The people have spoken

The local elections were pretty devestating for the Conservatives, even in Thanet where their main campaign message was “a vote for Labour is a vote against Manston Airport”. Well the people have spoken, and they've booted out the main pro-airport councillors and elected a large increase in Labour councillors. Fancy.

Just for once I'm taking a relaxed approach to this blog, and instead of over-exercising my tired brain I have shamelessly copied the comments of Ben Chester in an Isle of Thanet News comment to Craig Mackinlay's regular vomit-spot. I salute Mr Chester, he sums up the incumbent South Thanet MP so well. Thank you for your wonderful contribution and I do hope you don't mind me quoting you verbatim. Here goes...

“While most of Thanet has moved on to bigger issues like – y’know – trying to feed their households, (or trying to buy or rent a house affordably), Craig still spends most of his time and energy trying to pick non-existent post-Brexit fights with the EU, railing against some imaginary ‘woke agenda’ or speaking out against renewable energy when his own constituency is home to what was until recently the largest offshore wind farm in the world.

The South Thanet Conservative’s election campaign flyer spoke laughably about Manston being ‘the biggest investment and opportunity in Thanet’s history’. Really? Even if we believe for one second that Riveroak has the £500m Craig & Co suggest, (it doesn’t), this is still dwarfed by the £880m Vattenfall actually invested in the Thanet windfarm.

If Craig is so keen on promoting international inward investment in high-tech growth sectors in his constituency – pretty high on the job description of any local MP – why is he so openly antagonistic and hostile to one that actually exists, that is genuinely future-facing, with a proven track record and with actual money to invest? Why does he prefer instead to support Riveroak – a company that has consistently failed to provide any evidence of funding, one which 7yrs after incorporation still has no executive board or delivery team – it’s basically a one-man band – and that one man’s track record is a long history of lies, failure and fraud? This versus Vattenfall and London Array? Really, Craig?

How does Craig square off his very vocal climate change denials and ‘Net Zero Watch’ misinformation campaign with the Levelling Up Funding for Ramsgate that he’s so keen to try and disingenuously claim credit for? A large part of this funding is allocated to a Green Port project, (including ‘supporting innovation and diversification for wind farm operators’) and a Green Campus to help develop low carbon technologies. So why does Craig take to Twitter on an almost daily basis to bad-mouth this industry that has such a strong foothold, track record and real growth potential right on his doorstep and in his own constituency?

Thanet deserves better. Much, much better. Roll on GE2024”