Rumour, Fact Or Fiction?

I say! There seems to be more than a whiff of desperation creeping into the pro-China Gateway campaign! Perhaps they've only just woken up to the news that not everyone on our dinky little island is prepared to roll over and have their tummies tickled every time someone makes another empty promise of jobs.

Some of you will no doubt remember '10,000 New Jobs!' being trumpeted on the front page of the Gazunder way back when the airport was sold off. I'd be surprised if, almost a decade later, the number of actual jobs created has even reached three figures.

It speaks volumes that the pro-Gateway lobby are now coming up with those time-honoured tactics of last resort - casting doubt on the veracity of those who would protest. A letter in this week's Gazunder accuses protesters of 'factless verbal diarrhoea', closely followed a few pages later by Our Glorious Council Leader banging on about 'the fiction that is being put out concerning the China Gateway Project'.

Well Sandy, just what are the facts? In particular, I'd like to know more about the facts pertaining to your trip to China last November. Did you know the developers, CGP, were fronting up all your expenses? If you did, how can we believe a word you say about China Gateway if you're in their pockets? If you didn't, doesn't that demonstrate a stupendous level of ignorance? And if you can be that ignorant, how can we trust you to know what you're talking about now?

In case, dear reader, you didn't catch it, I'm reproducing below the recent article in Private Eye, which sets out the contents of the 'Tesco bag' documents in more detail than has so far appeared on any Thanet blog. It's worth reading to remind ourselves of just what we are dealing with here.

And let us not forget that the Eye is a national publication, not a blog. They have an unsurpassed reputation for breaking stories ahead of the wider press. This article has not, as far as I am aware, attracted any libel suits for 'defamation', 'fiction', or 'verbal diarrhoea'. Nor has it even provoked a stiff letter of denial from Our Sandy, or any other member of Thanet Council come to that.


HAO DO YOU DO?

Inspector Knacker is looking into a bag of documents which may shed light on why Tory dominated Thanet Council is so keen to plonk a 3.5m square foot Chinese business park on a greenfield site above the area’s aquifer.

Kent Police’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit was handed the bag after it was sent anonymously to a local blogger. The contents related to a council ‘fact finding’ trip to China last November and had evidently come from the offices of Commercial Group Properties (CGP), the AIM-listed outfit proposing the controversial China Gateway development in conjunction with the Chinese government’s outward investment arm Chinamex.

At the time the council assured locals the trip was organised and funded by Beijing, not CGP. PC Plod may reach a different conclusion. For example, a copy of a CGP email confirming room reservations in Hong Kong shows them booked on a CGP employee’s credit card. Another document, evidently minutes of a CGP board meeting, states: ‘By travelling with members of the council and paying their expenses the Company could be accused of trying to obtain planning consent in respect of its various projects by unfair means.’ Hmm, good point. But this is answered in the very next sentence: ‘KW (CGP boss Ken Wills) confirmed that every consideration and action was being taken so that this impression was not given’, with the handwritten addendum ‘,and reimbursement by Chinamex should be forthcoming’.

There’s more. A scrawled note of thanks to Chinamex chief Chairman Hao transforms miraculously into a formal letter on council headed paper from leader Sandy Ezekiel, closely followed by a quote from Ezekiel’s shagpile emporium for carpeting CGP’s offices ‘at a discount of 20%’. Another handwritten note, ostensibly to council Chief Executive Richard Samuel, reads: ‘Upon reviewing your hotel bills for the trip to China I would like to thank you and your three colleagues for keeping the expenditure down to a minimum by, for instance, not using the in-room minibar.’ It continues: ‘If you or your colleagues have any bills for out of pocket expenses please could you forward them to me for dealing with immediately.’

Surely pure coincidence, then, that CGP, which is proposing a similar scheme in Wigan, and which wants Thanet Council to erect signs on its borders saying ‘Welcome to Thanet – Home of Chinese Globalisation’, has dropped its plans to drain foul water into cesspits since these documents came to light, and declared itself in favour of the Environment Agency’s recommendation that it spend £600,000 on mains sewers to prevent contamination of Thanet’s drinking water. Even stranger, Thanet’s planning committee mislaid its customary rubber stamp last week and narrowly voted to defer the decision to a full meeting of the council.

China Gateway Sold For £5m

Haha! No, not that China Gateway, silly! No, the one in Dover.

Reuters reported late on Friday that China Gateway International PLC (formerly Commercial Group Properties, prop. Ken Wills) had exchanged contracts for the disposal of its properties at Western Heights and Farthingloe, Dover to Dover Gateway Limited for a cash consideration of £5 million. Proceeds will be used to reduce the company's indebtedness to Israel Discount Bank Ltd.

What that means for the future of our very own China Gateway, which was granted Phase 1 planning permission in 2008 after much controversy, only Bertie Biggles and his Tesco bag of goodies can tell. Perhaps with another five mill in his pocket, our Ken can now afford another junket to China for Sandy Ezekiel, Roger Latchford and Richard Samuel? Or perhaps not, as 'Dover Gateway Limited' appears to be 40% owned by Ken and co anyway, with 60% owned by something called Priory Land Ltd, registered at a Regus business centre in Bracknell.

Ah, but then Priory Land are providing an interest free loan which will be repaid at some future date. So CGI net three million mazolians! Hurrah! Treble Maotais all round!

Update: The Priory Land Ltd website's now working. I've updated the link. Thanks to MC Bookman for the update!

Click here to read CGI press release

More Knickers About Knockers (And Lots Of Other Old Knackers)

Holy breakfast meetings! I've just received a full transcript of the presentation to local businesses that Our Sandy and Deputy Rodge gave at 7.30 this morning over at Frank T's Pegwell Bay Hotel. And there's enough hot air in it to warm up a gross of croissants! How about this for starters (you'll have to imagine the Powerpoint (yawn) slides that Rodge is referring to):

First off our current opportunities. China Gateway. There has been a lot of bloggers going out with all sorts of stories of doom and gloom and how dreadful this all is and we shouldn’t have it. (Surely he means today's Private Eye? - Ed.) But we are talking about jobs. We are talking about a serious amount of jobs. This is a joint project by KCC and TDC and managed by a company called EKO LLP of which I am a director. Our aim is that having bought this land, we will market it and put the money back into both our coffers and make a profit. This is the plan, and we are going to put there, just by the entrance, the China Gateway building which is a shopping centre which companies would locate into to showcase all their items. That is China Gateway and it is Phase 1. Phase 1 is going on to there. This is the China Gateway building and this is the sort of quality of building that will be built.

Slumped into your cornflakes yet? There's more:

Let's go now and look at the current position with China Gateway. Recently an extraordinary Council meeting voted 41 for and 10 against. Chairman Hoo (Who? Surely Hao? - Ed.) of the Aigo company was over here on a visit and The United Nations are firmly behind this plan (Does that make it UN-inspired? - Ed.) and working closely with Chinamex and CGP, they are partners and are 100% behind it. Chinamex is the supportive arm of the Chinese Government and are looking at globalisation opportunities and they have got a very close working relationship with CGP. And Chinamex are absolutely adamant that the funding is in place . So what is the next stage? The next stage now that we have planning in place, you will see bricks and mortar coming out of the ground at Manston.

It goes on, but if you're like me you've probably lost the will to live by now and are busy stringing rashers of bacon together to form a makeshift noose. If you want to see the rest, including how the runway at RAF London Kent Ramsgate Manston International Airport is going to be extended as far as the Somerfield roundabout to accommodate the new Airbus superjumbos, let me know!

Chinese Whispers

Despite not building anything, and therefore not renting out anything either, it seems that Manston based China Gateway International (Commercial Group Properties in old money) have returned to profit! Hurrah!

Our Ken's company went from a whopping pre-tax loss of £8.875m last year to a modest profit of £299,000 for the year to 30 November 2009. Not being of a financial bent, I ran that past Cyril my accountant during our meeting to discuss him flogging me some Lehman Brothers shares, and he says it's pretty impressive!

You may remembrane that there was a bit of controversy concerning a Tesco bag and a jolly to China by senior members of the Thanet Council team round about the time CGI were applying for planning permission to build a Chinese themed business park at Manston in 2008. Well, that's all behind us now, as Ken's sidekick Rob Bolton says in his chairman's report:

My prediction that we would be in a position to commence construction at Manston could not be fulfilled due to the lack of any available development finance in the market place.

Er, no, wait. It's all on again:

However your directors have put into effect a plan to finance the venture through the sale of 'seats' to the Chinese end users of the development and the terms of the contract for the first of these seat sales have been agreed as China still enjoys the levels of annual growth that the West can only dream of during these difficult times. I would like to thank our Bankers and shareholders for their continued support and also our executive directors for their hard work and extensive time and travels within China that has brought about these developments and allowed the project to move forward.

So that's alright then! The plan is now to sell these 'seats' to Chinese investors, who would get the chance to hold promotional exhibitions and have a 365-days-a-year marketing presence in the UK by sitting in six, 150,000 sq ft, industry themed 'hubs' out at Manston. Mind you, that doesn't sound like the job-creating industrial and commercial work our beloved council were sold when planning permission was granted.

And as far as I recall, planning permission was only granted for one such 'hub'. So where are the other five going to be built? And when will planning permission be, er, rubber stamped?

Click here for CGI's results statement
Click here for more on the 2008 planning decision in yourfannitinnit
Click on the label below for my previous drivel on CGI

'Ello Me Old China

I see the President of France today signed £14.5bn worth of deals with the Chinese. So, have Thanet's illustrious leaders, who've also recently been in China, done as well? Here's an extract from Sandy's China Diary, which I found on a CD marked 'top secret' that TNT popped through the letterbox this morning:

Day 1: Lord luvva duck! Those tossers at BA lost my effing bag. F*cking tossers. 'Ad a couple of Axminster samples in it too. Tossers.
Day 2: Bleedin' 'ell. They served up snake liver last night. Tossers!
Day 3: One of their blokes woz in me face this morning. IN ME FACE! So I told him to eff off. F*cking tosser!

Speaking of China, don't forget you can catch the Terracotta Army exhibition at the British Museum until next April. Which gives me a perfect excuse to run my picture of reader Terracotta Glenn again!

The Things They Say...

We've had the worries of lead-painted toys from China and you may have heard that many Chinese health remedies are equally contaminated. Now its the turn of clothes, with news that cheap clothes made in China have been found to contain high levels of Formaldehyde to protect clothes that have to be shipped great distances against mildew.

Long-term exposure to the chemical in high levels can be harmful, causing problems ranging from minor skin rashes to some types of cancer.

Let's be frank though. Given the way the Chinese treat their own population and pollute their environment, does anyone really believe that in the pursuit of "Golden grease", factory owners are really going to pay too much attention to our European health and safety laws? I rather think not.

Thanet Council Cabinet Member Simon Moores, 21/8/2007

9/10/2008 - Thanet Council grant planning permission for China Gateway
29/8/2009 - Thanet Council close Margate old town without notice to schmooze Chinese officials

BBC On The China Trail

And it's not feckin Beijing I'm talking about yer eejits! That reporter feller Glenn Campbell from BBC South East is making a fillum about the China Gateway project and wants yous all to turn up at Acol Village Hall next Thursday 28 August. He writes:

The meeting has been arranged through Cllr Sheila Bransfield and will take place from 4pm onwards. It's really a chance for us (the BBC) to get to meet and interview local people concerned about the China Gateway project.

Sure I hope he's not thinking of putting it to the tune of Rhinestone Cowboy now!

China Gateway Bigged Up In Property Week

Ooh! Somebody's spent a bob or two on this flashy CGI fly-thru of the putative China Gateway over at Manston, which was given planning approval two years ago amid Tesco bag accusations of freebie trips for councillors, and since when has come to, er, sod all.

It's part of a puff piece in yesterday's Property Week which begins: 'Building a 3.3m sq ft business park by the north Kent coast might seem like a risky idea in present economic conditions, but developer China Gateway International says it's entirely viable – if it can obtain investment from the Far East.'

Sounds to me like a case of which will come first, the 1000 year old chicken or the 1000 year old egg! It's worth watching the thing right through to the finish (if you don't end up airsick first), when you'll see night descend and the entire array of sheds glowing in the Thanet countryside like a freshly minted uranium rod.

China Gateway - The Kazakhstan Connection

Ferreting around the old interbollocks just now, I came across this surprising headline in the Railway Gazette:

CHINA GATEWAY RAIL CONTRACT AWARDED

Now, I know some poor demented souls round here think a spur into RAF London Kent Ramsgate Manston International Airport would be a wizard wheeze, which might serve the proposed 3m sq ft Chinese business park too. But this was banging on about a '278km single-track 1520 mm gauge railway', commencing operations to the Chinese border in 2012. Geography was never my strong point, but even I can work out that 278km wouldn't get you as far as a Chinese takeaway in Paris, let alone the Chinese Border!

Aaaanyway, turns out the whole flippin' thing is in Borat's alma mater, Kazakhstan. Which got the brainbox ticking. Are all international projects run in conjunction with Beijing called 'China Gateway'? I think we should be told!

Click here to read full story on Railway Gazette website

News Rubble

Right. Time for a round-up of all the flotsam and jetsam that's floated into the ECR newsroom over the past week, and which I couldn't be arsed to write about. I call it news rubble. Which is quite appropriate as it all relates to proposed or ongoing property developments here on the Ile. Oh, and by the way, none of these, er, facts have been checked in the slightest!

- East Kent Opportunities, the joint development agency run by Thanet Council and Kent County Council, display their Westwood Haine Road development plans at Clarendon House's media centre in Cavendish Street, Ramsgate tomorrow. Might be a chance to spot a councillor, if any can be bothered to turn up of course.

- There could be fireworks aplenty for the China Gateway development if a theatrical pyrotechnics firm doesn't shift from its current location. The firm has a lease on a building slap, er, bang in the middle of the proposed business park until 2013. No glass and steel structures will be going up in the current safety zone around them, methinks, unless they can be persuaded to shift!

- A new website - Say No To China Gate - has been set up to protest against China Gateway. It's still a work in progress but you can view it here.

- Ramsgate/People Firster Gerry O'Donnell has written to our beloved council asking whether SFP Ventures, who are developing the former Pleasurama site here in the Millionaires' Playground, have yet coughed up the substantial bond they were meant to pay as a guarantee of their bona fides in completing the project.

And there you have it. News rubble. Don't forget, if you have any tasty nibbles for the ECR smörgåsbord, or just a few bricks to keep the old cliff top mansion from crumbling, just email me at richardeastcliff@yahoo.co.uk

China Crisis

I say! It seems Thanet's bloggers are getting all steamed up under the proverbials about the potential damage the proposed 12 squillion square foot China Gateway business park at Manston might do to our lovely environment here on the Ile de Thanet. Not to mention our drinking water supply. As ever, our beloved council have given us three nanoseconds to object to this monstrous carbuncle, which they're justifying under the same, tired old rallying cry: JOBS!

Speaking of which, where will all the, er, jobs go once all the jobs have been created? Not straight down into our water table, which lies directly beneath, one hopes!

Click here to read Thanet Strife on China Gateway project
Click here to read biblio-bloke Michael Child on same

Breaking News - China Meeting Delayed

And I'm just getting word in my earpiece that the extraordinary council meeting set for 11 September to decide on planning permission for China Gateway has been postponed to 29 September.

According to sources the unconfirmed reason for the delay is that our glorious council leader is booked on a trip, to, er, China. As I say, that story just breaking. We'll bring you more later in the blogramme. Meanwhile, sport. And for that it's over to a fat man in a suit...

Update: Story now running on Isle of Thanet Gazunder website. Click here to read.

China Syndrome

Reader Jan writes:

It seems we're all turning Chinese here on the Ile de Thanet, what with the announcement of a new development for 3,000,000 Chinese businesses at Manston, and your plan to re-brand our local disused power station as 'Richborough - Our Great Wall of China'. Do you by any chance have any pictures that would show the Chinese how much we welcome their cultural and business input here in Thanet?

Happy to oblige, Jan:

Chinese Whisper

Thanet Council and I don't see eye to eye very much. Er, that might be a bit of an understatement. So I see absolutely no reason not to publish this 'strictly embargoed' press release from the council that has come into my possession.

It details a 'civic delegation' from China that's arriving here tomorrow (Saturday) to tour their new island territory, which seems only fair. After all, we occupied Hong Kong for quite a time there, so it's only right and proper that we hand over the Isle of Thanet as reparation!

I imagine this press release has been embargoed at the request of the Chinese, or some Thanetian squillionaire, in the hope that word wouldn't get out. After all, they wouldn't want all those frightful Free Tibet protesters and people who moan about freedom of speech in the People's Republic to turn out in force and piss on their parade, would they? Still, this has bollocksed that up, hasn't it! Maybe the Cliftonville whinger could get off his fat bot and wave a banner. He's always banging on about freedom of speech!

STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL SATURDAY 29 AUGUST, 15.00

Photo opportunity

Date: Saturday 29 August

Time: 11.00am

Place: Margate Town Hall

Chinese dignitaries will be visiting Thanet this weekend to meet a civic delegation.

The dignitaries will include Madam Li Xiaolin, who is the Vice President of the Association of Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Honorary President of the China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development, and Chairman Hu, the Chairman of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).

Amongst those who will be greeting the delegation are Thanet District Council's Deputy Leader, Cllr. Roger Latchford, Chief Executive Richard Samuel and the Mayors of Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate.

Teeny-Tiny Council Gets Go Ahead

As well as the momentous decision on China Gateway last night, our beloved council had other business to attend to, such as granting Ramsgate a town council. First Ramsgate Firster and all-round Family Guy Gerry O'Donnell writes:

One small step for a town council, one giant leap for Ramsgate. Perhaps the district councillors were tired after the bruising three hour pitched battle over the China Gateway. Perhaps.

The churlishness with which they voted in a parish/town council for Ramsgate spoke volumes about the institutional malady that infects the district council chamber.

Sandy Ezekiel baldly stated that the Ramsgate Town Council will be brought into effect after the 1st April 2009 and that elections to it would take place “probably” in September 2009. No words of congratulation for the people of Ramsgate who, he acknowledged, had voted for their own town council in the District Council’s Referendum. There was no wishing them well. Just a minimalist statement that made you feel it was a molar being extracted without anaesthetic.

Richard Nicholson, seconding the motion, was his usual ungracious self and offered no words of good will for the people of Ramsgate. Nor were there any words of congratulation from any of the other Ramsgate District councillors. The people of Ramsgate should take note.

And then came the vote.

As chairman of Ramsgate First it was a wonderful moment. The shine was not taken off by the miserliness in which the motion was carried. Four years of hard, tiring, often frustrating work. But it was for Ramsgate, and for me and the supporters of Ramsgate First that was reason enough.

I believe that Ramsgate now has an opportunity to build itself a better future with a Town Council that will more jealously guard its inheritance and more boldly assert its future potential. No longer will Ramsgate be an afterthought in the District Council’s deliberations.

Now the really hard work begins. We must make sure we elect Town Councillors that really care about the town and who are willing to work.

Well done Ramsgate.

China Syndrome

This month's formal planning application to build a 175 acre Chinese business park at Manston makes heavy reading, I can tell you. All in all 110 documents have been filed. That's about 109 more than you'd need for your average single storey extension.

Local squillionaire Ken Wills, whose joint venture with the dodgy human rights abusers otherwise known as the Chinese is behind the China Gateway development, has clearly been very thorough. And I can't think of too many people round here who'd sit down with all that bumf for a spot of bedtime reading. All I managed was the glossy Environmental Statement, which reveals that some of the final development will be beyond the designated employment area and use up yet more of our precious countryside. The application rather arrogantly states:

Whilst this portion of countryside land would not normally be developable for such uses, it is considered an appropriate departure from current policy given its strategic location and the unique opportunities presented.

Then abracadabra! There we go! The magic words 'jobs' and 'regeneration' appear, which is bound to get our supine council drooling. As will the sentence: '(It) will put Thanet ‘on the map’ as a major international commercial centre.'

So get out the KY and let's all bend over backwards and/or forwards for the Chinese, eh? Why not let them bulldoze our pastures and build on top of our water supply, I say. Why not let them add up to 17,000 journeys a day to the area, and rumble lorries round our roads and fly knackered old jumbos over our heads? After all, we might lose our pleasant environment, but in return we'll get a few jobs and a load more sheds full of tut out at Westwood Cross. Hurrah!

Click here to go to the UK Planning website. Once you've selected Thanet District Council, go to M, then click on Manston Road. It's the second application down.

Tory Story

Well, well, well! I see Tory stalwart Chris Wells is quitting his post as a KCC cabinet member in order, on the face of it, to concentrate on constituency matters. Ordinarily this news would be about as interesting as watching seaweed rot in Minnis Bay, despite being described elsewhere as a 'shock' and 'surprise'.

But remember it comes at a time when the Blue Rinsers are in some disarray here in Thanet. There's the ongoing police investigation into the Tesco bag of China Gateway documents, which hint at a closer relationship between the council and developers than would appear seemly. The planning decision itself was deferred by Ken Gregory's planning committee to a full council meeting, which we were told was going to be on 11 September, then 29 September. Latest intelligence is that it might now take place on 9 October. And all because Deputy Rodge apparently forgot our Sandy was due to be on yet another mission to China next month. Honestly, this lot couldn't organise a conflagration in a disused fun park!

Then there are the persistent rumours that the Tory young(-ish) turks are plotting a palace coup to oust the gruesome twosome currently in control. Will the Three Musketeers - alleged to comprise of flying doctor Simon Moores, rock doctor Alasdair Bruce and legal eagle Ewan Cameron - see Cllr Wells as their D'Artagnan? And where is our glorious council leader while this house of cards comes tumbling down? Depending on which rumour you believe, he's staying as a guest at a local developer's Portuguese villa, or sunning himself in the Med on SS Shagpile!

Click here to read Cllr Wells story in Thanet Extra

Update: KCC boss Ruddy-Faced Man has now spoken on this, saying: 'Chris Wells has chosen to spend more time running his consultancy business and feels he needs to focus on working on local issues in the run-up to the county election next year, recognising the marginal nature of his county division in Margate.' More here.

Veiw Form The Tope

Reader Wendy has emailed me with the response she received from Our Glorious Leader to her strongly worded complaint about the granting of planning permission for China Gateway:

Cear wendy,

I notice that u only moan about con cllr but no labour
Yet many voted for the china gateway 9llr mark nottingham was rhe most
critical of those that lived in acol
I would be happy to meet with u and doiscuss all the issues
Those that ihave met have gone away with a more open mind
Both MPs r in spprt and steve ladyman has also come out in sppt of phase
2 and 3

Please contact annette on 577108 should u wish to meet in my office

Sandy

This article has NOT been approved by the Politburo. Any suggestion that the Chairman cannot spell or is incapable of rational thought should be immediately expunged from the minds of all good citizens. For the avoidance of any doubt we can inform you that this email was typed one-handed on the chairman's Blackberry whilst he was attempting to carry out a particularly difficult manoeuvre in his ZiL at the Mill Lane multi-storey car park.

Update: Politburo member Comrade Gregory adds: Richard, I am sure you do not know that Sandy EZ has a problem with spelling, its a mild version of dyslexia. I would hope that you are not taking the Piss out of someone who has put the disadvantages of a disability behind them.? Ken

Ladyboy's Thanet

Only in your super, soaraway Eastcliff Richard! Each week local politician Dr Steve Ladyboy shoots from the hip! Politically speaking, that is.

Unemployment in Thanet is more than seventeen times the average for the rest of Kent, around 128 per cent above the average for the south east and something like 9,000,000 per cent above the average for Britain as a whole. It is one of the most deprived districts in the developed world, with life expectancy significantly below 23.

But if you talk to some of these people campaigning against the China Gateway plans for Manston Business Park you would think that the place was overrun with job opportunities and that everyone lived to 100.

If we want to cut crime, see our high streets thrive, build new leisure facilities, cut crime, get people back into work and see our high streets thrive, we need to attract extra cash into our local economy. That's why I accepted a £25,000 political donation from that nice chap Ken Wills, whose company, CGP, will be building China Gateway and bringing Thanet all the votes I so desperately need.

That's enough politics - Ed.

Ken Wills - The Gift That Keeps On Giving!

I'm indebted to one of my spies who's spotted that our local squillionaire Ken Wills, he of CGP/China Gateway fame, just doesn't seem to be able to stop handing over his dosh to good causes at the moment!

As well as 25,000 sponds to the Thanet South Labourites, and a rumoured £12,500 mazoulians from CGP for Margate's Big Event, it would appear Our Ken has just handed over a cool ton to Councillor Shirley Tomlinson's British Heart Foundation appeal. Of course, KW has every right to spend his dosh however he pleases, and nobody's suggesting there's anything untoward going on here. Shirl's appeal is for a splendid cause, and is inspired by the excellent help hubby Mick 'Mr Margate' Tomlinson received when he had a cardiac arrest back in February. Curious, though, that Ken should be handing out his hard-earned to such disparate local causes - a Tory council, a Labour MP, and a charity appeal run by a Conservative councillor who admires Maggie Thatcher and wants to bring back national service!

And one can't help wondering, what with the Big Council Meeting to decide on planning permission for China Gate coming up this Thursday, whether Mr Wills has distributed his largesse in such a seemingly random fashion elsewhere on the island?

Click here to visit Shirley Tomlinson's BHF appeal site

Update: The Gazunder is now running the full SP on Ken's largesse here.