Labour’s undemocratically imposed candidate for the new parliamentary seat of Sandwich and Herne Bay, Helen Whitehead, claims in her election material that if she is elected she will “stand up for the environment” in her constituency. But on two separate occasions, her actions show that nothing could be further from the truth.
Earlier this year in her role as a Thanet Labour councillor and Deputy Council Leader Whitehead proposed and voted in favour of plans to build housing on council owned agricultural land off Shottendane Road near Garlinge, which falls within the Sandwich and Herne Bay constituency.
This decision was made despite the Labour-run council’s policy commitment to protect agricultural land from development, and despite pleas from Labour, Conservative and Independent councillors to re-locate her proposal to a brown field, previously developed, site elsewhere in Thanet, of which there are many to choose from.
Whitehead’s fake environmental credentials are further exposed when it comes to the case of Minster Marshes which are also located within the Sandwich and Herne Bay constituency.
In an act of environmental vandalism which beggars belief, privately owned National Grid are proposing to build a massive electrical converter station over 30 meters high which, with its additional infrastructure of roads and pylons, will cover many hectares of untouched natural habitat.
These plans, were they to be implemented, would devastate Minster Marshes and destroy the rich ecology and biodiversity which they support including rare animals, birds and plants. So worried are residents of the Sandwich and Herne Bay constituency and other nearby areas that a petition of over 10,000 signatures, and still growing, demonstrates the strength of feeling against National Grid’s insensitive and environmentally toxic proposals.
Other candidates standing in the Sandwich and Herne Bay constituency, such as Conservative Sir Roger Gale and Green Party candidate Thea Barrett have from the very start of their campaigning publicly opposed the Minster Marshes plans and promised to take the fight to save them to Parliament if elected.
However, despite double checking, it appears that wannabe MP Whithead has said nothing at all about this very important matter since being imposed as a candidate upon the good people of Sandwich and Herne Bay eight long months ago.
It was only today when the Isle of Thanet News forced Whitehead to break her silence and explain to voters what her views on the campaign to save Minster Marshes are – and boy what an explanation it turned out to be!
Rather than give a straight answer to a straight question about her support or otherwise for saving Minster Marshes, Whitehead, just like her slippery question dodging boss Keir Stamer on steroids, ducked and dived, bobbed and weaved, misled and deceived to avoid publicly committing herself to anything at all.
In my opinion, a lack of candor such as this is a deliberate insult to the electorate of Sandwich and Herne Bay, who Whitehead appears to be taking for fools and ignoramuses. This raises serious questions about her integrity, and suggests that unlike her plain speaking rivals she might prefer uber-capitalist National Grid to the much loved and valued piece of nature in a constituency she hopes to represent.
Coincidentally, whilst checking my facts about candidate Whithead I stumbled across several social media posts made by the Leader of the Thanet Independent group of councillors, John Worrow, about her less than environmentally friendly proposals for the farmland at Shottendane Road.
Quite rightly and quite lawfully, Councillor Worrow described her as the Candidate for Concrete Fields – a truthful and fair description I believe. But, I was astonished to learn that irrespective of his human right to describe her as he did, she took out a councillor conduct complaint against Mr Worrow for bullying her which, at great cost to the taxpayer, is currently being investigated by an independent person.
The wannbe MP for Sandwich and Herne Bay is, from where I am standing, the only bully I can see. She has abused her seniority and influence at the council to politicize and weaponize the councillor conduct and standards process to unfairly and undemocratically shut down legitimate, albeit cheekily truthful, criticism of her actions.
I can only assume that if she is elected to parliament any constituent or journalist who wishes to hold her to account by publicly criticizing her performance as an MP might expect to receive a visit from the police, or threats of legal action for criticizing and harassing her.
I have said it before and will say it again Labour election candidate Whitehead is not, in my opinion fit to be an MP in Legoland let alone Sandwich and Herne Bay.
My advice is vote Green.
Here is the link to Whitehead's interview with the Isle of Thanet News
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