony Jeacock (Chairman)

(On behalf of the Medway LibDems Executive Committee)

Is the Medway Valley line fit for purpose?

When Doctor Beaching wielded his famous axe that cut away all the unnecessary railway lines in the country there were some dubious losses and survivors. One such survivor is the Medway Valley line which runs from Strood to Paddock Wood.

It is a beautiful line, no doubts there, that runs through the heart of rural Kent and stops at beautiful Victorian stations like East Farleigh, Maidstone West and Yalding. The only reason that the line probably survived the axe was that it is the only way to connect North Kent lines with the Mid-Kent lines through Maidstone short of travellers going to Ashford or Bromley South and London Bridge and it does act as a handy short cut.

It is also helpful for people, such as myself, who don't drive and want a cheap day out to Maidstone. Some people have chosen to live out in East Farleigh and Yalding (I can't blame them!) in beautiful rural countryside rely on the line to get them to work in London and go to Strood to get a connection or to hop aboard the High Speed Rail link to St Pancreas. On a personal note it also helps me go and visit my Mother who lives in Marden from time to time.

The Line is however fairly ineffective. The trains run every half an hour and if you are delayed by minutes in getting to Strood or Paddock wood then you have to wait around at these choice locations twiddling your thumbs. Also as the trains run down a singular track if there is a problem upon the rail then the whole line is shut down. I was stuck on Strood station awaiting the train which had unfortunately broken down in Maidstone West station, I then had to wait 45 minutes for a Coach service to be organised and then a further 45 minutes for the drive to Maidstone. It is indeed much more convenient although slightly pricey, to catch the 101 Bus from Chatham to Maidstone Chequers centre, on the weekend there is the added bonus that it goes past my house in the evening on its way to Twydal!

Another problem is the nature of the stations. As I have written in past blogs the station at Strood and even Maidstone West station are not condusive to people with luggage, babies or wheel chairs. There are no plans to modernise these stations in the near future and indeed Maidstone West was one of the stations ear marked to be made Unmanned under the McNulty review. So between Strood and Paddock Wood there will be no assistance for travellers such as myself at the rural stations.

The line is also fairly lightly travelled, outside of rush hour, reflected in the two carriage trains that traverse the line once every half an hour and these trains are hardly packed.

This line is a bit of a white elephant with more problems than pro points, it either needs serious investment - Something Southeastern are unlikely to do, or maybe it does need to finally be pulled up and the loss cut. Although as a fan of railways, rural and Victorian lines in particular, I do not condone this for the sake of doing it. Maybe it would be better to convert it to a steam service again and used as a tourist attraction running down the scenic Medway line?

An Appeal to Reason - No to City Status

Five towns, not One city.

Before I start this I should make clear that I am not writing this as a Liberal Democrat party member or on behalf of the party. I know as a group the Medway Lib Dems are opposed to city status but I have arrived at this position by myself and just happen to agree with them. I am instead writing this Appeal to Reason as a citizen of Gillingham who was born here, lived the first few years of my life here and the last four years, whose family lived here for at least a century, the Great grandson of Cpl G W Bone whose death is commemorated on the Boer war memorial in Brompton Barracks and Grandson of  (the then) Corp A J Pullen who helped build the defences in Chatham town centre and along the Great Lines in 1940-41 to stave off invasion.

I am writing to urge Medway Council to rethink their plans and bid for uniting the Medway towns into one Medway City.

The Medway towns, as I'm sure many know have long historic Individual identities and have slowly, since the Second World War, been pulled together until eventually formed a Unitary authority but maintained their individual names. This bid would see the last buttresses collapse and see their amalgamation and eventual disappearance.

The five towns have their own individual character, communities and up until the twentieth century boarders. With the growth of the towns the villages of Brompton, Luton, Horsted, Borstal, Wayfield, Hempstead... I could go on! These villages now exist as nothing more than names on a map if not borough's within the larger Chatham, Rainham and Gillingham areas. Is there not a danger that within fifty, sixty years the same would happen to the other Medway towns? How long before I'm supporting Medway City FC instead of Gillingham?

Any city that was created out of the towns would be an artificial construct like the formation of Great Britain from the four original states with their own separate identities and community and that has begun the slow unwind to separation. History shows us artificial unions cannot stay together.

Unlike other City contenders there is a NO campaign based on this. I cannot imagine the people of Reading saying;

"No thanks, we'd rather stay as a town."

I am saying; "No thanks I'd rather be a town rather than several towns masquerading as a city."

So what of Rochester? That was a city and that was OK.

Yes, it was part of the Medway towns, a cooperative group.

But the area is known as Medway anyway.

Yeah, but as a short name. I live in Gillingham, my Grandfather in Chatham, I have a friend who lives in Strood and ministers the Rochester baptist Church. Medway is the umbrella term, a shorthand if you will but we live in individual areas that should remain thus.

It is a glorious waste of money. Medway Council have to save £5 million over the next five years, they have overspent on their original budget for the new bus station, spent an extra 500k on a straight path into Medway park, other finances have been mismanaged and now they want to pay for the City of Medway?

I know we've been promised that it costs no more than 8p each but on a quick stats check;

Rochester pop. 27,000

Gillingham Pop. 99,773
Chatham pop. 70,540
Strood Pop.33,182
Rainham pop.6,394

= 236889 X 8 = 18,952.12 (on 2001's figures.)

This cannot be accurate. I've been through three Company rebrandings in my working life and all of them have vast amounts of hidden costs.

Uniforms, signs, advertisement, leaflets, maps, stationary, motifs, sponsorship etc all need replacing.
Sure some will continue to be used until they need replacement which is fine and relatively inexpensive.

BUT you can't tell me that the road signs, office stationary at Gunwharf and the Council's vehicles won't immediately get re branded? How many man hours will have to go into this? Time is money and wages for someone. Is this an expense that the people of Medway can afford to take on?

I'm all for the betterment of Medway which is why I would love see this money put into the regeneration of Chatham and Gillingham town centres and make them nicer than the current Eastern Bloc-esq ruins they seem to have become rather than pump the money into a massive White elephant. There have been No concrete bonuses for being a city. There is the promise of better business opportunities and investment but there is nothing yet on the books. Also why are these companies not already investing in the Medway Towns? What is truly in the name and is it not the same area? The only plus that I have seen so far is that Councillors will get to call themselves City councillors.

The people of the Medway towns haven't been consulted about this and I sincerely doubt they want it, or are even that bothered.

Yes I know there was a phone survey that spoke to all of 0.01%  of the Medway population (and only found 65% of them were in favour!) but what about the rest of us?
The people of the towns have followed blindly as the Council has taken us by the hand and led us or even dragged us into things we've not agreed to or wanted in the past, like the tunnel purchase, the Medway test, etc.. but now the people need to stand up and say "NO".

Of course if I am wrong and I am the minority I will shut up, stop my campaigning and sit silently in the corner keeping my opinions to myself and let the democracy rule as it should. But who knows if I am the minority?

I know referendum's are expensive, and although it is one option, a cheaper one would be a survey through the door or ask councillors to as their constituents at their surgeries over the upcoming months? That's almost free - a price Medway Council can afford!

So please consult the people and think long and hard about this! It is a big issue, something that needs addressing and local Conservative and Labour Groups to think about... Stop- Listen and think again.

As I said, if it is truly the will of the people then yeah I'll be quiet and go away but until the Council can turn around and demonstrate that I will continue to fight and kick up a stink about this.