I know that people really want to see the Government taking action to cut red tape and bureaucracy, particularly when it gets in the way of voluntary groups and organisations from putting on events. One of the issues that has often come up in the last two years has been the requirement for small venues [...]

One of my favourite carols is ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ and in particular the line ‘the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight’. As we gather for Christmas, we will have fond memories of the year past, moments of reflection and reasons to look forward to 2012. Looking back [...]

My work as your Member of Parliament this year has given me the chance to see the constituency from many different angles, including going underground and on the water; so I was delighted last Friday to have the chance to land an airplane at Lydd, alongside the airport’s managing director Hani Mutlaq. Thankfully for all [...]

Put the date in your diaries, the Olympic flame and torch will be coming to our area on Wednesday 18th July 2012. As a member of the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, one of our roles in parliament is to scrutinise the plans for the London Olympics, and to hold the [...]

Last week the Boundary Commission published its proposals to reform the size of constituencies across England. This work is part of delivering the commitment of the Government to reduce the number of MPs in parliament to 600, and also to make individual constituencies more equal in size. This is important as some currently have less [...]

The British nuclear industry received a vote of confidence last week in the report published by Michael Weightman, the Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations. The Weightman Report was commissioned by the Government following the earthquake and tsunami In Japan and the subsequent damage to the nuclear power station at Fukushima. None of the nuclear reactors [...]

This week is British Tourism Week and a new report published by Visit Kent shows just how important this industry is to our local economy, and why it should have a bright future. The report shows that in 2009 tourism contributed £3.2 billion to the Kent economy, a 10% increase over the previous three years. [...]