The AA has found that petrol prices are about to reach a record high. Petrol now averages £1.16 per litre, up from £1.12 in February and 89p early last year.
Ten years ago petrol protests almost brought the country to a halt when the price hit 80p and voters will certainly be noticing the latest price hikes under Labour when we go to the polls.
Tax on petrol went up another 2p last September and is due to go up again next month. Price hikes also reflect the falling level of the pound as markets took fright at some recent opinion polls showing a fall in the Conservative lead.
We need a strong Conservative government to restore confidence in our country.
I was woken around 4.30a.m. on Monday in my home next to Rochester castle by a noise that was more of a crunch than the usual screech of a train. Later I found out that part of a supporting wall for the castle had collapsed on Baker’s Walk and first reported around 5a.m.
I have spoken to Simon Curtis and members of his team at the council as well as a representative of English Heritage. I was pleased to see that the site was quickly made safe. It is also good to know that when remedial work is completed the renewed supporting wall, unlike the previous concrete, should allow water through so that, hopefully, this will not happen again.
I understand a) that a preliminary estimate is that repairs may cost £20-30,000 and that b) English Heritage, rather than Medway Council, is legally liable for structural repairs to the castle.
I recognise the importance of maintaining a good partnership with English Heritage, as we currently have, but given a) and b) above, I believe that a proper business case should be made out if the Council is to contribute significantly to the costs of repairs.
Councillor Mark Reckless (Rochester West)
Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Rochester and Strood
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Rochester Fireplaces – Home Sweet Home
139 High Street, Rochester, Kent ME1 1EW
Tel: 01634 408 007
Mark Reckless, along with Medway Council, Kent County Council, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) are leading the campaign to get this £40billion scheme blown out of the water due to its expense and the massive impact it will have on our area and the environment.
Responding to Medway Council’s meeting with Boris’s deputy today:
“In my experience people on the Hoo Peninsula don’t take ‘Boris Island’ seriously. Boris has no power to build an airport here, no idea how to raise tens of billions to fund such a fantasy, and he should confine his activities to London.
The Conservative party does not support Boris Island and it is not party policy, as David Cameron recently confirmed when in Gillingham. Our focus is high speed rail.”
Councillor Mark Reckless
Conservative Candidate for Rochester and Strood
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Xtremity – Stockists of Windsurfing, Snowboarding and Skateboarding Hardware and Fashion Items for Men and Women
2A Crow Lane, Rochester, Kent ME1 1RF
Tel: 01634 402944
Today I attended the first day of the inquest into the death of Dan Tucker in December 2007 in an incident involving firearms officers from Kent Police.
The inquest, which is being conducted at the Adult Education Centre in Gravesend (pictured), is expected to run for at least a week and began today with an opening statement and the examination of medical witnesses.
Kent Police’s handling of the incident has already been scrutinised by the High Court (which made no criticism) following an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. We on the Kent Police Authority have also reviewed (and approved) the procedures which Kent Police apply generally following a fatal shooting.
The inquest, however, will allow what happened to be considered and determined by 11 member of the public who, unlike in criminal proceedings, are allowed as jurors to ask questions of witnesses. Witnesses are also questioned by independent counsel for the inquest as well as barristers acting for both the police and family of the deceased.
I hope that this procedure, and in particular the central role taken by members of the public who are chosen at random from the electoral roll to serve as jurors, will help all those involved to come to terms with what happened, at least so far as that can be done through a system intended to judge what happened as fairly and independently as we know how.
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The Rochester Armoury – Bringing The Past Back To The Future
2B Crow Lane, Rochester, Kent ME1 1RF
Tel: 01634 845526
Here in Rochester small shops are at the heart of our high street. They offer diversity and choice and provide a really personal service to our community.
Mark Reckless, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Rochester and Strood and high street resident, is keen to do all he can to promote and protect our local shops to ensure Rochester High Street remains unique and a haven for shoppers seeking something different to the myriad identical high streets found up and down the country.
As part of his Support Our Small Shops campaign Mark is offering local shops and businesses the opportunity to advertise for FREE on this website and his email updates.
There’s no fee, no ‘trial period’, and we are not seeking an endorsement from shop owners who take advantage of this offer. Whether you vote Conservative, Labour or ‘other’ is of no importance, but protecting our high street is.
Over the coming months, Mark Reckless will be seeking to use his position as Parliamentary Candidiate to promote our high street locally and nationally via this website and other media such as Facebook and Twitter. If you would like to take advantage of this offer please email Mark at info@markreckless.com with your shop, website details and permission to use any logo you may have. We will take care of the rest.
If you don’t have a website but would be interested in having a website created for FREE* then please let us know.
For more on how the Conservatives will help small shops and businesses – Click Here
Some business already participating in this scheme are shown below. Please click on the button to visit their website.
*So as not to to impact on local web design businesses we will only create a basic webpage to see if this is of benefit to your business.
The conviction of Commander Dizaei of the Metropolitan Police this week emphasises that the police are properly subject to the law in this country and that it will be applied to them just as to everyone else.
When a police officer behaves badly, then members of the public should know that, if they report that behaviour, their complaint will be taken seriously and, where the evidence supports it, action will be taken.
One of my duties as a member of the Kent Police Authority is to help sample complaints which have been considered locally by our professional standards department and to make sure that they have been dealt with in the way that my electors would expect.
Whilst Sir Ian Blair as Metropolitan Commissioner, quite wrongly, initially tried to avoid independent scrutiny of the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell, he was not allowed to get away with it. By contrast, Kent Police have been open to – and welcomed – very extensive independent scrutiny following complaints regarding the Climate Camp policing.
It is essential that the police be held properly accountable to the public. The justice system worked this week and, hopefully soon under the Conservatives, the public will also get the chance to elect those who oversee our police.
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Nimbus Lighting, 144 High Street, Rochester, Kent ME1 1ER.
Great Lighting At Great Prices.
Tel: 01634 407724
The AA has found that petrol prices are about to reach a record high. Petrol now averages £1.16 per litre, up from £1.12 in February and 89p early last year.
