Labour Parliamentary candidate for East Thanet Polly Billington says she has been knocking on doors, meeting local people and been a part of the Thanet community long before she was selected as Labour’s candidate in February 2023.
She is a former BBC journalist and campaigner on climate and the environment, worked with Ed Miliband to establish the Department of Energy and Climate Change and was a councillor in Hackney until she stood down earlier this year.
She says: “With so much injustice in the world, I can’t sit idly by – I take action.
“The next election is our chance to end the austerity, chaos and mismanagement of the last 14 years. But if we want a better Thanet, we need a Labour government, and we need to elect a Labour MP here in East Thanet.
“Whether born or drawn here, people love this place, and rightly so — it has so much going for it; its landscape, its history and above all its people. But Thanet has borne the brunt of rapid change and Tory neglect.
“Our NHS is on life support, with people struggling to get a GP appointment or register for a dentist, spiralling house prices and unregulated short term holidays lets, our seas and rivers polluted for profit – all of these issues affect our community’s ability to thrive. Now with inflation and interest rates impacting on family finances, many are struggling more than ever. It doesn’t have to be like this.
“That’s why we need a Labour government. I have 5 local missions that I
will work to achieve as part of that:
“A LOCAL DOCTOR AND DENTIST WHEN YOU NEED IT Thousands of us are waiting
more than a month to see a GP, and getting a dentists appointment here
can be a nightmare. As your MP, my priority will be more doctors and
dentists for you.
“TACKLE THE COST OF LIVING CRISIS I know that high inflation and rising
food, fuel and mortgage costs are hurting people. I want you to keep as
much of your hard-earned money as possible. That’s what I’ll fight for
from day one.
“CUT CRIME AND SAVE OUR HIGH STREETS Police should be clearing up crime,
not just issuing crime numbers for insurance claims. I’ll fight for the
police we need in Thanet and make sure they work with the community so
we can feel safe in our homes, on our streets and in our town centres.
“STOP THE SEWAGE SCANDAL The Tory sewage crisis is polluting our seas
and rivers, damaging tourism and putting our health at risk. I will make
sure that water company bosses face criminal charges if they fail to
clean up their toxic mess.
“NO NEW-BUILDS WITHOUT INFRASTRUCTURE If developers want my support,
they’ll need to listen to and act on your concerns first. You’ll be the
first to hear about building plans in your area and we will shape them
together.
“As your Labour candidate and MP, I’ll work for everyone, bringing together the whole community. If you believe that Thanet deserves better, choose change. Choose Labour.”
…and that was a Party Political Broadcast on behalf of the Labour Party.
(seriously, she sounds good – despite my reservations about her not living here)
She hasn’t mentioned she is against the airport
We have sent questions to all the candidates. Views on the airport going forward are one of those questions along with other Thanet issues.
It will be far from the deciding factor for me, as (horrors of horrors!) I can truthfully see both side of the argument. I just love winding up the NIMBYs! : )
Yep I’m sure you do. Just a shame you never enlightened those who campaigned against the noise and pollution
Let alone those that wondered who in Panama was pulling the strings and still are
OK, you’ve swayed me… I’m pro-airport.
Pretty much has with her environmental credentials, but again won’t make any real statements of opinion for fear of alienating voters. Labour have the election in the bag already, so they can avoid saying anything meaningful in all sorts of areas and so avoid be accused of going back on matters in the years ahead. There’ll be let up in the badly draughted rushed legislation in the near future and they’ll have a big enough majority to push it through, we’ll just have the house of lords and the money markets to keep things in check along with the almost inevitable infighting as the various factions in the party try to gain the upper hand.
Oh dear – I did’nt know that. I was all set to vote for her, but not if she is anti airport – I must ask her why?
Thats news to me George, I emailed her yonks ago asking what was her position on the re-opening of Manston, and I’m still waiting for a reply! Any candidate who is for it, will not get my vote!
You’ve already said you’re not voting for anyone anyway!
TACKLE THE COST OF LIVING CRISIS I know that high inflation and rising
food, fuel and mortgage costs are hurting people. I want you to keep as
much of your hard-earned money as possible. That’s what I’ll fight for
from day one.
Lower taxes ? Seems unlikely as there’s only been “promises” of no increases in a very limited of areas, a little detail would be good, though of course -fighting for something- means very little if you know there’s little chance of victory.
Billington’s part of LFI (Labour Friends of Israel). I note she has removed any references to LFI from her profile, one has to imagine she still supports the apartheid state and its genocide of the Palestinian people ?
I note she claims appointments will be available for local doctors and dentists, how does she plan to deliver this ? Will it be like Wes Streeting handing our NHS over to private companies ?
Both parties will tie themselves in knots over Gazza, all to avoid losing votes, but it’s an issue largely revolving around religious belief and as such outside the normal notions of decency and humane behaviour. As a result the majority of the uk electorate have little interest in the matter , much more important things here to deal with.
Exactly, Not Invented. It’s only really the activists (and the people from there of course) who care a great deal.
Well done to Israel freeing those hostages btw.
Who are you supporting then? Or do you just criticise?
Hopefully she will answer this before we mark our ballot papers.
A candidate’s stance on Manston doesn’t matter an iota.
The Examination has taken place. Evidence has been presented and reports written.
For better or worse, the SoS has approved the DCO.
Now it’s down to RSP to find the hundreds of millions of £££ investment, fix the large number of show-stopper conditions the SoS included in the DCO, then entice airlines to Manston.
TDC has a role to play: for the purposes of the DCO they are the Planning Authority, and must ensure that the DCO’s many conditions are met.
No politician can gave any influence at this stage.
I’m still curious to know their opinions on whether or not it’s a good idea… aren’t you?
Of course it matters, Manston is probably the largest single development in the area which will also have knock effects for the surrounding area. It’s a divisive issue for many and the areas MP and their parties stance on such things will have considerable bearing on what happens in the future.
As such a little candid honesty in respect of her views on the future of manston would be quite pertinent to many local voters. The cynical fence sitting of many politicians in this matter ( and others) when they ( the politicians) know full well what their opinion is , is just another distasteful aspect of modern politics.
Every western politician does-no matter which party they belong to.
NO NEW-BUILDS WITHOUT INFRASTRUCTURE If developers want my support,
they’ll need to listen to and act on your concerns first. You’ll be the
first to hear about building plans in your area and we will shape them
together.
Another bit of nonsense, the role of housebuilders is to build houses and the immediate infrastructure ( roads in estates, paths etc) we have the nhs for health care, water and power companies for utilities, etc. If as a nation we are going to allow the huge levels of immigration which require these homes, the nation needs to invest in its own infrastructure, if these costs are forced onto developers its only going to force house prices ever higher.
If all the migrants aren’t creating real increases in gdp ( ie per capita rather than the gross figure) then there’s no economic argument for having them and if they do create real growth then the taxes on this increased economic activity are what should be used for the infrastructure. That this does’nt work shows the flaws in the system.
Our Local Authority has a horrendous record of not seeking proper infrastructure contributions from developers. When there are s106 settlements they are often collected late or not at all. For instance ‘new’ surgeries are often just existing practices poached and relocated. We are having the piss taken out of us
As long as their idea of helping to cover the cost of living crisis isn’t the same as the Tories of just throwing money at large groups of people and hoping they are using it sensibly.
It’s just encouraged a whole cohort of people to expect the Government to send them payments when things get tight which clearly isn’t sustainable.
On the contrary. Thr Tories policy was to send large amounts of money to a small group of people, mostly owners of off-shore bank accounts.
Covid payments? Fuel payments? Heavily subsidised bus fares?
I think not.
Not forgetting, the covid bonus for benefit recipients, increases to lha, benefits increasing with inflation, but the working person is having the tax allowances frozen till 2028 ( apparently to be adhered to by labour as well) seems a rather odd way of encoouraging people to be self sufficient.
If nothing else tax allowances should increase in the same way as pensions and benefits. The extensive use of fiscal drag has no justification whatsoever. Especially when applied to those that work but not to those who don’t. Little more than a guarantee of a spiral of decline.
You’re not including the over 8 million households who got the cash handouts ? That’s around 30% of the total households in the UK.
Most of the 8 million people you mention are pensioners who receive state pensions that is not a handout but a financial pot that they have paid for while working.
What are Labour going to do for the WASPI women?
You’re talking about something completely different. State Pensions did not give people a passport to cost of living payments, pension credit did. There was no “pot” built up during working lives for pension credit or cost of living payments for people on pension credit.
In which case should it not be left outside of the tax system for everyone? And for those that have over the 34 years required for a full pension should there not be an enhanced pension , just as it would be reduced if you insufficient contributions? Or are your pretensions of what’s fair a little skewed?
Not forgetting that those who’ve paid little or nothing in will get support anyway.
All in all there’s little correlation between contribution/ effort and what’s eventually received.
Mr Lewis – once again you get it wrong. Those payments were not calculated within Pensions pot collected over years of working and paying into scheme.
It’s slightly reassuring to see that when the chips are down and a crisis sweeps the country (Covid, BREXIT) even the Tory government will adopt Socialist principles and provide financial support to the citizens.
The “pot” paid into while working is the same “pot” that pays for your own State Pension, all benefits paid to anyone and any cash handouts for any reason. You have no choice how the “pot” is used.
I never thought I’d see the day that Andrew praised the Tories – though you forgot to mention their pro-lockdown stance that you very much supported (meanwhile, children are starting school unable to even talk properly because of it).
Under the Tories, the richest 10% have got richer; meanwhile, food Bank usage has rocketed.
Under the Tories, we have the highest tax burden in a generation; yet public services are on the verge of collapse.
And the population has got fatter, which begs the question: how many of those who use food banks really need them?
Anyway Andrew, I’ve yet to see you (and your lady friends from Ramsgate) praise even slightly ANY of the candidates? Can you do anything but moan?
“A LOCAL DOCTOR AND DENTIST WHEN YOU NEED IT Thousands of us are waiting
more than a month to see a GP, and getting a dentists appointment here
can be a nightmare. As your MP, my priority will be more doctors and
dentists for you.”
And how does she propose to do this? All Thanet GP and dental surgeries have been trying for the past 10+ years to get more GPs & dentists and have not been successful. There is a national shortage and all regions are suffering the same problem. There is no quick or easy solution to the problem as it takes years to train more of both, so this is just a campaign “promise” and is impossible for her to fulfill.
You cannot introduce legislation to make GPs or dentists see someone within a certain period of time if there are not the staff to provide the appointments for the population of the area. The only thing that would achieve is to create more pressure on those we do have and they will end up retiring early or moving elsewhere or overseas which creates an even bigger shortage and larger problem.
So rather than just empty words Polly, give us details on exactly how you would achieve it.
All hot air and promises Polly, like they all do.
As there are no candidates that tell the public the truth I won’t be voting.
Sad, but true.
I’ve yet to hear a politician on the campaign trail telling us that there will be 100s of new hospitals, 1000s of extra police (etc) but to pay for it taxes will go up by 3%.
I will be voting. Some parties are not as bad as others. Not to vote is a step towards anarchy.
Andrew, why would I want to vote for someone who I don’t believe speaks the truth?
If we want good Public Services, then we have to pay for it! Why do we think, we can have modern public services and continue to pay less tax and NI. its delusional.
I for one would be happy to pay more NI/Tax, than the cost of going private to a Dentist/Doctors.
Because the burden of those taxes falls disproportionately on to few, whilst we have huge numbers who have no care for their own of their childrens dental hygiene, have appalling diets and take no exercise, the nhs is never going to get enough money to deal with a population that is getting increasingly fat and unfit whilst expecting society at large to have bottomless pockets to put their ills right.
The direction of travel of the nations health and attitudes of many towards it is going to force us down the path of some sort of partial private insured health provision, the state provides the absolute basics formthose that don’t take care of themselves , the rest staying in reasonable shape in order to be able to find affordable insurance cover. There’s a tipping point where the costs of state provision of an nhs we’d like is beyond what is practically possible in the face of the extent of the issues of excess weight , obesity and sedentary lifestyles are placing on it.
However the nation has got too fat and no politician will overlty stand up and speak the truth as there are just too many larger people who effectively control who gets the keys to number 10 if they wished.
So I take it you wont vote if she doesn’t agree with your pathetic
– NO TO MANSTON AIRPORT –
Oh well, more for Reform…. lol
Fails to state that her address on the voting slip that I have just received is in Hackney. So will she move to Thanet if she wins??? Has she ever lived in Thanet? The Green party candidate lives in Broadstairs so is getting my vote.