There are few phrases more likely to unite a nation than “cats have a right to roam”. And few more likely to start a neighbourhood cold war than “your cat has used my [...]
Part 3: Beyond the Slogans: Official Figures Show Britain Can’t Fund the NHS or Pensions Without Migration
This is the final part of our series exploring why migration matters, building on the arguments set out in Parts One and Two. Migration, asylum and the bigger demographic [...]
Part 2: Beyond the Slogans: Official Figures Show Britain Can’t Fund the NHS or Pensions Without Migration
This continues Part One of our blog series on why im/migration is necessary. Part Three will follow. The asylum headlines: big bills, small numbers At this point the [...]
Anti-Misogyny Lessons in Schools: What the Data Says About Boys and Girls
The Government has unveiled a new package of measures aimed at tackling what it calls a “national emergency” in violence against women and girls (VAWG), with schools [...]
Kent’s Pothole Stats Contradict Each Other: Press Release vs FOI Figures
Newspapers, or bloggers aren’t like the government… if we make state-ments we have to prove they’re true. Kent’s highways story this winter has offered a gentle [...]
Why Benefit Fraud Makes Headlines — and Council Insider Fraud Rarely Does
A familiar story did the rounds in the run-up to Christmas: a benefits claimant exposed by covert video, prosecuted, and written up in a way that leaves little doubt about [...]
Otterpool Park’s 1001-Day Section 106 Delay Exposes England’s Planning Logjam
On 4 April 2023, Folkestone & Hythe’s Planning and Licensing Committee resolved to grant outline planning permission for Otterpool Park—a new garden town proposed at [...]
Folkestone & Hythe DC Funding 2025/26–2028/29: Core Spending Power, Council Tax and the Real Squeeze
On 17 December 2025, Government published the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for 2026/27 to 2028/29 (a three-year settlement, with later years still subject [...]
Kent County Council Funding Explained: Why the “£50m Boost” and “£127m Increase” Are Both True (Fair Funding vs Core Spending Power)
If you ever want to start a festive row in a Kent WhatsApp group, don’t mention politics. Mention “extra government funding” — and then watch three people produce [...]
Draft NPPF 2025 Explained: What’s Changed Since 2024 and What It Means for Planning Decisions, Housing Numbers and the Green Belt
Yes — we know you love it. We know you wanted it under the Christmas tree. And the Government, in the spirit of festive excess, has delivered: a brand-new Draft National [...]
Reform UK’s Paranoid “Coup” Claim in Kent: Political Theatre Meets the Hard Limits of the Law
By any normal standard of political language, accusing the Prime Minister of plotting a “coup” against Kent County Council is the sort of thing you say when you’ve run [...]
Wood-Burner Boom in Folkestone & Hythe District: 1,356 Recorded Installs — and the Council’s Blind Spot
An Environmental Information request has forced Folkestone & Hythe District Council to put hard numbers on something residents have been arguing about for years: how fast [...]
Michael Hadwen at Kent County Council as Reform UK Creates Taxpayer-Funded Political Assistant Roles: Has He Already Been Appointed?
Updated: 19 Dec 15:55 Mr Michael Hadwen was in the Kent County Council chamber yesterday. On its own, that is not a crime, a scandal, or even unusual: local democracy is [...]
“Like Nuclear Weapons”: Kent County Council Approves Political Assistants — Taxpayer Cost Up to £98,564 a Year (Plus On-Costs)
“If my enemy has one, then I ought to have one.” That was the Christmas-season dilemma put to Kent County Council this week as members voted to approve taxpayer-funded [...]
Otterpool Park: More Than £76m Spent, 0 Homes Built — Ten Years After Folkestone & Hythe’s Garden Town Land Buy
More than £38,967,500 has been spent assembling land and property for Otterpool Park (according to the Land Registry and the council’s asset-register spreadsheet). Add [...]
Kent County Council Political Assistants: Reform UK Plan Could Cost Taxpayers Up to £98,564 a Year in Salaries (Plus On-Costs)
Kent County Council will be asked at Full Council tomorrow (Thursday 18 December) to approve the creation of Political Assistant (agenda item 11) posts for qualifying [...]
Part 2 – Lyminge Parish Council in Crisis: Missing Overtime Policy, Governance Gaps and Bullying Concerns
The follow-up to our earlier account is not pretty. Over the last few months of 2025, with the permanent clerk on leave and a temporary clerk in post, the parish council’s [...]
Kent & Medway ICB: DSF Loss, Long NHS Waits and Conflicts of Interest Concerns — What the Board Papers and Spending Data Reveal
The Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB) went into its November 2025 board cycle carrying two burdens at once: worsening financial weather, and a governance question [...]
Princes Parade Write-Off and Oportunitas Valuation Error: Audit Scrutiny Intensifies as Folkestone & Hythe Audit & Governance Meeting Is Postponed
Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Audit & Governance Committee was due to meet tomorrow evening (Wednesday 17 December, 6pm) to scrutinise the 2024/25 Statement [...]
Part 1: Beyond the Slogans: Official Figures Show Britain Can’t Fund the NHS or Pensions Without Migration
This three-part blog explores why, in a rapidly ageing, low-fertility Britain, migration is not a lifestyle choice but a basic requirement for keeping the country running. [...]
The Grand Folkestone: Residents Report Utility Billing Disputes, High Energy Charges and Unresolved Fire Door and Corridor Lighting Concerns
Residents at The Grand in Folkestone have contacted us with a new set of concerns about day-to-day management of the building — including what they describe as long-running [...]
Exclusive: The Shepway Vox Team Asks New Kent & Medway NHS ICB CEO Adam Doyle to Clarify Investigations After Procurement and Governance Concerns Emerge
Exclusive We, the Shepway Vox team, understand that a cluster of serious concerns has been raised inside NHS Kent and Medway’s ICB leadership orbit — including potential [...]
Bailiffs Return to The Grand Folkestone: £20,490 Unpaid CCJ Raises Fresh Service Charge Fears for Leaseholders
Bailiffs were reported at The Grand in Folkestone again on Monday 8 December, in what residents say was another confrontation over unpaid electricity linked to flats — a [...]
Freemasons in Local Government: How Secret Membership and £5bn Procurement Fraud Risk Are Undermining Trust in UK Councils
The government’s own anti-corruption documents and fraud figures leave little doubt: local government is now a frontline battleground against fraud and corruption – and [...]
Kent Life Expectancy by District and Constituency (2001–2024): Biggest Gaps, Biggest Gains and What It Means for Folkestone & Hythe’s Ageing Population
Kent is often described as a single place with a single health story. The reality, once you look at the life-expectancy numbers, is very different. Across the county, people [...]