The Providence Inne, 47-49 Sandgate High St, Sandgate, Folkestone CT20 3AH
A regular meet-up on the first Wednesday of every morth for Liberal Democrat members, supporters and the Lib Dem curious in the Folkestone and Hythe area!
Simply come along for a social drink and a chat: no speeches, no leaflet delivery. It's a "buy your own" event (sorry!) but come along and say hello to our Councillors, campaigners, members and friends.
Sandgate Library, James Morris Court, Sandgate High Street, Sandgate, Folkestone CT20 3RR
As part of their commitment to listening to and working with local residents, Tim Prater and Gary Fuller, the new Lib Dem District Councillors for Sandgate and West Folkestone, will be holding regular drop-in advice surgeries in the ward each month.
No need for an appointment - just turn up to discuss any issue you would like our help with. The surgeries are in a public place: if you'd prefer to speak to Tim or Gary one-to-one then please contact them directly and we can set up a personal meeting with you.
After a hugely busy political year, we'd like to wish all our members, supporters, their friends and families a very Happy Christmas and the best possible New Year.
We saw our share of the vote rise at the General Election, came second in Folkestone and Hythe in the European Elections in May, and got Liberal Democrat Councillors elected to Folkestone and Hythe District Council, Folkestone Town Council and Hythe Town Council for the first time in years. We've got further to go, but what a long way we've come...
It was a pleasure to see former Councillor Terry Preston at the Folkestone and Hythe District Council Christmas meeting on 18th December.
At that meeting, after months of calls by the Liberal Democrats and others for the District Council to move beyond the previously announced Council house building progamme or 300 houses over 5 years, David Monk announced he was now going to push for 1,000 new Council homes to be built over the next 10 years.
Britain's network of buses is faltering, leaving many people isolated and unable to get to work. A radical government would consider making bus travel free
The great story of the British bus, which arrived in 1824 and by 1950 accounted for 42 per cent of all journeys, is running into difficulties. Use in this country is at its lowest level since records began 50 years ago. Only 4 per cent of all journeys made last year were by bus. Outside London there were nine million fewer journeys in Britain in 2018-19 compared with the previous year, a result of higher fares and cancelled routes. The inconvenience caused has not been evenly spread. Most cuts have fallen on less populated and rural regions. Some busy places have only two bus rides a day. Smaller villages might see a bus perhaps twice a week, while others are cut off entirely.
No Liberal Democrat breakthrough in Kent and Medway but good progress throughout region.
The Liberal Democrat share of the votes cast in Kent & Medway for the December 2019 Election was 10.3%. This was a notabable improvement on 2017, with the number of Liberal Democrat votes 4.8% higher than in the previous General Election. This increase was slightly better than the 4.6% recorded in England and the 4.2% recorded across the United Kingdom. The Liberal Democrat share of the vote increased in every Kent & Medway constituencyapart from Canterbury - which was sucessfully defended by the remain-supporting Labour MP, Rosie Duffield.
Engineering work is being carried out at Ashford International station from Thursday 26 December to Sunday 29 December 2019 and on other dates.
This work is part of a £1.25 billion investment to improve journeys for passengers on the Kent network. The work will involve replacing track, improving drainage, upgrades to points and other works which will improve journeys for passengers travelling on this part of the Kent network.
