Catch up on all the latest new from across Kent with Oliver Leader de Saxe and Gabriel Morris.
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00:00Welcome to the Kent Politics Show here on KMTV, the show that gets Kent's
00:29politicians talking. I'm Oliver, Leader of the Saks, and what we tend to keep on the
00:33local side here, it's hard to ignore what's happening over the Atlantic.
00:37Yesterday, Prime Minister Sikir Starmer met with Donald Trump to discuss not
00:42only the future of Ukraine, but whether we find ourselves in a trade war like
00:46many of our close allies, with many thinking he's threaded the needle just
00:51about right. But it's not just a government that's been bracing for
00:55impacts, with Mayor Council's budget being voted on last night, and fears for the
01:00flight path of Gatwick Airport as talk about a second runway hits. Boiling
01:05points. To make sense of it all, I'm joined by our local democracy reporter, Gabriel
01:09Morris, here to break down all the headlines today. Obviously, Gabriel, it's not
01:13normally we do this, but there's so much news that comes under your local
01:18democracy remit. I'm going to ask you, how are you finding this week? Bit busy, right?
01:24Yeah, there's a lot been going on. Very busy day yesterday. Gatwick Airport, Medway
01:28budget, Brighton & Hove budget, Brighton & Hove, other stuff. We covered a whole lot of
01:31South East. A lot of things were happening yesterday, so this morning, very tired.
01:35And let's get into that Medway budget stuff. Yeah, let's go with that. We've been hearing a lot
01:40about it here in the five towns where our studio is based. It's because for
01:45years we've heard about how Medway Council's in financial dire straits,
01:50continuous support from government, independent authors coming in to look
01:55and over the books. What was happening last night? What's reaction like there?
02:01Well, Medway budget last night, for residents, what they're going to be
02:06seeing is 5% increase in council tax. Well, let's be technical on this.
02:104.99% because you can't raise it to 5%. It's the maximum Medway can
02:14raise it to. They did want to go further, but the government wouldn't let them, so
02:18it's a 5% council tax rise. This was the scene last night. It went on, started at
02:247pm all the way through to 11.30pm at night. It's very, very busy. You see the new reform
02:29councillors sat down there as well. You can do. Yeah, they're at the back.
02:33They were quite quiet last night. They didn't have too much to say, but they're
02:37fairly new to the role. But you can see the independent groups there.
02:41Independent group and Conservatives both put through alternative budgets or
02:46amendments, maybe not a full alternative budget, and they were both voted out.
02:52I'll talk a little bit about the Conservative amendments. They wanted to
02:57reintroduce free swimming for under-16s, half-hour free parking. There's some of
03:02the things they had in when they were in power. Obviously, one of the most
03:06controversial cuts Medway Labour made as they came in was getting rid of that
03:11free swim lessons, which is continuing. It's a big sticking point. They've mentioned it
03:15before at the previous budget. They also tabled an amendment about that as well,
03:18when it first reared its head as an issue that's really getting voters here in the
03:23fire towns. Yeah, I think it definitely has. I think from a voter point of view,
03:28I've spoken to them quite a few times on the street over the past year, is what
03:33they will see visually is potholes building up. They'll see their council
03:39tax going up. They'll see fees going up. Today, well, last night, the signal for
03:43later this year for leisure centre fees to go up, parking fees to go up. But at
03:48the same time, as things are going up, as I was saying, they'll see potholes
03:51increasing on the road. So I think there's a little bit of discontent
03:54coming here. I have spoken to the Medway council leader in the past, Vince Maple,
03:59and he's defended that, saying actually these are some of the most visible costs,
04:03but there are a lot of hidden costs behind the scenes, such as adult social
04:07care, children with special education needs, particularly home to school
04:10transport. Those two factors, adult social care as well, are really costing
04:14councils a lot of money. KCC singing pretty much off the same hymn sheet
04:21when it comes to that. So they're under intense financial pressure, and they're
04:27saying they're having to make these difficult decisions, because obviously, as you know,
04:29if they don't balance the books and the budget, which they were able to do last
04:33night, they'll have to, well, effectively declare themselves bankrupt, filing a
04:38section 114 notice. Obviously, a lot joins up thinking between the whole full
04:44council of how to do that, Labour singing off the same hymn sheet, but the
04:49Tories, independence, reform, had some differing opinions. I did speak to George
04:55Perfect just near midnight last night, when this council meeting was
05:00finished. You can tell I'm a little bit delirious.
05:05This is my fourth coffee. I spoke to George Perfect last night, a little bit about what he thought about the so-called difficult decisions that Labour had put forward.
05:14Well, everyone has to take difficult decisions, but at what point do you say we need, enough is enough, and we need to find a financial footing that is sustainable and deliverable for people across Medway.
05:25My real concern tonight is that we are now going into multiple years ahead, where we're unclear on what the council is going to be able to spend.
05:32Of course, as I mentioned within my speech, the council is hedging the spending review later on this year as effectively the means to end Medway Council's budget gap.
05:40But as we saw with the decision taken on devolution by the Deputy Prime Minister, we absolutely cannot trust this government in order to take or deliver a single pound more for the people of Medway.
05:52Well, it's the other bit of news this week, Gabriel, because it's not all about Medway Council budgets flying high.
05:59It's also about Gatwick. It's something that impacts a big part of our transmission area because the flight path runs Tunbridge, Wells, Tunbridge, Eden Bridge, all areas impacted by an airport, not in Kent, but impacts everything above Kent.
06:16I mean, I think if you're booking a flight, one of the first places people in Kent might look is actually flying from Gatwick.
06:22It's just around the M25 down the M26, I believe. I'm not very good when it comes to roads.
06:28So it's one of the closest airports, and it has got rail links as well into London. So it is a convenient airport for a lot of people in Kent.
06:36Now, Gatwick is not just the closest airport to the UK, it's also the second, well actually the second busiest airport in the UK, but the busiest single runway airport.
06:44Manchester, Heathrow, both can use two runways. Gatwick only has the one, although they do technically have two runways, but one is used as a backup runway, so they can't actually use it.
06:59They only use it if the main runway needs to have resurfacing or if there's been an incident or they need to close that.
07:04It really shows you the negotiation that goes into these planning things, because it was negotiated with the council many, many moons ago.
07:10It was just to be used for taxiing and in emergencies, and now it's kind of getting to a point where it's that breaking point at the airport.
07:18I'm sure we've all had those hour-long airport delays at Gatwick. It's a common story we've all experienced.
07:25And now, more positive sounds from the government, perhaps?
07:30It's a step closer, but Gatwick is essentially going to have to go back to the drawing board.
07:35What the government said yesterday is they're minded to approve, but they still have concerns over the environmental credibilities of this and noise concerns.
07:45And I think for people living in Kent, if you're watching this in Tunbridge Wells, Tunbridge as you're saying, you will hear a lot of the planes from Gatwick.
07:53That's because when they're coming into land on a westerly approach, they often turn over Tunbridge Wells, over Tunbridge, in between the two towns, before making their final over Eden Bridge.
08:05So it can be noisy there. They're flying at 5,000, 3,000 feet above you.
08:10And a lot of people there are concerned about that.
08:14So that's something that Tom Tugendhat, a Conservative MP for Tunbridge, and Mike Martin, a Liberal Democrat MP for Tunbridge Wells.
08:22They both sent a letter to the Transport Secretary ahead of that announcement yesterday.
08:26They asked them, actually, we need to consider the views of the locals.
08:30I don't know if it's directly from this open letter that five local MPs have signed.
08:35But the government have now signalled that they would like to see a little bit more information from Gatwick of how they're going to do noise mitigation.
08:43So it's getting closer, but it's not there yet.
08:46Yeah, it's interesting. And I think it's good to hear from the people who actually use Gatwick to see what they think about these new proposals to bring this second runway back into use.
08:55Let's hear from them now.
08:57Gatwick is so close to us and going to Luton and City, it's just a long way journey.
09:03The trains, always very good, tidy.
09:06Yeah, it's quieter than I thought.
09:08It's easy to get to good transport links and the food's not bad either.
09:12Gatwick could be expanded in the next decade.
09:15Is that something you'd welcome, to see more flights being able to come in and out?
09:17More flights, definitely.
09:19For the airport, yes. Sustainability wise, I'm not quite sure. Global warming in terms of emissions, I'm not.
09:23But in terms of tourism, yeah, great.
09:25Yeah, I think it should be. Yeah, I think it's a long time coming.
09:29Just before the break, Gabriel, it's an issue that you've covered numerous times, from nuisance vehicles to crime disorder on the streets of Kent.
09:39And now there's a new bill, the Police and Crime Bill, coming in that could address some of that.
09:44Yeah, anti-social behaviour for many in Kent is a big issue.
09:50I've covered it in multi-different ways.
09:53I think a lot of big towns in Kent and actually some rural communities as well, definitely with noisy vehicles, going on to grass verges.
10:03I know in Medway, I've done it quite a few times.
10:05Barnfield has quite a lot of issues, a wreck up in Chatham with motorbikes riding around it.
10:10And the council is trying to tackle that with an aid and shame policy.
10:14And a PSPO in the area.
10:17Then you have other issues, particularly rife in Sitting Moor and Isle of Sheppey, Dartford, of so-called young people, or as the tabloids will say, youth, on the streets.
10:32I know our colleague Finn, who works here at KNTV, and Joe Crosley from Kent Online have done actually quite a lot of into this.
10:39And there always seems to be something there.
10:42And if you talk to local people in the area, I think a lot of the time the concern is over youth clubs and that provision.
10:49Yeah, the root causes.
10:50Yeah, I think that's a lot of the issue.
10:52And this bill, it kind of tackles much more the crime element of it.
10:56It's about tackling those areas.
10:58I actually spoke to Tris Osborne, the MP for Chatham and Eltham.
11:01He used to be an enforcement cabinet member in Medway Council.
11:05He spoke to him numerous times about this issue.
11:07And he says it's not just for our urban areas, but for our rural areas as well.
11:11Let's hear it quickly from him now.
11:13So nuisance biking, as I've just said, isn't just an issue for areas of Wavefield and Lordswood,
11:18but also, crucially, Stoddland, Walden Meckles, rural villages that are blighted by this.
11:24Harassment, again, does not happen solely in the urban centres.
11:27And clearly, the focus on respect orders includes towns as well as major urban cities centres.
11:33So I think this bill covers all of the different aspects of crime that are blighting people,
11:39including antisocial behaviour between neighbours and tenants.
11:42So I'm not saying this is solely an urban bill.
11:44This also helps rural communities too.
11:46Well, Gabriel, a quick whistle-stop tour through all of this for us.
11:50But we're back after the break with more news and views for Kent.
15:08Welcome back to the Kent Politics Show, live on KMTV, the show that gets Kent's politicians
15:13talking.
15:14And now, it's been a few weeks since City Morning's chef BNP, Kevin McKenna, made public
15:19for the first time that for the last 20 years he's been living with HIV, in the hopes of
15:24raising awareness about the issue of testing, particularly amongst people who would never
15:28normally consider it.
15:30Well, earlier this week, I caught up with him in an exclusive interview to find out
15:35what's next for the government on this issue.
15:38It's been a few weeks since you made public that you've been living with HIV.
15:43I kind of wanted to ask, how have your constituents and people in City Morning's chef BNP reacted
15:49to your announcement?
15:51People have been incredibly supportive.
15:52I mean, it's actually bowled me away a little bit.
15:54People have said really, really nice things.
15:56I've had loads of messages.
15:57I've still got lots of people to get back to just because they've been so positive and
16:00supportive.
16:01So that's been fantastic.
16:02And really good to see how the world has changed in that way.
16:05Because obviously, it's something that has so much stigma over the years.
16:09Did you ever imagine being in this position when you were first diagnosed?
16:13By the time I was diagnosed about 20 years ago, it already started to shift a lot.
16:18So by then, we had treatment starting.
16:20They've become better, more refined since then.
16:23But it already shifted to the point where actually it was pretty clear that managed
16:28well, everyone could live for a long time.
16:31And in fact, it became very clear in that sort of period, people could live as long
16:35a life as anyone else.
16:36And it would be all the other things of old age that affect you.
16:39So that was already clear.
16:41So I knew that once I was stable on treatment.
16:43So in fact, probably not changed that much in that sense.
16:47But I'm very aware as well that people more widely didn't realize that.
16:52So that understanding that if you're treated and you're undetectable viral load, you can't
16:58pass the HIV on.
17:00That's something I know that still hasn't percolated through society enough, which is
17:05something that I really wanted to flag up.
17:07Because it is that thing, I think, people have that stigma, those concerns.
17:12Did you ever, because obviously it's something you've kept private from the public until
17:16quite recently, was there something that you were kind of worried that people were finding
17:20out they'd treat you differently if they found out you were HIV positive?
17:24To be fair, I haven't necessarily worried about that that much.
17:26I mean, probably like many people, I lived right the way through the epidemic.
17:30I remember in the 80s, just as I was a kid, just realizing that I was gay, that actually
17:37that was when the AIDS crisis hit.
17:39So I lived through that worst period.
17:41Can you imagine not being out even as a gay person, having to read everything in the press
17:46about it, see these horror stories, see how it affected family, friends, people at school
17:51and so on.
17:52So I've lived through that.
17:53By the time actually I was coming out, as I said in the speech itself, it's actually
17:57been pretty mundane.
17:59You know, within the gay community, within people that, you know, it's a familiar thing
18:04day to day.
18:05I mean, I think partly that's why the really big thing right now is that some of the highest
18:10levels of transmission are among heterosexual people.
18:13And I'm not sure that everyone's caught up with that yet.
18:16That actually you're much more likely to contract it now if you're heterosexual and engaged
18:20in heterosexual intercourse.
18:22Then you are if you're having same sex intercourse.
18:25And honestly, to protect everyone, people need to know that, which is why testing has
18:29become so important.
18:31And obviously there is a aim, a public campaign to reduce transmission to zero by 2030 in
18:41England.
18:42There's a HIV action plan due this summer to try and continue that work.
18:48What needs to happen to make that a reality?
18:50Oh, this is such an exciting point.
18:52If we can stop new transmissions of HIV in the UK, it will be the first time that any
18:58disease has been stopped in its tracks without using a vaccine.
19:03And what needs to be done, basically, we need to know who is HIV positive at the moment
19:08so that everyone who is HIV positive can be on treatment.
19:12And also people that might be at risk can also take a one a day tablet to prevent them
19:17catching HIV.
19:18Take those two things together and that will stop people either passing it on or contracting
19:23the disease.
19:24And it will literally stop it in its tracks.
19:26So that's the thing that needs to be done.
19:28It's why the government has been doing something called opt-out testing in A&E.
19:32So in areas which in a lot of accident emergency departments around the country, people are
19:38given an HIV test.
19:40If they don't want one, they don't have to have one.
19:43It's just offered routinely to everybody so everyone can find out if they are HIV positive
19:48and if they are, can start treatment straight away.
19:50Do you think 2030 is an achievable target at the moment?
19:54I think it is achievable, just.
19:57And it's the right target to have.
19:58There's no point in life setting yourself targets that would be easy to beat.
20:02Politicians quite rightly get stick for that.
20:05And honestly, it should be a tough target.
20:07So it is achievable, which is why increasing the opt-out testing is important.
20:11I really want to see, along with everyone else, what the HIV Action Plan looks like
20:15and then be assured that it gives us a clear pathway so that we can achieve this by 2030.
20:22If we can bring those numbers right down, it's doable.
20:27We just need all to act together.
20:29And there's the part the government has to play and the NHS, and there's also more widely
20:33just making sure that everyone knows that this is a potential thing that's on the agenda
20:38and that as a society we can achieve together.
20:40We are on the cusp of a very reactionary world.
20:44We're seeing the rise of a lot of right-wing politics, lots of anti-trans, anti-LGBTQ plus rhetoric.
20:53Are you worried that could lead to re-stigmatisation in time?
20:58Are you worried that we could potentially slip backwards in an increasingly reactionary world?
21:03It is a scary time.
21:05I think the way that social media operates, it has very insidious effects on society,
21:11and some people have taken advantage of that.
21:16I think my approach to all this, as in throughout my whole life, has been to live my life well
21:23and show other people that I'm living my life well because I'm not particularly exciting or exotic.
21:30It's just that everyday nature is our biggest fight against it.
21:34I do think for trans people, one of the things that has been an issue around for trans people
21:42is that most people who are trans, they want to live the gender that they feel they are
21:48without actually feeling anything, just not make it a big thing in their life.
21:53The problem is that actually, let's face it, gay men have often been a bit more out there,
21:59and there are probably more of us overall.
22:02It's much easier these days. Everyone's probably got a gay auntie or uncle or whatever.
22:07I think trans people have been a bit more, they're just less in society generally or less apparent.
22:12That makes it easier. It makes it easier for people to invent this bogeyman idea of what that might be like.
22:21Well, I mean, that's what I lived through as a younger gay man.
22:24We were very much stigmatised and treated like that.
22:27We fought against that.
22:29We're going to fight the same battles again, keep fighting them again.
22:32I think we've learnt what we need to do.
22:35So I am worried, but we're going to keep fighting and living and just being everyday people.
22:41And I'm wondering, do you think that by the end of this Parliament,
22:44because that's the aim, that lots of this stuff will happen by the end of this Parliament,
22:48if the government hadn't achieved those aims, would you view it as a failure and a betrayal
22:52of this government to the communities it's promised to represent in its manifesto?
22:56I never feel things like that are a betrayal.
22:58If things are hard when you hit them, what you do is you regroup and you work out how you're going to challenge that.
23:03Any of us can hit a roadblock. Any of us can hit a challenge.
23:06I think real strength, resilience and leadership is going, right, we've hit this challenge.
23:10Like, as you said, social media and the way it's gone and some of the impacts.
23:14If you find that that challenge is overwhelming at that point,
23:17if we can't get enough people to be tested to meet this, it's fine, you regroup and you redo it.
23:24It won't change the destination, it just needs to plan.
23:27I mean, that's how you fight a war, that's how you change social policy.
23:35And finally, a scheme which has seen more than 1,400 schools up and down the country
23:40receiving funding to install electric vehicle charging points has been extended
23:45in an announcement made in Kent this week.
23:48There are visits to Northleet School for Girls, which has benefited from green investment.
23:52The Minister for Future Roads made clear areas like Kent were a priority,
23:57but a rural county like ours, will that actually work?
24:01That's what I've been finding out.
24:03A ministerial visit in a Northleet school leading the charge on electric vehicle charging points.
24:10Today, the government announced a record number had been installed
24:15at educational establishments across the country.
24:20With more than 1,400 EV charging points like this one at schools and colleges,
24:25the hope is to make the school run more sustainable.
24:29But here at Northleet, it's a predominantly urban area.
24:33Will this policy actually make sense in Kent's rural towns and villages?
24:39We're now up to 74,000 public charge points, that's up 35% in the last year.
24:46But in rural areas, it's up 45%.
24:49Because we recognise that if we're going to expect people to change
24:53from an internal combustion engine car to an electric vehicle,
24:57they have to feel confident that they're able to charge,
25:00not just at home or at the workplace, but when they're out and about.
25:05The charging points were funded as part of the workplace charging scheme,
25:10which alongside the electric vehicle charge point grant,
25:14has been extended for another year.
25:17This means schools will still be able to receive up to £2,500 per socket.
25:24But the scheme is costly, with a £3 million price tag from government.
25:32And this is in addition to £2 million announced in the autumn budget
25:39to continue powering the charge point rollout.
25:43Is the cost of all this net zero investment actually worth it?
25:49Very simply, every penny from the EV charges and the solar panels
25:52goes back into our students' education.
25:54So the capital projects such as our farm, our recording studio, our fitness suite,
25:59they've all been made possible through savings in our reduced energy costs
26:02because of the solar power.
26:04With more than 200 charge points installed at schools across the south-east,
26:11Northfleet is far from the only school plugging into this growing trend.
26:18But whether they will actually be powering the school drop-off any time soon
26:23is a different question entirely.
26:26Oliver Luther-Sacks for KMTV in Northfleet.
26:31Interesting one, that.
26:33And of course you can find all our political reports on our website, kmtv.co.uk,
26:38as well as on the politics tab of the Kent online website.
26:42I'll be back next week with more news and views from Kent's politicians and pundits.
26:47I'll see you very soon.