Kent County Council should test whether bus franchising would give Kent a better network. Constituents write to me regularly about their bus services. They tell me about cut routes, few evening and weekend buses and real difficulty reaching hospitals. The Bus Services Act 2025 gives the Council the same franchising powers that Greater Manchester has used. In Greater Manchester’s first franchised areas, bus journeys rose by 14% in a year. Punctuality there rose from around 66% to regularly above 80%. Alongside fellow Kent MPs Sojan Joseph, Mike Tapp, Jim Dickson and Tristan Osborne, I have asked the Council to: • Publish how the current bus partnership has performed against its own targets. • Compare that with a costed assessment of franchising. • Set a timetable and consider the findings in public. For many people across our constituency, the bus is a lifeline. You can read the full letter below. #folkestone #hythe #romneymarsh #busfranchising #kent #transport

I believe that Folkestone, Hythe and Romney Marsh should be a district of sanctuary. Let’s continue to be the compassionate, empathetic, and supportive community that we already are. In practice, becoming a district of sanctuary means improved support for refugees and asylum seekers so we can have greater integration and be a more inclusive society. It means greater community involvement in that process and it means we can challenge hostility and misinformation about refugees and asylum seekers. If you agree that we should be a district of sanctuary, please sign the petition below: folkestone-hythe.moderngov.c…

The William Harvey same day emergency centre is now open. This is what that means for you this winter and beyond: Shorter waiting times, a solution to corridor care and patients discharged within 24 hours I will continue to fight for improved standards of care at the William Harvey.

Recently I met the International Criminal Court’s Vice-President, Rosario Salvatore Aitala (middle), as part of my work with the UK delegation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly. We discussed how the UK can continue to support the Court’s vital work, uphold the rules-based international system and advance accountability. Nine of the ICC’s 18 judges are facing sanctions announced by the Trump administration, including asset freezes and visa restrictions. The sanctions follow the ICC’s decision in November 2024 to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, among other steps. I am glad that the UK, alongside Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands, on Friday reaffirmed our continued and unwavering support for the ICC’s independence, impartiality and integrity, and have strongly disagreed with the proposed US sanctions announced last week. Sanctions are already having a significant impact not only on the Court’s work, but on its dedicated staff and their families. These measures will make things much worse for them, if implemented. The ICC has a vital role to play in bringing those accused of the most serious international crimes to justice and supporting victims and we must continue to support it. #icc #ruleoflaw #internationaljustice

Recently, I held a listening event to hear the views of constituents and healthcare professionals about the state of our local NHS services and what improvements can be made. The Kent & Medway Integrated Care Board have launched a Commissioning Intentions consultation, which is why it was critical for me to hear your views. Your thoughts and ideas directly informed my consultation response. Below you can read my letter to the ICB, which I believe is reflective of our discussions. While the strategic intentions regarding a focus on prevention are welcome, it is clear that trust must be restored in our local healthcare system through a sustained effort to address underserved communities, increase access to GPs, integrate linked up digital systems, ensure there are safe staffing levels within the maternity department at William Harvey, as well as expand community-based mental health support. We’ve made a great start with the Neighbourhood Health Teams which provide much needed care to individuals with chronic conditions. I hope this consultation will help the ICB prioritise, so the people of #Folkestone, #Hythe and #RomneyMarsh can get the world-class care they deserve. Thanks all those who attended! #NHS

Exciting to see that Virgin Trains has been granted track access by the ORR, enabling it to run as many as 20 daily return services using the HS1 line between St Pancras and the Channel Tunnel. I know that Virgin has plans to run services between St Pancras and Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. We also in this conversation can’t forget about Ashford - Ashford International needs to be an international station again. Virgin was right to recognise that there is significant public interest in the reintroduction of international services at Ashford and Ebbsfleet - but they want the international parts of the stations to be reopened first. I look forward to working with my Kent Labour MP colleagues to continue our campaign to reopen Ashford International when Parliament returns.

It was great to join Hands off our Marsh in Old Romney for their community walk around part of the area proposed for the South Kent Energy Park. A big thank you to Kim Gowing for organising the walk. There was a very strong turnout and it was a brilliant opportunity for us as a community to discuss the proposal. I am concerned about the cumulative impact of the proposed solar farms on the Marsh’s high quality farmland, the local tourism and hospitality sector, the wildlife, the drainage system, the visual and noise pollution, as well as the fire safety issues with battery storage systems. I have held meetings with all of the solar companies and I have spoken out about this issue in Parliament. I will be organising a meeting between my office and all of the companies, so we can discuss the cumulative impact of the proposals. I want renewable energy development, but we must protect our rural economy and our rural heritage. Covering up to 10% of the Marsh in solar panels is not proportionate, especially as it is already home to major infrastructure, such as Dungeness nuclear power station and Lydd Airport.

Truth. Justice. Kindness. Peace. Unity. The five words that Joe Bennett’s mother, Lindsay Foreman, told him to reflect on each day. Joe spoke very powerfully on Sky News this morning. It’s positive news that Craig and Lindsay have ended their near-three month hunger strike. They met for three hours yesterday, ate and spoke to their lawyer. Now, we need the regular phone calls between the Foremans and their family to resume. Some hope for sure, but a lot more work to do, so we can bring Craig and Lindsay home.

£11 per hour is not why Coastguard Rescue Officers volunteer. They volunteer because they are extraordinarily courageous and selfless people - they are true public servants. I was proud to stand up for the brilliant CROs in my constituency, and those across Kent in last week’s Westminster Hall debate. @amcarmichaelMP is doing great work on this issue and congrats on securing the Urgent Question on Wednesday. The Minister was right to press pause on the CRO engagement, but let’s see the impact assessment published, the risk assessment produced, let’s take the whistleblowing reports seriously and disclose all the MCA survey data. We’ve got to get this right for the CROs, whose dedication and bravery will never cease to inspire me.

Thank you to all the MPs, Peers and staff who attended our Free the Foremans from Iran campaign drop-in on Wednesday - this is a cross-party campaign! What Craig and Lindsay urgently need is an independent medical assessment, medical items delivered and regular communication between them and their families restored. The U.K. Government must declare their detention as arbitrary, give Craig and Lindsay diplomatic protection and bring their case before the International Court of Justice.

Last night I explained to Channel 4 News why I believe the PM now needs to set out a timetable for a leadership election. channel4.com/news/public-has…

Labour needs a second term to renew this country after years of Tory failure. On the current trajectory, we won’t get there because we will lose, and Farage will win. That should be nobody’s legacy. Having knocked on many doors in recent weeks – in Folkestone & Hythe, Worthing, Hastings & Rye, Thanet, Haringey, Islington – voters are frustrated with the pace of change; but they are still angry about the mistakes made by the leadership: winter fuel, benefit cuts, that LBC interview, Mandelson. Some say we will look like the Tories if we change leader. But would they have done better if they’d kept Boris in despite Partygate? Or kept Truss after she crashed the economy? We have to get on with the job we were elected to do. But we are hamstrung if we continue to be led by the personification of earlier – serious – mistakes. We must give the public a Labour leader with a clear vision, conviction and the ability to inspire if we are to stand any chance of turning things around. So I strongly believe that there must be an orderly transition of leadership well before the local elections next year. Otherwise, we are conceding defeat to Farage before we have even started.

🚌  LOCAL BUS SERVICES 🚌: Reform-UK-run Kent County Council now has the money: it’s on them to spend the £42 million fairly and wisely to improve our local bus services. I was glad to lead a debate in Parliament yesterday on this topic where I revealed some of the responses to my Bus Survey. It was also good to hear from the Minister on how the Government will hold local councils to account for their spending decisions on buses. #KentBuses #Folkestone #Hythe #RomneyMarsh