Cuts leave no one driving recruitment group

Kent has had, like many areas, trouble filling teacher vacancies and a couple of years ago set up a working party – the Kent Retention and Recruitment Strategy Group. With the problem not going away, it is odd to hear that the group appears to be inactive. According to John Walder, the Kent NUT spokesman, it has not met for more than a year. He should know, as he sits on it. One of the reasons may be that KCC has lost a lot of senior education officers in its continuing austerity drive, leaving no one to take charge.

It was only a few weeks ago that Janice Atkinson, the former Ukip candidate for Folkestone and Hythe, was confidently predicting she was on course to become an MP. Then she was hit by allegations about an inflated expenses claim and was ditched in record time from the party. She vowed to clear her name and was supposed to be appealing her expulsion. But now it appears she has cut her ties by joining a new European Parliament grouping headed by the far-right MEP Marine Le Pen. Or has she? Her spokesman said in answer to the question that it was “a moot point”. What could it all mean?

Ukip issued a pithy statement about its former member, saying that whatever Janice Atkinson was doing was “beyond its control”. Some might say that rather described the feelings of party chiefs before she was expelled, who always feared the outspoken MEP was an accident waiting to happen.

Kent County Council leader Paul Carter has stood his ground on Manston Airport in the face of a barrage of insults. His unwillingness to swing behind the campaign to restore it as a viable airport has seen him take a lot of flak – including an almighty clash with North Thanet MP Sir Roger Gale, who has said he should consider his position. Off The Record hears there have been efforts behind the scenes to bring about a rapprochement between the two. Why? There are serious concerns that it does not look good to have politicians from the same party at each other’s throats. Knowing the two of them, Off The Record suspects that any rapprochement may take some time.

Follow Paul on Twitter @ PaulOnPolitics for the latest political news in Kent