Margate - everything it's always been

Spent a great day down in Margate again today - this time I took my two daughters for some time at the seaside. And whilst I'm one of those people who usually loves seaside towns in off season - you know, cold, rainy, overcast - it was just great to drove along the Margate seafront on a hot, sunny day like today and to see the beach and the amusements crowded.

Interesting to see Shaw's Fair next to Droit House - coming from Tunbridge Wells, it was only a week or two ago that the Kent and Sussex Courier ran a front page story on Shaw's being banned by Targetfollow, the new owners of The Pantiles. Anyway, the kids had a go on some rides, then we went off to explore the trampolines (sadly Dad is substantially heavier than the nine stone weight limit).

But it's the shops and the back streets that I love about Margate. Unusual one-off shops that you don't find anywhere else. I love the fact that 'The Gallery', sets aside a whole session for service users from care homes, and that cheek by jowl with the kids and the parents were a small army of elderly people with the carers taking a stroll along the prom, stopping for tea at the excellent hut on the front opposite the station.

And you know what? On the way home, just near Thanet Earth, a squadron of what might have been Tornados performed a mini-airshow over the motorway - rehearsal or did we miss a show today? Maybe someone will tell me.

You know, Margate is everything it's always been - it's fun, it's honest, and it's accessible. And it doesn't deserve the elitist claptrap that some have levelled at it for some years now. To the detractors, I say get in the car and go. You might learn something.

The Dark Knight - not a movie for children

I took my eldest yesterday to see "The Dark Knight" - the new Batman movie. And you know what? They're right. It really shouldn't be rated 12A. It's certainly an action packed movie, but it's too dark, too brooding, too forbidding for the British Board of Film Censors to grant it a 12A rating right in the middle of the school holidays.

At 152 minutes, it's very long, and there are at least two occasions when you think it's over. Christian Bale in the lead role almost takes a back seat to the late Heath Ledger, who as the Joker, is the epitome of psychotic maniac - as Michael Caine, who plays Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred says "some men just want to watch the world burn".

My daughter enjoyed the movie, but the thing that stuck in her mind was the "social games" played by the Joker - deeply disturbing acts of violence initiated by the choices made by the innocent victims. Great cast - Bale, Ledger and Caine are joined by Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman - great story, great visuals.

But it's not a movie for children nor should it be rated as such.

Isaac Hayes - a soul legend

I just spent a great day - mainly shopping for shoes and tops - with my eldest daughter. Outside of the usual frantic "drive to school bus, drive to work, come home late, whisper goodnight" treadmill, school holidays are a really good chance to reconnect.

We got a chance to talk about all kinds of things. From relationships to boys (I bit my tongue several times!) to clothes to music. On this last topic, I heard on the radio news about the death yesterday of soul legend Isaac Hayes. Born in August 1942 he became one of the foremost artists in the 1960's of legendary soul label Stax - writing such classics as "Hold On I'm Coming" and "Soul Man".

Those of us of a certain age will remember with affection his Academy and Grammy award-winning soundtrack for the movie Shaft. But I wonder how many of us knew he was honoured in Ghana, being crowned king of the Ada district. Latterly, of course, his velvety tones voiced the Chef character on TV's South Park.

His wife found his body yesterday, his treadmill still running and his body beside it. And at eight minutes past two yesterday afternoon at the Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, one of our great soul legends was declared dead.

Death - particularly the death of a hero - is a sobering thought. Like a classic novel or a life-changing painting, I will ensure my kids get to hear Isaac Hayes.

photo above courtesy of the official Isaac Hayes web site - www.isaachayes.com

The animation of a tailor's dummy

The village of Lamberhurst in Tunbridge Wells has many claims to fame; Margaret Thatcher lived here, as did the fathers of both Kenneth Clarke and Jeremy Beadle (I wonder if they ever shared a lunchtime pint?) and there was for many years a safe house for Soviets intent on "crossing over to the West".

Until now I wouldn't have given Lamberhurst accolades for its graffiti. And yet last weekend, walking a large cardboard carton round to the dustcart kindly provided by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council every fortnight to take away large household waste, I passed a bus shelter. Inside, neatly graffitied in the apex of the roof, was the legend "Kraftwerk" - the cult seventies trio from Dusseldorf whose electronic "industrial pop" gave hearing difficulties to many a follower.

I was reminded of an article I read at the time. Kraftwerk weren't exactly over-endowed with stage presence, and their shows were basically three completely static keyboard players, whose only moving part was their hands - even that only occasionally since most of the arrangements were pre-programmed into synthesisers. Apparently, Kraftwerk commissioned lifelike dummies of themselves in order that they might play several concerts on the same evening, with only one featuring the real band.

I can think of several public figures at the moment who would be grateful even for the animation of a tailor's dummy.

KCC into the community

Yesterday was a really busy day - KCC's Cabinet visited Thanet. With all the excitement and chatter of a group of school children, we boarded an 8.30am minibus at County Hall clutching our coffees and bacon rolls, and headed off down the A2 towards Margate.

First stop Driot House Margate, and a briefing on the progress of KCC's Turner Centre development. Next stop Thanet Skills Studio to see the amazing new vocation training facilities for 14-16 year olds where young people learn, retail, motor mechanics, building and computing skills. Past the Eurokent Business Park to the superb new £22m Marlowe Academy, and a briefing by the head teacher, then on to Ellington School for Girls.

We travelled through Ramsgate Harbour en route to Kent International Airport at Manston, where Infratil Chief Executive Matt Clarke briefed us on expansion plans, then back to Margate for a visit and briefing on the Margate Gateway. By now it was 1.20pm and we'd had six briefings. We walked from the Gateway to the Margate Media Centre, where we had lunch with Thanet District Council's Cabinet and senior management ahead of our web cast KCC Cabinet Meeting at 2pm.

By the time we eventually arrived back at County Hall in the late afternoon, we were tired but felt nevertheless that this had been a really great way to take "KCC into the community"!

Over to you, Jacqui Smith...

The death toll from knife-related attacks rose again this week, with a thirty year old male fatally stabbed in Bolton; another in West Bromwich; a third at the "T in the Park" music festival in Scotland, and four more fatal stabbings in London on Thursday.

And the reaction from Government? Home Secretary Jacqui Smith intends to arrange for young people caught carrying knives to make visits to hospital emergency rooms to see victims of knife attacks, to talk to their families and to go into prison to talk to knife offenders.

So just how will that work then? If - God forbid - I'd fallen prey to a knife attack, it's hardly going to improve my chances of recovery to wake in hospital and find I was being asked to meet with a group of knife-carrying youngsters. And while I languished in intensive care, would my family want to discuss the experience with potential new attackers?

Of course not. It's yet another knee-jerk Government response which can't possibly work. Why not open up the dialogue with young people before they start carrying knives? Why not start resourcing our police force properly. Why not task them with making our inner city communities safer so that our young people feel valued and appreciated and don't need to carry knives in the first place?

And - stop press - I've just had an email from a constituent who's asking me how come at the car boot sale he went to today, there was such a large collection of sheath knives available, and why there wasn't a ban?

Over to you, Jacqui Smith...

Dunorlan in the sunshine

Having been away all week and busy canvassing since I got back, I really wanted to spend some time with the girls.

I've always resisted video games, bedroom TV sets and the ever-present Nintendo Wii, in favour of actually getting out spending time in the fresh air.

Given the contradictory weather recently, it was great to have some sun, so we went to Dunorlan Park in Tunbridge Wells. It has a beautiful boating lake, superb scenery, and a really nice traditional café.

We enjoyed ice cream cornets and lots of fresh air. Dunorlan looked great in the sunshine, and it was good to see so many people there - old, young, tourists and locals, dog walkers, people reading on the benches, couples cuddling on the grass. It was a real slice of life, with everyone getting on with each other.

It was also wonderful to see the fountain looking so good. Full marks to the Borough Council, who have spent a great deal of money on Dunorlan over the last few years. Today I could see exactly why.

Wait your turn for the roundabout

I see from Andrew Neil's BBC show "The Daily Politics" that Children's Secretary Ed Balls and Culture Minister Andy Burnham were filmed using play equipment at a kid's playground in South London yesterday. They bumped into each other, they fell off , they generally showed what immense fun could be had when our Labour Government decides to put money into building children's play parks.

But surely there's some mistake? Isn't this the same Labour government who, since coming to power in 1997, have allowed countless schools to sell off their playing fields to property developers? The same fun-loving party who wanted to outlaw competitive sport in case our children got upset when they didn't win?

And perhaps more importantly, where exactly are these new play parks going to be built, now that this Labour administration that have allowed much of the green space in the South East to be concreted over?

We could be excused for wondering exactly where these new parks would be built - in Kent, the two "growth areas" fingered by John Prescott will see around 120,000 new homes built over the next decade, and around 250,000 new residents to the County - so be prepared to wait your turn for the roundabout.

Selling us out

Is this a record? Margaret Hodge, Minister of State at the Department of Culture has done it again. Whereas last September she praised the Albert Hall Proms as "a fantastic institution" and commented that it was "broadening access"...

...just six months later, she claims the event "attracts too narrow a section of society" and says it is "one of several major cultural events many people did not feel comfortable attending".

I find it incredible that on 6th June 2007, the same Margaret Hodge said that "British residents should get priority in council house allocation" - see the story yourself at http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2007/06/06/barking_dagenham_kenhodge_video_feature.shtml

A year before this in April 2006 she stated that white voters, angry at an influx of black communities, were turning to the British National Party because of Labour's lack of leadership: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/hodge-white-voters-flock-to-bnp-because-of-neglect-by-labour-474397.html

Despite a clear "about face" Ms Hodge says that culture could "enhance a sense of shared identity". But clearly only the right kind of culture - something more British than the Proms season, something greater than Jerusalem or Land of Hope and Glory.

Ms Hodge has the answer - it's Coronation Street...

Isn't it time the Government of Britain started standing up for Britain, not selling us out?