Laura Carlin
Black History Month
Why I am doing Sober October for my dead dad
What does it mean to be a black student in 2019?
Features | Page 12
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Government backtracks on BoJo’s Canterbury Hospital claims By Bill Bowkett Newspaper Editor Mr Johnson, who was selected as party leader back in July, made the surprise announcement at a fringe meeting during last month’s party conference. However, the city does not feature on a list of 40 hospital projects earmarked by the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock. Footage captures Mr Johnson saying: “Yes, we are going to invest in the southeast. Yes, of course, we are putting money into hospitals. I’m delighted that Canterbury, for instance, is going to be one of the new hospitals we are building.” A day later, the Department for Health and Social Care (DoH) downplayed the claims, acknowledging that no immediate plans were in the pipeline. In a statement, the DoH wrote: “The Prime Minister and the Health Secretary recognise the challenges facing acute services in East Kent including Canterbury, and the Department for Health and Social Care look forward to considering this and other bids in future hospital building rounds.” Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, Jonathan Ashworth MP, branded Johnson as a “liar” and demanded that the MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip “apologise for raising hopes of patients and NHS staff in Canterbury like this”. The shadow minister added: “Yet again this sorry episode proves you simply can’t trust the Tories with the NHS.” This was echoed by Canterbury MP, Rosie Duffield, who has called the PM to formally retract the pledge. She said: “This gaffe by the prime minister has raised the hopes of many of us living and working in the area who have long-campaigned fully funded hospital services to be returned to Canterbury. “The Tory candidate should not be attempting to explain away and excuse the Prime Minister’s fake news. A formal retraction and apology need to be forthcoming from No 10 as
this would have drawn a line under this some time ago.” Speaking on BBC One’s Sunday Politics South East show, the Conservative candidate for Canterbury, Anna Firth, admitted that the Prime Minister “clearly made a mistake” and that he “can’t be on top of every little detail”. Despite the omission from No 10, the former barrister remains hopeful that the country will receive funding for a new super hospital to be built over the next few years, as part of the government’s ongoing infrastructure program. “It was very exciting to hear that it is on his radar. We now know that east Kent is finally on the radar at the highest echelons of government and that is my job to make sure that the Secretary of State knows the people of Canterbury want a new hospital.” Firth made headlines this summer when she claimed she could convince Boris Johnson to build a Kent and Canterbury super hospital, but many MPs have been critical of the initiative. Damien Green, former Deputy Prime Minister and Ashford MP, branded the idea “mad”. Last month, the hopeful Firth told InQuire and KTV that there will have to be a consultation on the different options in East Kent but argued: “It’s absolutely clear if you go to the three hospitals, and you talk to people, there has been more investment in the other two sites. Logically, it’s our turn here in Canterbury to get some investment in our health service. “Whatever the other MPs say, I will be battling and fighting to get that that’s what’s good for the people of Canterbury.” Healthcare in the region remains uncertain, with doctors considering a huge reshuffle of services at the Kent & Canterbury, William Harvey in Ashford, and QEQM in Margate. The government has said that the second phase of new hospitals would include 21 new projects, delivering 34 new hospitals. Seed funding will be rewarded to kick start the schemes and will begin in 2025-2030.
“Your campus, your voice” Friday 25 October 2019 15.4
Black History Month Fashion Show, at Eliot College, on Thursday, 17 October. Photo by Aslan Ntumba Ozer
Student arrested in Keynes College on suspicion of assault By Bill Bowkett (Newspaper Editor), Alejandro Javierre (Website News Editor) & Jeanne Bigot (Newspaper News Editor) A University of Kent student was arrested on 16 October in Keynes College, on suspicion of assault. Police were called at 8.40 pm of a reported disturbance at the Canterbury campus involving a 20-yearold woman and members of campus security. The female student was arrested on suspicion of assault and has since been released, pending further inquiries. Contrary to rumours shared on social media that there had been a “stabbing”, a University of Kent spokesperson told InQuire that these allegations were not true. In their words, “scratching” was involved. Kent Television’s Head of News, Amitesh Das, a resident at Keynes College in Block R - where the incident occurred - testified his account of the events that took place that night.
“At around 7:30 pm, I heard a fire alarm that was centralised to the entire flat. My flatmates and I were all in the kitchen and then evacuated the flat. As I went down, the fire alarm meter box that was on the ground floor of the building started ringing. Once the entire building was evacuated, campus security immediately came to the location and entered the building. After about 15 minutes, we were told to go back into the building and flats.” He added: “ Around 7:50 pm, another fire alarm was heard. Similar to last time, the entire building was evacuated. Campus security came again and began to scout the building as they did previously.” At around 8:15pm, Das heard a loud thump on the floor and immediately came out of his room. “My flatmates were aware of it as well. Three other flatmates of mine gathered in the corridor. Since there is a little window in the door between the flats, I had limited but enough vision of the main door.” Suddenly, Das could hear screams of a woman, which eventually died
out. “Campus security personnel were seen entering the flat and exiting. Eventually, a member of campus security could be seen carrying a yellow bag. Since I had a meeting at 9 pm, I left my flat at 8:55 pm.” Once he reached downstairs, around 9 pm, Das could see two Kent Estate white vans and a group of around six members of Campus security. His flatmates, who were all in the premises the flat in between the times of 9:00pm and 10:15pm, reported that they also saw yellow bags present and heard more noises of the girl shouting. Later, they could see campus security members escorting a person out of the flat. No serious injuries were reported. Keynes College Student Committee were not able to pass comment, as they stated they were not informed of any incident. The University of Kent has been approached for comment.