Tories to blame for gridlock

It is scarcely surprising that we have lost faith in politicians when we look at the utterances of Damian Green over the MOJO site next to J10A of the M20. Last week he vehemently denounced the 700-acre lorry facility being developed next to the M20 at J10A, the MOJO. But on September 12, 2019, he tweeted in support of county councillor Paul Bartlett’s call to accelerate the completion of junction 10A to handle Brexit lorry traffic saying: “I have warned ministers about this.” Where did the ineffable Mr Green think these lorries would go?

In June 2016, when the UK voted to leave the EU, every MP in Kent was Conservative and the Conservatives had a majority on the county council and on district councils. It should have been obvious to the meanest intelligence that leaving the EU meant severe problems for cross-channel freight. As we know how quickly the M20 turns into a parking lot when the Dover-calais crossing is disrupted, Kent’s Conservative MPS and councillors should have united in demanding urgent action to prepare, including the acquisition of Manston and the upgrading of the road network. In July 2017, still holding every seat in Kent save one, Kent’s Conservative MPS could and should have copied the Democratic Unionists and extracted a billion pounds investment for Kent. Instead they turned themselves into a work of modern art – a squadron of monstrous barrage balloons, inert, defenceless and full of gas. Now the Conservatives are panicking. They have every reason to. Let us be clear. If our road system grinds to a halt and those suffering heart attacks die in the back of ambulances because they cannot get to the William Harvey in time, we will know that they are responsible for avoidable deaths.

Joe Egerton

Palace Street, Canterbury