Catch up on the latest political news from across Kent with Rob Bailey, joined by Conservative Peter Oakford, the finance chief at Kent County Council, and the leader of Canterbury City Council, Labour's Alan Baldock.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:24 Well welcome to the Kent Politics Show live on KMTV. I'm Rob Bailey.
00:28 And this week, a cut to National Insurance, child benefits extended and more relief for
00:33 struggling households. The budget was unmistakably designed to be a vote winner. But did Chancellor
00:39 Jeremy Hunt do enough to convince Kent voters that they are better off? Or was this a budget
00:44 that left people paying more tax than ever and getting shrunken public services in return?
00:50 Well joining me tonight is Conservative Peter Oakford, the Finance Chief at Kent County
00:54 Council and the leader of Canterbury City Council, Labour's Alan Baldock. Welcome both
00:59 of you.
01:00 Thank you. Good to be here.
01:01 Peter, it was an attempt by Jeremy Hunt to woo voters to convince them that the Conservatives
01:07 were able to make them feel better off. But at what cost does that come, do you think?
01:11 Well I don't know how many people were wooed. I certainly wasn't wooed. I think there were
01:16 some nice pieces within that budget that will help small pockets of the population of Kent.
01:23 I don't think it did an awful lot for the residents of Kent and it certainly hasn't
01:28 done anything for public services. It's very nice to see the 2% reduction in National Insurance.
01:35 I don't know how much that will really mean to people but it certainly won't mean as much
01:41 as having some of the services that they're losing being cut. So perhaps that money could
01:48 have been spent better if it went into local government to prop up some of the services
01:53 that we support our most vulnerable residents by, which I think would have had a much stronger
01:58 impact.
01:59 We might come back to that in some of the detail of that in a minute. But Alan, from
02:03 your point of view, has he cut the balance right do you think, Jeremy Hunt? I mean what
02:08 was your takeaway from the budget?
02:10 It was high on politics and low on content really. And I don't think people are looking
02:17 back on this today and thinking, well, am I going to feel better? I don't think so.
02:22 You know, people if you're on a really low wage, just about making ends meet, 2% cut
02:28 in National Insurance, it's not going to make much difference is it? But what you really
02:32 do want is great schools, good health service, just local authority there to fill up the
02:39 gaps. But those are things that people want and the opinion polls say that over and over
02:45 again. Yeah, fix the services because that's what we really want fixed. 14 years of breaking
02:51 them basically.
02:52 It comes at a kind of interesting moment obviously this budget because it's just after
02:55 the local council budget round as well. You've just both set your finance plans for the next
03:00 year. Alan, yours, just like every council in Kent, very challenging. You've got the
03:04 highest debt of any district council in Kent, £150 million. And your warning in your council
03:11 meeting was that you've made it this year but there's pain to come. Can you be a bit
03:16 more specific about what kind of pain that might entail?
03:21 When we were looking through the budget, we were inherited this massive debt, £12 million
03:27 a year to service that debt out of our general account before we even start. It just really
03:32 fundamentally means there's just nowhere to manoeuvre. We've got to pay for all of the
03:37 services that we all want and need. We all have the dustbins emptied, we've got to have
03:44 everything done that the council should be doing to doing it. There's just nothing left.
03:49 We were looking in our budget for find one, two, three thousand pound lines of a budget
03:54 to squeeze things over the line with the minimum without cutting any more services this year.
04:00 Will we find those savings again? I don't know. There's no thought of the government
04:04 stepping in and helping us, not even a tiny bit. In fact, this budget has made it even
04:09 worse.
04:10 I know you've been saying the same, obviously a county council level, but you've been very
04:14 clear that you're in a very difficult position. When this Conservative run of, it started
04:21 with the coalition of course, but let's date it from 2010, we've had Conservative prime
04:24 ministers since then, we've had austerity at the beginning of that period. People are
04:29 saying that the legacy now is going to be years of austerity again as a result of this
04:33 budget. The Conservatives are going to leave councils with a very difficult few years of
04:38 decision making, aren't they?
04:39 I think that they're leaving councils on their knees. I've made no secret about the fact
04:45 that I'm very disappointed with the Conservative government and how they've treated us. We
04:51 haven't got the resources that we need to support the residents of our county, to support
04:55 the most vulnerable. Every time we sit down to do a budget, it's about where can we save
05:01 money because the demand pressures are going up more than the revenue that's coming in.
05:06 It used to be that there were government grants that supported our budget and we could go
05:09 out and do good things, spend money in a discretionary way to support residents. Now 70% of Kent's
05:16 income comes from the hardworking taxpayers of Kent. So they're getting taxed by us, 5%
05:23 increase every year, but we're offering lower and lower services. That can't go on. We're
05:28 in a position now, for the next budget that we do in 12 months' time, unless something
05:33 comes from government, we'll be offering statutory services and all the discretionary services
05:39 which add value to our residents will have disappeared. That can't go on. That's why
05:44 we need a change of finance and funding for local government across the country. It's
05:49 not only Alan and I in Kent, it's every council across the country.
05:54 People will be listening to you saying that, sorry I'll let you come in a second, but people
05:57 will be listening to you saying that and they'll be wondering whether the Conservative Party
06:01 locally and nationally are now essentially two different parties. It certainly sounds
06:05 that way from what you're saying. Should people vote Conservative at the next general election?
06:09 I very strongly believe in Conservative values and if we can get the base Conservative values
06:16 back, low taxation, good education, housing for all, then absolutely. I think they should
06:23 because I think they're on a track where they could do it, but they can only do it with
06:28 the support of local government. To most of our residents, when they think about the services
06:34 that are provided, it's through colleagues at districts and the county council. We do
06:39 that together. If we're not there to do it, who's going to deliver those services? So
06:43 they've got to look at the funding for local government and work with us to make sure that
06:49 we can continue to support our residents. It's conditional support then effectively
06:53 for that national party. Well, I think it is for everybody. If your money runs out at
06:59 home and you can't pay your mortgage, we're all in a difficult position. We cannot permit
07:06 that to happen. We need more houses. We need a better health service. We need government
07:10 to fund social care. Social care is in a huge deficit at this moment in time. We're having
07:17 to find £50 million worth of costing reductions and pushbacks on increasing spend just to
07:24 break even. We're not going to be able to do this for another year. So yes, the budget's
07:30 good. Yes, it's looking at some of the areas that need to be looked at, but it's not addressing
07:35 the core underlying problems that we've been experiencing since the lockdown that we had
07:41 because of COVID and before. Alan, you wanted to come in. Yeah. I think one thing we all
07:47 forget when they say efficiency savings, which is what we're supposed to make even more.
07:51 I don't know where we're going to make any more efficiency savings. We're already beyond
07:56 broken. We haven't got enough staff anymore. And to make a saving, you've got to plan,
08:03 you've got to execute a change. With what? Who's going to finance the change? Who's going
08:07 to give the staff, employ some staff, skilled staff, dedicated staff that we used to have
08:13 in councils? They're still not there. I mean, we've got the most hardworking, dedicated
08:19 team of people, but they just write work to death. It's bad for morale. Here's the trap
08:24 though. That problem you're describing is not going to go away depending on what happens
08:29 in the next general election. Whoever is the next government is going to inherit this austerity
08:34 trap effectively that we're in. So what do you think? How would a Labour government make
08:39 that change, do you think? We do, and we will, and we have. We recognise the problem. The
08:45 first thing is to face up to the problem, and then you can start to build. But we can't
08:50 do anything until we get to building a process of change for the better. And that's what
08:56 we have to do. We've tried to do that a little bit in Canterbury this year in our budget
08:59 to build up our strength there. But we have to do this all the time. It's going to take
09:03 years. We've been destroyed for 10 plus years of, 14 years of austerity. So it's going to
09:10 take a few years to get right. I want to ask you specifically about older people in Kent
09:16 in this budget, because a 2% cut to national insurance does nothing for people who aren't
09:20 in work. Jeremy Hunt says he wants to cut national insurance completely in the future
09:25 if he's given that opportunity. And every economist that you listen to says the only
09:31 way you can do that is by raising income tax, which then would, of course, affect pensioners
09:35 because they pay that on their pensions. Are they being abandoned by the Conservative Party?
09:40 I don't think they're being abandoned because the triple lock is still there. So pensioners
09:44 will be seeing a healthy increase come through. However, I would have liked, as would the
09:49 vast majority of the population, if there's money to make some savings, then put it on
09:55 the basic rate of tax. Don't mess around around the edges. Put it on the basic rate of tax
10:00 so it impacts everybody. But before you make those tax cuts, make sure that the services
10:06 that are wanted by the residents are available to them. You can't do everything as a Chancellor.
10:12 And I think what the Chancellor's tried to do is to please everybody. There's some really
10:16 good things in there that help local businesses. A lot of our local businesses are small, so
10:22 the changes that he's made with the VAT threshold, for an example, is going to help our small
10:28 local businesses. But that's only one element of what he needs to be doing.
10:33 We will talk about the business elements after the break. But Alan, in terms of how this
10:38 affects some of the more vulnerable people, particularly older people in our community,
10:42 their bills are still going up, inflation is still high, their mortgage payments might
10:45 be higher if they're still paying those. It's going to be tough, isn't it?
10:49 Oh yeah, absolutely. And this budget, we waited right until the budget to know whether a household
10:55 support grant was going to be extended. You know, we talk about staff, we have to employ
11:00 staff to manage the household support grant. We didn't know until the budget whether it
11:04 was going to be there for another six months. That's the sort of thing that we need, long-term
11:07 planning, long-term thinking from the government, not this, like, crash it over the line, get
11:13 on with it, guys. Rob, can I just come in on that? Because it's
11:16 not just the older people. We have to remember the younger people who are struggling to get
11:21 on the housing ladder. They're struggling to make ends meet. Their mortgages are going
11:25 up. So it's every part of the population. But you're right, I think it's hitting younger
11:30 people and older people harder because how many young people now can find properties
11:35 to rent or to buy, can afford to do that, and how many are still living at home with
11:40 their parents? Things have changed dramatically and that needs to be addressed.
11:44 That's all we've got time for in this half. We'll take a quick break. But when we come
11:47 back, we'll talk about why the budget might lead to a blockbuster boost to Kent's economy.
11:51 We'll see you soon.
11:53 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:58 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:02 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:04 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:06 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:09 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:12 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:15 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:18 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:21 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:24 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:27 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:30 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:33 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:36 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:39 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:42 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:45 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:48 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:51 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:54 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:57 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:03 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:06 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:09 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:12 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:15 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:18 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:20 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:22 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:24 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:26 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:28 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:30 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:32 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:34 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:36 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:38 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:40 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:42 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:44 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:46 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:48 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:50 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:52 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:54 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:56 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:58 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:02 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:04 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:06 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:08 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:10 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:12 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:14 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:16 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:18 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:20 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:22 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:24 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:26 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:28 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:30 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:32 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:34 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:36 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:38 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:40 (upbeat music)
15:09 - Welcome back to the Kent Politics Show live on KMTV.
15:12 And our focus on the budget continues
15:14 because some believe it could help Kent
15:17 become the UK's answer to Hollywood.
15:19 Tax breaks for filmmaking were included
15:21 in a series of business boosting measures
15:24 announced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
15:26 There was also talk of a new ISA to invest in British firms
15:29 and a rise in the VAT threshold for small businesses.
15:33 With new film studios being built in Ashford,
15:35 the measures were welcomed by the town's MP, Damien Green.
15:39 - As a personal interest,
15:40 I particularly welcome the measures
15:42 to help the film industry to come and invest in this country.
15:46 There are film studios being built in Ashford.
15:49 So for my constituency,
15:50 anything that attracts international film business
15:53 to this country is a good thing.
15:55 The fact that the Chancellor made a thing
15:56 about the creative industries,
15:58 specifically in the budget, is very good.
16:00 They are a successful sector of the economy.
16:03 And more importantly, of course,
16:04 they're hugely important to all of us culturally.
16:06 So I'm glad they're at the centre of his thinking.
16:10 - Still here with me is Labour's Alan Baldock
16:12 and Conservative Peter Oakford.
16:14 Good to see you back again.
16:16 Alan, Canterbury's a prime location.
16:18 Do you think that we could capitalise
16:20 on these corporation tax breaks
16:22 to bring more filmmaking to Kent?
16:24 - Anything like that is fantastic.
16:26 I mean, why not?
16:28 And it's a great location.
16:30 I'd love for people to come to Canterbury and film,
16:32 and they do, and we enjoy their company,
16:34 and hopefully they'll make money
16:35 and we all can make some money out of it as well.
16:37 So good news.
16:39 I would just correct him.
16:40 I mean, the reason that the studios aren't quite going yet,
16:43 there's been some problems with Newtown site
16:45 where it's gonna go.
16:46 And most of that is because this government's failed
16:48 to look after and sort out neutral neutrality,
16:51 which has stopped the whole of that development in Newtown.
16:53 So if we sort that out,
16:54 we can actually get the film studios built,
16:56 and that might be a positive move.
16:57 - And what is the way to unblock that, do you think?
17:00 - Neutral neutrality, it's just got to be accepted
17:02 as a government problem that we can solve,
17:04 and work through,
17:05 and the risks need to be taken by government
17:07 rather than local authorities,
17:09 who in the first half of our programme
17:12 have got no spare money.
17:13 And we're talking millions to solve these problems
17:15 that have built up over generations.
17:17 - It's the kind of technical problem
17:18 you wouldn't expect a government to solve
17:22 in the final 12 months or less of its tenure.
17:25 So we're talking about quite a long-term problem.
17:27 - It should have been started way back,
17:29 sorting the problem out.
17:29 It's not like it's suddenly sneaked up on us.
17:32 It's been sneaking up on us for years.
17:35 And to spend the money wisely,
17:37 getting that problem sorted,
17:38 then we wouldn't have these problems.
17:39 - So Kent County Council has an overview
17:42 of the kind of filming in Kent.
17:43 It has its own department, doesn't it?
17:46 - It does.
17:47 - It's apparently about 10 million pounds a year
17:49 worth of direct investment in the economy,
17:51 but then there's all of the kind of supply chains
17:53 and the benefit that it has in tourism and everything else.
17:55 Is there a big opportunity there?
17:57 - Well, I think there is.
17:58 The film industry in Kent is booming.
18:01 We're sitting a few hundred yards
18:03 from somewhere that beams into everybody's home
18:05 on a Sunday evening, aren't we?
18:07 There's an awful lot of work goes on.
18:10 We get an update every now and then
18:11 of all the facilities throughout the county
18:13 that are used in different films and TV programmes.
18:17 And it's an amazing list.
18:18 They even came and Netflix used County Hall
18:22 to have a doorway.
18:24 All they wanted was a doorway
18:26 to get people walking in and out.
18:28 But it's absolutely booming, and hopefully this will.
18:31 - And I did hear the Prime Minister say
18:34 that we could, England as a country,
18:37 could be, the United Kingdom,
18:38 the second largest only to Hollywood in the movie industry,
18:42 which is fabulous for our country.
18:45 - Absolutely, but it was interesting in the budget
18:48 because it was very industry specific at times, wasn't it?
18:50 There were things about the creative industries there.
18:52 Quite a few people would have been looking
18:54 at the health of the nation's high streets,
18:56 something we know about in Kent.
18:57 Do you think he did anything, really,
19:00 to help high streets in Kent?
19:02 - I don't think there was.
19:04 And it was a very underwhelming budget for me.
19:09 It did help a few people in a few areas, a few industries,
19:14 but it's not that big bang budget
19:16 that we need to get the country going again.
19:19 Now, as you say, the high streets are dying.
19:21 Saying that, I was in a meeting earlier this week
19:23 and we were talking about a number of towns around Kent
19:27 where we're seeing that the high streets start to recover.
19:30 Tunbridge Wells, the main shopping centre,
19:33 there was so many empty premises.
19:35 We're now seeing names like Primark
19:37 going into Tunbridge Wells.
19:38 So I think all of that is great.
19:40 And there is some recovery,
19:42 but not the recovery that's needed
19:44 in order to find the jobs,
19:46 get the people back out on the streets,
19:48 get the economy going, get people spending.
19:51 We need more help in that area.
19:53 - And in the Kent economy relies on the hospitality industry
19:55 in large part, doesn't it?
19:56 - Yes, hospitality, shopping.
19:58 - Alcohol duty free is good news for Canterbury,
20:00 do you think?
20:01 - Yeah, it's helpful.
20:03 Everything like that, every tiny step is helpful.
20:06 We've got great pubs, great bars, great restaurants.
20:08 Of course it is.
20:09 But we actually need to drive that economy
20:12 and you need to get people to come here.
20:16 And all of these things, like we now got a huge hit
20:19 probably the end of this year,
20:20 which is gonna really make a huge difference to Kent.
20:23 And that is the border controls coming in place.
20:26 Nipping over for a day trip is now gonna be
20:28 the whiteboard there.
20:29 If you're gonna spend four or five hours
20:30 in a queue on each side of the channel,
20:32 you're not gonna do it.
20:33 So those are the issues.
20:34 Whatever you do, you need to get the basics right.
20:37 And our economy needs to be boosted all of the time.
20:42 Give us the opportunities as local district councils
20:44 to help our economy.
20:46 Don't keep kicking us all the time.
20:47 Then we can start to rebuild the basics and get right.
20:51 - I wanted to ask you specifically about one of the things
20:53 that Jeremy Hunt talked about on Wednesday,
20:54 which was about second homes.
20:56 And particularly the issue of holiday let's.
20:59 So across Kent's coastline,
21:01 there are communities where essentially they're ghost towns
21:03 for part of the year
21:04 because an awful lot of homes are owned by people,
21:07 rented out for the summer.
21:08 Nothing really happens there in the winter.
21:11 Herne Bay and Whitstable would be included in those areas.
21:13 You pleased to see him taking action
21:15 to try and bring some of those homes back
21:17 by taking away some of the incentives for second homes?
21:19 - I think it's useful.
21:21 It's useful.
21:22 There are lots of problems with too much density
21:25 of holiday accommodation in Whitstable, for example,
21:28 is a prime place.
21:29 We need to address that.
21:30 How would you address it?
21:32 Well, that's gonna help.
21:35 I think if people have holiday property
21:37 and they're serious about the holiday property,
21:39 then they're gonna work through these problems
21:41 'cause basically it's just a tax relief to say,
21:43 you can't use for capital spend on your holiday home.
21:46 You can't offset against tax.
21:48 So really you're being treated the same
21:49 as any other landlord.
21:51 And that's, I don't think that's unfair or unreasonable.
21:53 And if you're serious about the business
21:54 of being holiday let's, then you're gonna do it.
21:56 What it will of course do is encourage people
21:58 that are just got a property they use a few weeks a year,
22:03 rent it off they can, not taking it too seriously.
22:06 That property may well be released back into the market.
22:08 But of course, the cost of properties in Whitstable
22:10 is absolutely astronomical anyway.
22:13 So it's not gonna help too much for people
22:15 looking for their first time home, for example.
22:17 - Do you think there might be a little hit
22:18 to the tourism economy of some areas because of this?
22:20 Or do you think it won't have too much of an impact?
22:22 - I don't think it's gonna have a lot of impact at all.
22:24 As Alan says, these houses on the market,
22:28 all they would do is to bring people in
22:30 from outside the area because first time buyers
22:32 aren't gonna be able to afford to buy them.
22:35 We want tourism as well as houses for the residents of Kent.
22:39 So I really can't see it being big enough deal
22:44 to have a large impact.
22:46 - From one thing on the Kent coastline to another then,
22:48 because the budget could bring nuclear power
22:50 back to Dungeness.
22:52 The chancellor announced a £160 million deal
22:54 for nuclear power in Wales and Gloucestershire on Wednesday.
22:57 But he also confirmed that the government
22:59 will continue to support small modular reactors.
23:02 Folkestone and Hive MP Damien Collins
23:04 has been campaigning for one of those reactors
23:06 to be built in Dungeness.
23:07 Here's what he told us this week.
23:09 - Of course, 2050 is when the ultimate target,
23:12 we wanna be delivered.
23:13 But for sites like Dungeness and small modular reactors,
23:16 we'll be looking for those to come forward
23:17 in the next six to 10 years.
23:20 But that requires decisions to be made
23:21 in the next couple of years.
23:23 So the government's already consulting on new nuclear sites.
23:26 It says it needs more sites than it's got,
23:27 which is good news for Dungeness.
23:29 And this important investment
23:30 in small modular reactor technology,
23:32 this new, smaller, easier to deploy technology,
23:35 which I think will suit Dungeness very well.
23:37 It was good that the chancellor referenced that
23:39 in the budget and more progress
23:40 has been made with that this year.
23:43 - Peter, is Kent County Council behind the bid
23:45 that Damien Collins' campaign
23:46 to get a small modular reactor at Dungeness?
23:48 - Very much so.
23:49 We're working with Damien, we're lobbying government,
23:51 we've got a team at KCC that are working on this.
23:55 It's a no brainer as far as we're concerned.
23:57 You have a skilled workforce in place.
23:59 You have a community that accepts
24:01 having nuclear within their area.
24:04 And there's a history there.
24:06 Why would you not put a small reactor in that space
24:10 where we can deal with a number of the challenges
24:12 that we're facing?
24:14 I think that should be very, very high on the list.
24:16 Why go to a new site when we're crying out for it in Kent?
24:20 We've got the workforce saying, "Bring it in."
24:22 We've got the local community saying, "Bring it in."
24:24 And both Kent County Council, the local authority,
24:27 and the district councils are working together
24:30 in order to try and drive this one through for us all.
24:33 - And Labour's green policy
24:34 seems to be a bit up in the air at the moment.
24:35 It was an early manifesto announcement.
24:38 It's kind of been rowed back, do you think?
24:40 Are you in favour of this?
24:41 - Absolutely, yeah.
24:43 And let's be fair.
24:44 We've just got a different view on that outcome.
24:48 But it is very much part of the green agenda.
24:51 We need baseload nuclear reactors,
24:53 and that has to be a way forward, I think,
24:55 really, from my point of view.
24:56 - At the moment, this is at a competitive stage.
24:58 Rolls-Royce are the ones that are driving
25:01 their design of this small modular reactor.
25:04 They've got a list of sites.
25:05 We're not on it.
25:07 Is Kent County Council involved
25:08 in trying to lobby them to have that?
25:10 - They lobby it.
25:11 We're working with the government.
25:12 We're working with the energy company.
25:15 As I said, we're working with everybody to lobby,
25:18 and it happens frequently.
25:20 There's been a number of meetings.
25:21 I do believe that we've had our officers,
25:24 and I believe the leader of the council went down
25:25 and met with ministers on the site.
25:27 So there's an awful lot of work being done
25:29 behind the scenes by quite a few people
25:32 in different industries to try and get Kent
25:34 at the forefront of this.
25:35 - We're almost at the end of the show.
25:36 A snap verdict from both of you.
25:38 We know that this was a pre-election budget.
25:41 Do you think it's given us a hint
25:43 about when the election might be?
25:45 - Oh, no.
25:46 I think it was just a test the water type budget.
25:50 My own opinion, and this is very much my own opinion,
25:55 is that I wouldn't be at all surprised
25:56 that government continues to watch the inflation rate.
26:00 If it dips below 2%, maybe there'd be a autumn statement
26:04 with some tax cuts, and then there'd be
26:05 a general election straight after that.
26:07 But perhaps that's just me.
26:10 - So that gives Jeremy Hunt one more time at the--
26:12 - Possibly.
26:13 I'm not saying, I don't know him personally.
26:15 I haven't had a chat with him.
26:16 But it's just the way I'm feeling
26:19 because there wasn't anything in that
26:20 that would persuade me, now's the time to put pen to paper.
26:24 - Alan, very quickly.
26:25 - May. - May.
26:26 - Definitely May.
26:27 - There we go.
26:28 That's all we've got time for here on the Kent Politics Show.
26:30 Thanks to both of my guests for coming into the studio.
26:32 We'll be back next week.
26:34 And there's more political news analysis
26:36 and opinion on Kent Online,
26:37 including the Kent Politics podcast,
26:39 which features Vince Maple from Medway Council this week.
26:42 Stay with us because Kent Tonight is coming up
26:44 with all of the latest news from around the county.
26:46 Have a great evening.
26:48 (upbeat music)
26:51 (upbeat music)
26:53 (upbeat music)
26:57 (upbeat music)
27:00 (upbeat music)
27:02 (upbeat music)
27:05 (upbeat music)
27:07 (upbeat music)
27:10 (upbeat music)
27:13 (upbeat music)
27:15 (upbeat music)
27:18 (upbeat music)
27:20 (upbeat music)
27:23 (upbeat music)
27:26 (upbeat music)
27:28 (upbeat music)
27:31 (upbeat music)
27:33 (upbeat music)
27:36 (upbeat music)
27:39 (upbeat music)
27:41 (upbeat music)
27:44 (upbeat music)
27:47 (upbeat music)
27:50 (upbeat music)
27:52 (upbeat music)
27:55 (upbeat music)
27:58 (upbeat music)
28:01 (upbeat music)
28:04 (upbeat music)
28:06 (upbeat music)
28:09 (upbeat music)