Stack is coming to a head – run for the bunker

Have we reached a political tipping point for Operation Stack – a point where doing nothing or commissioning reports just won’t cut it with the public? It looks like we have and Kent MPs know it. No fewer than seven hammered home their frustration at the inaction over the Stack problem at a meeting with ministers this week.

The only problem is that no one appears to know what should be done, let alone when or how.

There is now an ever-present danger of the county being gridlocked fairly regularly – and not just because of wild cat strikes by the French.

Worse, we are fast approaching the summer holiday and nothing causes palpitations among politicians more than holidaymakers having their holidays torpedoed by factors out of their control.

It might explain why no fewer than three ministers pitched up to the meeting with MPs this week.

n And Operation Stack certainly has the attention of the leader of Kent County Council, Paul Carter.

He spent four-and-a-half hours trapped on the motorway en route to a meeting in Hythe which lasted just 30 minutes.

n There is still no news from the government about plans for a grammar school annexe in west Kent.

Why is it taking so long for the education minister Nicky Morgan to decide? It is baffling the powers that be at County Hall, with county councillors so frustrated that they have almost given up asking the Department for Education for progress reports.

n George Osborne will unveil details of the government’s plans for the economy and public spending this week and council leaders have their hard hats on.

They are bracing themselves for further cuts in government grants, with the county council anticipating losing a further £80m in the next two years.

And Conservatives in Kent are pleading with the government to scrap the need for a referendum if councils want to raise council tax, arguing that it is too costly and bureaucratic. It is a fair point – proved by the fact that only one council has ever tried to force one.

Although if Greece can organise one in less than a week, maybe it is not that hard.

n Off The Record is pleased to see that Kent County Council retains ownership of an old disused Second World War air raid shelter.

The shelter in Dover is listed among the various “heritage” assets owned by KCC in its latest annual accounts.

Always useful for politicians to have a bunker to flee to...