by Alan Watkins

he Mayor of Medway has cost local council taxpayers £150,000. But is it so shocking?

Looking at the figures unearthed by the Labour councillors it’s not too surprising.

Whether you think it is right the mayoral office exists at all is more relevant.

According to the miffed opposition, the bill breaks down as staff (£74,000), another £24,000 went on parties and events, £1,200 on ceremonial clothes and £12,000 so far on his chauffeur-driven car.

These days the mayor is no more than a symbol. But he does an important job – one that goes back more than 400 years.

He is the Queen’s representative, the first citizen of the borough. He’s the meeter and greeter of the council and chairs their often acrimonious meetings.

Some mayors can be self-important prigs, others hard-working servants of an authority that needs to wave the flag. All raise a lot of cash for local charities.

Those staffing costs are reasonable.

There’s a secretary plus three officers that need to be on hand at different times when he is on duty. Then there’s things like computers, phones, cleaners, paper, postage and photocopying.

The cash spent on parties and events is a bit of Medway cheap-skating, to be honest.

Take out cleaning, repairs, room rental (well, someone has to meet the cost so why not the mayor?), hired waiters and maids, cooking and preparing everything from petits fours to biscuits you can forget the pate de foie gras.

The days of a roast swan with all the trimmings were long gone even before I got involved with events as a cub reporter. So £24,000 seems to cover a fair number of stale biscuits!

Ceremonial clothing costs are questionable.

One mayor whose name I have since forgotten spent more than four hundred quid on a fancy hat with black plumes. There were no queries from the politicians then: it was left to the Medway Messenger to uncover the truth.

The lady was never seen in it after its debut at the mayor-making ceremony. (She did look as though she was auditioning for a bit part in an Edwardian drama though).

Do we actually need our mayors to appear in flowing fancy dress? – No. Should they dress up at all? – Definitely. It’s a visible sign of their office (along with the civic chain).

It’s a tradition as important as Queens, uniformed soldiers and bewigged judges. Our outgoing, machismo mayor, Vaughan Hewett is one of the modern breed of Tory councillors.

He’s ideally suited as figurehead, chairer of meetings and shaker of hands.

The question is, will he gain a position of importance within the council now that his year has come to an end.

Or will he be one of the numerous Conservative cast-offs – which seems to happen to most of this council’s civic “leaders”.

Labour councillors are annoyed because they are being barred again from holding the civic office. Fair or not, it is politics.

Would Labour ever allow the Tories to hold office in future if they gain overall control of the council?

Meanwhile, their task should be holding the administration to account. I see little sign of that.

What happens if you dance naked around the Devil's Bush in Pluckley, Kent's most haunted village? Do 'big cats' roam the local woods? Does the Devil appear if you manage to count the 'countless stones' at Aylesford? Is Bloody Mary more than just a childhood rumour? Does a phantom hitchhiker haunt the dark lanes of Blue Bell Hill? KENT URBAN LEGENDS is a new book by full-time monster hunter and folklorist Neil Arnold, a strange, quirky and downright weird collection of tales reputedly true yet never proven, passed down through generations and best told around a flickering campfire. Chinese whispers, playground murmurs, internet rumours, and friend of a friend tales are the most potent in that they can embed themselves into a local community despite the fact such yarns are not true. Stories can spread like wildfire despite lacking any detail, causing a snowball effect that can affect an entire village, town or city. KENT URBAN LEGENDS looks at a number of stories not just related to the county of Kent, but legends which have spread across the world, varying depending on the storyteller. Have you heard the one about the famous footballer who paid the mortgage of a couple who had booked their wedding on the same day as his? Have you heard about the girl whose hair was so dirty that all manner of creepy crawlies took up residence and eventually burrowed into her brain? And what about the woman who chomped down on her Chinese takeaway only to find the remains of some animal? These type of stories are known the world over, and you can guarantee that there's always someone you know who knows someone else this has happened to. Urban legends come in all shapes and sizes, but for the most part they are tales of horror - confined to mist-enshrouded lanes and eerie woods, but with KENT URBAN LEGENDS you'll also find out what happens if you play a heavy metal record backwards, or if some horror movies are cursed. You'll also find out if the Chelsea Smilers really did slash the mouths of school children in the 1980s, and what really happened to the woman who had a Killer In The Backseat of her car. Whilst tales of the Bunnyman, The Hook, and The Babysitter & The Man Upstairs may seem to have their origins in the USA, Neil proves that there's more to these scare stories than meets the eye, and delves into similar tales from Kent often involving lone female motorists and cavorting couples brave enough to venture into the night. From video nasties, to phantom viruses, from chain letters, to tales of monstrous bogeymen and out of place animals, KENT URBAN LEGENDS is one book you won't want to read before camping, driving, babysitting, or eating a meal! Be warned...the bogeyman is real after all! KENT URBAN LEGENDS is published by The History Press, with a foreword by Janet Bord (Alien Animals), is an essential book to be read by candlelight! Available from Amazon and all good bookshops, priced £9.99

So we’re at the very beginning of our new year, 2013, so I think it’s important to look back on what turned out to be such an exciting year (for me) in terms of Indie music.

I’m going to start the year all the way over in May because that’s when the hangover of 2011 had truly lifted and the real magic started to happen. On May 21st, The Enemy released their third full-length album, Streets In The Sky, which after the heavy criticism of album number two (still a great record in my view), had plenty to answer to. Luckily, these guys knew just what to do, and they came out with an album stripped right back to the raw power we heard from The Enemy in their debut, but with a far more optimistic message behind the album as a whole. The sound was aggressive, guitar dominant, as well as being simple and brilliantly catchy which is what can only be expected from a songwriter like Tom Clarke who prefers to throw music snobbery aside for a decent tune. Tracks such as This Is Real, Gimme The Sign and Bigger Cages Longer Chains give us the raw power we crave while Two Kids and Get Up and Dance show us the sensitive side of the Coventry trio.

While we’re on the subject of glorious comebacks, let’s talk about Lex Hives, the fifth album from Sweden’s greatest Rock’n’Roll band (as they have modestly dubbed themselves) after an agonising five year wait- FIVE YEARS! This self-produced record was released internationally on June 4th, and like a hungry lion on an unsuspecting gazelle, I pounced on it. In the process of bringing it home for my first listen, the fears of “what if I hate it? Maybe I should just never listen to it to avoid disappointment…” kicked in. Of course this was all ridiculous because The Hives produced one of their best records to date. It’s so hard to find consistency in modern music- it’s hard to find a band that shows the same genius for more than two albums; however, much like a modern Stones, The Hives have so far come out with five consecutive albums jam packed with sheer awesomeness. With the addition of a brass section, tracks like Go Right Ahead and UK bonus track, Midnight Shifter were an exciting new element but if it ain’t broke, The Hives won’t fix it, so for the remainder of the album these music legends stuck to what they’re best at: fast paced, no nonsense Rock music. For the record, The Hives put on the best live show of any band I’ve ever seen, so if you ever have the rare chance to catch them in the UK, for goodness sake take it!

As the sun was setting from the UK’s wettest summer on record, all was not lost for on August 13th, Indie newbies, Spector released their debut album, Enjoy It While It Lasts, after a string of singles including Chevy Thunder which was to shake Britain. Spector produced a record where every single song, even the slower ones, like an exceptionally vigilant koala bear, clings to your brain for the rest of the day- sometimes even longer. What makes Enjoy It While It Lasts such a marvel is its shameless simplicity, its lyrical charm and, of course, Fred Macpherson’s smooth vocal throughout. If you haven’t experienced Spector, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.

The very next week, on August 19th, a band I think we’ll hear a lot more of pretty soon, Life In Film, released their first five-track EP entitled Needles And Pins. With a sound that’s both slightly melancholic in a Morrissey kind of way, whilst also being summery with a beautiful trebly guitar tone, the EP is so understated, often leaving me to question whether there is any justice left in this world. Title track Needles And Pins is sad and beautiful in its melody, while Until It’s Over, with its clever guitar riff, and perfectly placed bass drum during chorus giving it some real power behind it. I had the pleasure of interviewing lead vocalist Sam, and not that it makes a difference to the music, but he was extremely pleasant! Anyway, keep a close eye out for these guys because I think once they get an album out there will be no stopping them.

September 3rd marked both the release of The Vaccines’ second album, and The Milk’s debut album. Let’s start with The Milk- Tales From The Thames Delta: I watched this band in the summer of 2011 and thought they were absolutely great- they were energetic, musically flawless and all in all gave memorable performance. This still didn’t prepare me for the impact their first album would have on me. I was completely blown away by the record. I’d forgotten how R’n’B influenced it was, and just how strong singer Clarie Robin’s vocals were. The album is instrumentally excellent; featuring irresistibly dance-worthy drum beats working perfectly with the guitar. Stand out songs would have to be Broke Up The Family, B-Roads, Chip The Kids and my personal favourite (All I Wanted Was) Danger, but album closer, Lay The Pain On Me, is fragile, as well as soulful and is a testimony to Robin’s vocal range.

The Vaccines second album, Come Of Age was surprisingly different to NME golden boys’ first album. The style was essentially the same: still very much a guitar band, still very much Indie music, but this second taste of The Vaccines gave the feeling they’d gone deeper into music than before, experimenting with more unusual melodies, seen in Aftershave Ocean and Weirdo. The album probably doesn’t quite match its predecessor but is nonetheless a great set of tracks.

Late September saw the long awaited return of Mumford and Sons who managed to find a place in most of the world’s hearts in 2009 with Sigh No More. Their follow-up release, could never be anything other than a great album- the reasons for this being it is too darn similar to their first album to be classed differently! So, yes, Babel, is full of beautiful harmonies, the rustic sound of a banjo and a double bass, which is all great- in all fairness it is a great album! It has to be said, however, that it could easily be mistaken for the first album, in the strumming patterns of the songs, particularly the likes of I Will Wait and the undulation of Marcus Mumford’s melodies in tracks such as Holland Road do seem slightly similar to previous Mumford songs. However back-handed this may seem, I do genuinely love the album, it’s an easy listen, it’s full of beautiful harmonies, and if Sigh No More had never existed I am confident this would boost Mumford to stardom all the same, I just think the third album needs to catch us off guard slightly.

By October the 8th, Nottingham’s new boys, Dog Is Dead, released their debut full-length album, All Our Favourite Stories. I have already raved about this in a review but just to reiterate- the album, to me, is more or less perfect. Dog Is Dead have found a sound so unique to them and with such credibility: refreshingly, each of the five members can sing, and in turn their harmonies are phenomenal; Indie music seems to have gone crazy for harmonies lately but these guys really know how to do it. All Our Favourite Stories is a great summer soundtrack (despite it’s October release), with tunes like their self-confessed “American douchebag song”, Talk Through The Night as well as the classic Glockenspiel Song. Dog Is Dead convey real emotion and meaning in their songs without being pretentious and are definitely only going to get bigger and bigger from here on out.

My final two albums were released the very next week on October 15th. Firstly: Little Comets’ follow up to In Search Of Elusive Little Comets, named, Life Is Elsewhere, is an interesting one. While the band’s debut was pretty straight forward, generally speaking, with some brilliant guitar parts and extremely impressive vocals due to Robert Coles’ impossible vocal range. With the latest album, the Comets have produced material far more complex than before, with unusual, almost mathematical timing in several tracks. This, on the one hand makes it a great listen while by yourself because you get to listen to every fragment of every song and think “how are they doing that?!” but it also means the second album is far less dancy than the first. It depends what you’re into really, but I’ve found the second album has some extraordinary tracks on, such as Bayonne, Worry and an unusual and vulnerable number, Violence Out Tonight.

Finally, although he’s been given enough attention by most of the music world just recently, I have to mention Jake Bugg’s self-title debut. With a retro sound and a simple approach, Bugg at just eighteen years old has done exceptionally well for himself. The album is filled with part Cash, part Dylan-esque tunes, delivered with a kind of teenage aggression, evident in Two Fingers and Lightning Bolt. I don’t really need to say much else on the album because it’s been plastered all over NME for months but Jake Bugg is an album with great integrity, sung by someone far beyond his years, that simply does not get old.

So that’s been my 2012 in music- a year I feel has been one of the most exciting I’ve encountered and one I feel is leading somewhere really special, that I can only hope to follow just as closely. 2013 promises much from bands such as Haim and Swim Deep as well as a supposed comeback from Kings Of Leon. All in all I think this will be a good year.

It is often mentioned as one of the stumbling blocks to any airport being built in the Thames Estuary, and this week the SS Richard Montgomery will make a reappearance on the political agenda.

A public meeting on the wreck is being held at the St George’s Centre in Chatham Maritime on Thursday (September 27) at 7pm.

It will be chaired by historian and film maker Colin Harvey, and there will be a panel of guests who will take part in a discussion about the vessel.

Among the issues they will consider are the potential disposal of the wreck, who would pay for it and whether the US government should be approached.

We know the consequences of the ship’s thousands of pounds of munitions exploding would be catastrophic, but the meeting might reveal some new information.

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Cuts in funding from government put the council in a very difficult position when it comes to balancing the books.

A report this week lays out one of the hard choices the administration might have to make in the near future.

A rise in council tax of 4% in 2013/14 needs to be given “serious consideration” according to a report for a business committee meeting tomorrow (Tuesday).

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Call off the search party.

Rehman Chishti has proven notoriously hard to get hold of in my time at the paper, but it appears his media operation is being ramped up.

Barry Watts, who used to be the political assistant to the council’s Conservative group, is now working for the Gillingham and Rainham MP.

And since that change my inbox has been bombarded with press releases keeping me fully abreast of what Reh’s getting up to.

I’m half expecting a release about what he’s had for breakfast to come through next.

Every year the news that train fares will be going up leads to an outburst of political bickering amongst the Towns’ politicos.

The mud is slung back and forth, debating what percentage fares would’ve gone up under one party and whose most at fault.

Meanwhile hard-pressed commuters worryingly look at their budgets to see if/how they are going to be able to cope with forking out more money for travel.

Amid the debate about percentages it’s worth remembering many people think fares shouldn’t be going up at all. Why pay more if the service stays the same, they ask.

The truth is, whatever party is in power, fares go up. The percentages may be different but that’s likely to be of little comfort.

Running the railways costs money, and the government wants you to foot more of the bill.

The white paper stipulating this was introduced by the last Labour government in 2007, but the Tories haven’t rushed to reverse it.

When the railways were nationalised, tax payers and commuters split the cost down the middle. One thing our politicians agree on is that fares are too high, so would they contemplate re-nationalisation?

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Bosses at Medway Hospital show no signs of backing down in the row over blue badge charges, which will return to the agenda this week.

Councillors called for them to be scrapped at full council last month, but in a letter the hospital’s deputy chief executive Patrick Johnson said they are satisfied their position is “equitable and reasonable”, pointing out the hospital offers a number of concessions for disabled visitors.

Chief executive Mark Devlin is due to be quizzed by councillors on the health committee tomorrow evening (Tuesday).

Today definitely feels different.

Welcome back to the Olympic Park. This is my third day based here and we're officially counting the hours, minutes even, until the Opening Ceremony of the Games of the 30th Olympiad this evening.

Today's the day that everything changed, the trains I got on this afternoon to make my way up to Stratford from Kent were different to those I got yesterday, and Stratford International itself was a different scene today as well.

The past couple of days there has been a visible but low-key presence of the fuscia-clad Games helpers and flourescent police. However this afternoon the air feels different.

There are helpers wherever you could possibly want them, standing there just waiting to, itching to, help someone. There are police sniffer dogs and constant patrols around the concourse. The station staff themselves have all adopted waistcoats in line with the special Games uniform and even the posh announcement lady on the high-speed tannoy was saying different words today than yesterday.

Around the Park there are more journalists that I have ever seen in one place, anyone would think there's a free bar nearby. The English accents are fewer and farther between and the sun has gone in, it's just really muggy up here. The relaxed laughs and smiles of the last few days are slowly disappearing.

As of today, everyone has got their Games face on.

0o0

Yesterday was a pretty hectic one up here. Much of my day was spent walking the 500m or thereabouts from one end of the Main Press Centre to the other to pester the nice BOA people for a ticket for tonight's Opening Ceremony.

Well, I'm not sure exactly what I did, but it's worked. I have a nice shiny gold ticket in my hand and I'm pretty much running about like Charlie from the Chocolate Factory.

It's my birthday today and I got a lovely card saying I was one in a million. Well I am able to prove that I'm actually far better than that. 7.029 billion people alive. 80,000 tickets for the Opening Ceremony. You do the maths. The fact that there are apparently only 140 members of the British media who have been issued tickets makes me feel even more special. So, thanks BOA!

0o0

Part of my afternoon was spent with the exceedingly pleasant GB hockey boys, including Kent's own Ashley Jackson.

Now, four years ago I was invited to West Malling to visit a bright-eyed 20-year-old who was an up-and-comer in the British hockey world.

The blonde lad had made the squad for Beijing and was excited about the opportunity. So excited he made me a cup of tea and sat me down on his sofa to talk about it.

Well four years later Ashley claims to have no recollection of his hospitality that day, I guess his memory bank is probably stuffed with pleasant images of being handed awards, scoring vital goals and playing professional sport at the highest level over the past four years.

After chatting with Ashley, I spotted Olympic hero Sean Kerly of 1988 gold medal fame in the room and took the chance to grab a few words with him about Ashley, Canterbury and himself.

He was as incredulous as I was that someone from a local paper in Canterbury had managed to get into the Olympic Park, but he still gave me some good stuff which you'll be able to read next week.

The only low-point of the entire day was that my hockey commitments meant I missed the Swiss Olympic Association press conference with Roger Federer by five measly minutes. Oh well. Maybe I'll get another chance to meet him and pass on some tips on a cross-court backhand another time.

I couldn't help but notice that Canterbury striker and South Africa international Jen Wilson had more luck that I did, she posted pics on twitter of herself with Federer in the village on Thursday night and next to Usain Bolt in the canteen on Friday lunchtime. Nice life eh Jen, haven't you got practice or something!?

0o0

Last night saw Team GB's footballers held by Senegal in their opening match of the tournament, and their first as a unified nation in 52 years.

Medway's own Ryan Bertrand put in a good shift at left-back - which must have been nice for him after being employed at right-back in the final warm-up game.

There are flashes of some very decent stuff from the GB team, which is understandable as most of them have plenty of Premier League experience, but they always appeared ruffled by the sheer physicality of the West Africans who threatened to kick them back into four separate countries on more than one occasion.

Hopefully UAE on Sunday night will prove a less physically demanding challenge.

0o0

This is the start of a pretty long shift for me. The Opening Ceremony is due to begin at 9pm (crowd are being warmed-up from 8.12pm though) with the finish predicted at something like midnight or just after.

Now once I've gotten out of the Stadium and back to the Main Press Centre to tidy up some stories for KentOnline, it's likely to be pushing 2am, and, typically, there's a 5.30am bus to Eton Dorney tomorrow morning with my name on it.

So the plan is to find a comfy chair in a quiet corner and have a power nap, ready to watch Ashford's Tom Ransley and the men's eight in action in the heats tomorrow morning (around 10am, or should be) and then get back to London for Bromley star Ellen Gandy in the 100m butterfly second round (Around 7.45pm).

Orpington's Claire Rafferty and the GB Women will also be in action, taking on Cameroon in Cardiff at 5.15pm. Sadly I can't get there. I'm not Superman.

Remember I'll be providing live text updates from the Opening Ceremony from around 8pm tonight, and will also be posting pics and updates on twitter via @kentonline2012

Enjoy the evening - it's never going to happen again you know!

I thought I’d been there, done it, and bought the t-shirt.

My Olympic Torch Relay party at my flat on Friday went without a hitch as the flame which began burning on Mount Olympus passed through Gravesend on its way to the London 2012 Games.

A dozen or so cups of tea were made for family and friends, who piled in to my flat at the normally highly unsociable hour of 9am, ready to claim our spot on Saddington Street in plenty of time, to see the procession pass in and out of the Gurdwara.

We got two bites of the cherry and barely had to walk any distance at all to see such a momentous occasion in British sporting history.

Job done I thought. I’d taken a couple of pictures, waved and cheered like I was at a football match (everyone was doing it so I felt ok) and even seen the torch bearer trip on a sleeping policeman – although thankfully he had kept his balance.

Yet none of that compared to the excitement when Julia Chilcott from Maidstone came into the office for an interview with my colleagues at kmfm about her torch bearing experience.

Julia carried the flame into Leeds Castle and lit the cauldron at the end of Thursday’s run from Deal to the county town.

She walked in almost hugging the golden beacon and its appearance quickly gained more attention than when a newborn baby is brought into the office.

I’d tried to play it cool and watch from afar as colleagues gathered around the torch but before I knew it, I was up there like a wide-eyed schoolboy asking for my picture to be taken with the little piece of history.

As with every torchbearer I’ve met or read about, Julia was delighted to tell everyone her story and more than willing for everyone to get their moment with her treasured possession.

More than seeing the flame, more than cheering and even more than my faultless Olympic Torch Relay party (honest!), this was the moment when the cupid of the Olympic Games drew his arrow and fired it straight through my heart.

There’s a magic to how the torch relay brought everyone in the county together and how it has demonstrated so simply the power of sport.

Boy I cannot wait for the Games now.

• For daily updates on what is going on at the Olympic Park, follow our man Alex Hoad’s blog. He will be following Kent athletes’ performances throughout the Games. You can follow him on Twitter @KentOnline2012.

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The Opening Ceremony on Friday, July 27 will be too big to watch in your normal, comfy armchair in your uninspiring living room (oh, that’s just me then.)

A large open-air screen will be at Rochester Castle Gardens showing the event live from the Olympic Stadium for free.

A similar big screen will show the ceremony at Gravesend Community Square. Then after watching the spectacular coordinated by film director Danny Boyle – the man behind Slumdog Millionaire – party into the night at a silent disco on the upper Community Square. Tickets are £8 from the Woodville on 01474 337774.

The ceremony will also be shown on the big screen in Dover’s Market Square from 9pm for free, with a Zumbathon getting the atmosphere going from 7pm to 8pm.

The St George’s Centre will reverberate to the sound of political point scoring on Thursday – that’s right, it’s full council time.

Expect much discussion of the decision to charge blue badge holders for parking at the hospital.

A motion has been put forward by Labour’s health spokesman, Teresa Murray, calling on the charges to be scrapped and the £10 administration fee for processing applications to be removed.

On the parking charges there appears to be cross-party support – Conservative councillor Mike O’Brien has said his group can’t support them.

But there might be some dispute about the administration fee. The motion has the chance of being passed in some form though.

Councillors might decide to stop short of that and perhaps call the chief executive of the hospital, Mark Devlin, to face them at a Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting.

This has been filling our post box and we’ve had plenty of calls about it since it broke last month.

Will this week be the week the pressure tells?

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The mixed bag of questions at the meeting include the money spent on Chatham Town Football Club, water works in the Towns, the Secondary School Games and whether the chief executive of the council, Neil Davies, should be removed in a bid to save money.

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The dithering over making a decision on airport capacity in the south east continues, but people on the Hoo Peninsula are already having to deal with planes flying above their heads.

An increasing number of flights from Southend airport have been going over the area since Easyjet started flying to more locations in March.

Residents say they weren’t consulted about it, and Medway Council have also said they received “no formal consultation from Southend Borough Council”.

A decision on changes to transport for children with special needs is close - and we’ve been given a flavour of the thoughts of parents in a report out this week.

The changes include sharing lifts and going to “pick up points” to get to their school.

A decision is due to be made in September.

More than 100 responses have been received from parents as part of the consultation, raising concerns about an extra burden being placed on them and their children being pushed towards independence before they’re ready.

Some of the concerns have arisen out of a misunderstanding of what’s being proposed. Reading the report, it’s easy to see why.

There’s talk of consulting with “stakeholders” and we’re told that Medway is a “pilot for the national SEN and Disabilities Pathfinder programme”.

A bit of plain English wouldn’t go amiss. Too many council reports are littered with jargon and “councilese”.

Councillors will discuss the changes at a meeting of the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee tomorrow (Tuesday)

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When it comes to the airport debate, a favoured line of attack from local Labour politicians is to accuse the Tories of being "two-faced".

The latest deployment of this came in reaction to former defence and foreign secretary Sir Malcom Rifkind backing the idea in the Evening Standard.

But hang on, aren't Labour the party that nearly ripped itself to shreds with infighting in the 1980s before deciding that, actually, it wanted to win an election again?

This is the party that can't decide whether it loves or loathes former leader Tony Blair, who won three elections.

Indeed, one Medway Labour member called him a c*** this past week in reaction to news he was being given an advisory role by the party.

Politicians in the same party have different opinions, it's not breaking news.

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The biggest Conservative rebellion of the Parliament so far was over House of Lords reform, and one of our MPs was one of the rebels.

Chatham MP Tracey Crouch was one of 91 who voted against the idea on Tuesday. Rehman Chishti didn’t vote and Mark Reckless voted in favour.

It’s the third high profile rebellion from Miss Crouch – after tuition fees and the EU referendum.

Dear Dave,

For around about the past five years, we’ve been wondering if we’re going to have a massive airport plonked on our Towns.

We’ve had to deal with speculation, smoke signals, winks and nods. This month is supposed to be the month we begin to get somewhere with the start of a consultation into the idea.

But yet again there is speculation that the process could be beset with more delays.

There’s talk the consultation could be pushed back until September and the final decision until after the election in 2015.

We want answers and are tired of waiting.

You may want to build a time machine and fast forward to 2015 so you can get rid of those pesky Liberal Democrats, but the people of Medway aren’t very keen on going through three more years of uncertainty.

You’re going to upset people no matter what you decide to, so don’t dither again, bite the bullet and make a decision.

Yours in frustrated anticipation,

Medway

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QUOTE of the week from MP Mark Reckless: “My interest in airports first came about because, at a time when many boys want to be train drivers, my younger brother had an ambition to be an airport manager.

“Consequently, whenever we went on holiday, my indulgent parents would take us to the airport four or five hours before we needed to be there, and my brother would go around and catalogue the catering outlets and investigate the cleaning rosters.

“I was delighted, a few years later, when he decided that he actually wanted to be a doctor.”