Fears of Brexit Stack gridlock but still no news of lorry park sites

Awarning that Kent might see almost permanent gridlock on its road network and the implementation of Operation Stack after Brexit might sound unnecessarily alarming.

But there genuinely does seem to be an issue about the length of time needed to carry out customs checks, and buried in the report is a claim that the failure to develop other lorry parks in the county to ease the situation is a contributory factor.

Kent County Council has, of course, been in protracted negotiations over acquiring sites for a series of smaller roundthe-clock lorry parks to address the other issue of residential roads being used by hauliers for overnight parking.

While we have been promised several times in recent months that an announcement is imminent from County Hall about where they are, to date there has been a deafening silence. At this rate, it could be a tough challenge to get any additional parks open by March 2019 – especially if they require planning permission – let alone the huge one for 3,600 lorries planned for a site off the M20 near Folkestone.

Rosie Duffield isn’t the first Labour politician to be chastised over their position on grammar schools and won’t be the last.

The Canterbury MP has found herself having to defend sending her children to selective schools at the same time as describing the 11-plus system as horrible and divisive.

The standard response has come from the Conservatives who have been quick to cry double standards – although she made these decisions before becoming an MP.

Her critics have a point, but so does she. If you happen to live within a selective area and your children pass the 11-plus then what are you to do? Deprive your children of a place at a school they wish to go to on the grounds that you personally are against the system? Uproot to a non-selective area to uphold principles regardless of the impact on your family or work?

It could be argued that if you plan on becoming a public figure, then these are the questions you need to think of before doing so.

But as with most things to do with selective schooling, things can be more complicated than they first appear.

Off The Record has come across some odd Freedom of Information requests over the years. To add to the list of oddities is a recent one to the county council asking it to provide the name of the art teacher at Gravesend Technical School in …. 1958.

Follow Paul on Twitter @Paul On Politics and watch our regular TV show “Paul On Politics” on KMTV.