Every fortnight Kevin writes a "Kev's Column" for the Torbay Weekly and you can read the latest edition (Published on Thursday 21st April 2022) below:
Ukraine
The sinking of the Russian Flagship “Moskva” last week was not just the loss of a major capital ship, it is a symbol of how badly the war is going for Vladimir Putin.
There are only two ways such a ship is lost, direct military attack by an opposing force or incompetence by the crew causing a catastrophic accident. It is telling that Putin’s Regime wants us to believe the later happened in this case, purely to avoid having to admit the reality Ukraine can now strike at and defeat even the most powerful Russian Units.
In Eastern Ukraine, Russian Forces will seek to achieve some sort of “victory” which can be used to justify the disastrous cost in blood and treasure for their nation of Putin’s attack. Hence it is all the more vital western nations step up their support for Ukraine’s fight as if he fails in his next offensive, Putin fails overall.
Building Back
The last two years brought with it many challenges, yet after the first Easter without restrictions since 2019 our bay’s economy is surging forwards.
Its not just larger projects like the two new hotels under construction on Paignton Seafront or the new cinema opening in Torquay, but many other schemes either underway or starting to provide new homes and jobs. It is easy to forget two years ago many predicted the pandemic could bring about mass unemployment, especially in areas like ours reliant on tourism. Yet major support schemes such as furlough ensured we not only avoided this but were ready to spring back rapidly.
What will be key is ensuring the benefits of the investment we are now seeing, plus the opportunities created by it, are shared by those in our bay who face the most challenges.
David Amess
The man who murdered Sir David Amess has been jailed for the rest of his life. I will not use his name here, he should be forgotten.
David should be remembered as someone who devoted his life to public service and whose example can inspire others. He spent 4 decades in parliament making a difference on issues he cared about and was a friendly ear as a fellow Blue Fox when I was first elected in 2015.
David lost his life doing the thing his life had been about, meeting his constituents and looking to see how he could help. Whilst, like other MPs, I have had to put some additional security measures in place, I know David would not have wanted the legacy of his death to be the ending of contact with our constituents.
Surgery Times
My next surgeries are on: Saturday 23rd April 11am till 1pm at Paignton Library, Great Western Rd, Paignton TQ4 5AG and Friday 29th April 10am till 12pm at 5-7 East St, Torquay, TQ2 5SD.
For an appointment you can either email me at [email protected] or leave a message on 01803 214989, surgeries are for personal queries from residents they would like me to help them with, such as housing or welfare, rather than a wider policy debate. There are also drop-in sessions at my office 5-7 East St, Torquay, TQ2 5SD between 10am & 1pm Monday to Friday where a member of my team will be available to help with any queries.
