Thursday December 27 | 2018
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Times
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR READERS! MP will back May with ‘heavy heart’ to avoid damage caused by no-deal TOM TUGENDHAT has said that he will support Theresa May’s proposed Brexit deal ‘with a very heavy heart’. The MP for Tonbridge & Malling has been campaigning strongly to stop the M26, which runs along the north of the borough, from becoming a lorry park in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Plans have been put in place for the ten-mile stretch to be shut to accommodate freight waiting to enter the port of Dover or the Channel Tunnel on its way over the new frontier to the European mainland – a project known as Operation Brock. The closure would affect access to a number of villages between the M25 and West Malling, meaning the politician will not support a no-deal scenario.
Clarity Mr Tugendhat – who is married to French supreme court judge Anissia Morel – is Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and will be at the forefront of dealings with the European governments and heads of state once Britain leaves the EU. His constituency voted overwhelmingly to leave in the referendum, with a 55.7 per cent majority on a turn-out of almost 80 per cent. And he fears that with Kent on the front line of potential problems with trade, the economic viability of the borough could suffer if firms are wary of investing in it. He told the Times: “As things
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TAKE A STAND 300 women and their MPs congregate in Westminster Hall PHOTO: Liz Drake
Leading the fight to break down the door of Parliament’s ‘big boys’ club’ By Andy Tong andy@timesoftonbridge.co.uk A LOCAL businesswoman is leading the fight for more women in Parliament – and has decided to enter the process of standing as a candidate herself. Amanda Carpenter, 54, is founder and chief executive of a sustainability consultancy, mother of two girls aged 21 and 19, and a key figure in the local arts scene. She believes that greater female representation would challenge the male-dominated culture which has brought revelations of bullying and sexual harassment – what she calls ‘a big boys’ club’. Concerns about the situation surfaced once more before Christmas with the furore over Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn being accused of calling Prime Minister Theresa May a ‘stupid woman’ in the Commons.
At a time when politicians are held in low esteem for their posturing about the Brexit deal, she feels that the legislative body could do with more perspective – and more flexibility over working arrangements. She was inspired to begin the long road to the hustings after taking part in a ‘shadowing’ day, when more than 300 women from across the country were invited by 215 MPs to visit the House of Commons.
‘We need to stop the sexual harassment that’s been going on’ The event was organised by the 50:50 Parliament movement, which is calling for half of all MPs to be female, alongside the Jo Cox Foundation and other partners. Male MPs outnumber women by two to one.
The group is promoting the #AskHerToStand campaign to coincide with the centenary of the first women to be given the vote – and the first female MP to take up her seat, Lady Nancy Astor. “As a result of the day, 50 women put themselves forward to stand for Parliament,” said Mrs Carpenter. “We need representatives at policy-making level and to be part of the law-making process. But they say that women have to be asked to stand three or four times before they will do it.” Citing the lack of female toilets as an example, she says: “Parliament is a very male place. That’s partly historic – like the buildings, which are very old-fashioned, compared to the Scottish or European ones, which are more modern and functional. There’s an imperceptible barrier in that.”
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