Can Thanet really police bad language?
Plus former Gravesham MP jumps to Reform, news in brief, and more
Towns across Thanet have been plagued with antisocial behaviour, and Thanet District Council are launching a Public Space Protection Order to clamp down on it. Most of it seems pretty standard, but an argument over the banning of swearing has garnered a lot of attention. We take a look at both sides of the argument. Further down, we have news of a former Kent Conservative MP jumping to Reform. A true conversion or political opportunism? Plus we have news in brief, details of our interview with Reform KCC leader Linden Kemkaran, and more.
Editor’s note: Thanks for your understanding and kind words I’ve received after slowing down our schedule a little following the death of my father. We’re almost back to full speed now (if not quite, hence this arriving on Friday morning and being a little shorter than usual), but we’ll be putting out a full slate of content next week.
Can Thanet really police bad language?
Thanet has always been a place of contrasts, known for its coastlines, characters, and, in recent months, significant antisocial behaviour. Thanet District Council is now taking steps to address these issues with a new Public Space Protection Order (PSPO). The order targets various forms of public disorder, including aggressive begging, drug dealing, and intimidating street drinking. However, its clause banning ‘foul and abusive language’ has generated considerable controversy.
The PSPO covers Margate, Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Westgate, and Westwood Cross, and was introduced following extensive public consultation and contentious debate. Council Leader Rick Everitt and Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, Cllr Helen Whitehead, have championed the scheme as essential for maintaining public order, stating that residents deserve to feel safe in their communities. However, others argue that the clause targeting foul language is excessive and difficult to enforce effectively.
Thanet District Council maintains the PSPO does not aim to police everyday conversation but addresses language likely to cause harassment, alarm, or distress. Critics have raised concerns about the subjective nature of determining when casual swearing becomes criminal behaviour.
Public consultation responses revealed a broad range of views among Thanet residents. One Margate local described regularly feeling intimidated by aggressive groups using loud, abusive language, negatively impacting both residents and tourists. Similarly, a Broadstairs beach hut owner reported avoiding Viking Bay due to drunken, abusive teenagers, commenting: "It used to be lovely. Now we avoid it altogether."
On the other hand, several residents argued that the language aspect of the PSPO is overly restrictive. One resident said, "Swearing has become part of everyday speech. Policing something this subjective seems unrealistic." Another respondent expressed concern about potential bias, noting the measure's broad wording could unfairly target young people or minority groups.
In response, Thanet District Council insists that enforcement guidelines provide clear discretion for officers, highlighting that similar measures have successfully operated in other areas without excessively restricting everyday speech.
This is not the first time Thanet has attempted to introduce similar measures. A previous effort last year failed after facing legal challenges, forcing the council to temporarily withdraw the proposal.
Despite this history, residents and businesses continue to highlight serious concerns around antisocial behaviour. Ramsgate business owners, for example, report increasing issues damaging their livelihoods, while Margate residents regularly detail disturbing incidents involving violence and alcohol abuse.
During consultation, a business owner from Margate Harbour Arm described an incident involving individuals wielding broken bottles, expressing frustration at the lack of visible policing: "We urgently need a visible police presence. It’s disheartening that we’re left to handle these situations until help arrives, if it ever does."
Despite these pressing concerns, critics argue that including a swearing prohibition risks trivialising more severe antisocial behaviour. One Ramsgate resident summarised this viewpoint succinctly: "Anti-social behaviour is about violence, drugs, and intimidation, not swearing."
Thanet District Council and other supporters argue the measure is necessary and proportionate, but the swearing clause continues to attract criticism. While the PSPO’s broader intentions to improve public safety are commendable, vague efforts to police swearing appear to potentially distract from more meaningful efforts to tackle genuine antisocial behaviour issues in Thanet.
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Former Gravesham MP jumps to Reform
Adam Holloway, the former Gravesham Conservative MP known for his army background, rebellious streak, and a CV that stretches from the Gulf War to investigative journalism, announced this week that he has joined Reform UK. Defeated by Labour at the last election after nearly two decades in Westminster, less than a year later, Holloway is announcing his new allegiance, framing his move as a stand on principle. However, the timing does raise an eyebrow or two.
Holloway’s post-election reinvention as Reform’s newest flag-waver feels less like a shock and more like the latest act in a well-worn drama. Before he was Gravesham’s perennial Tory (he won the seat in 2005 and hanging on for nearly twenty years), Holloway had already packed more into a CV than most MPs. Born in Faversham and schooled at Cambridge, he saw action as a Grenadier Guards captain in the Gulf War. He then lived as a rough sleeper to expose homelessness for ITV’s No Fixed Abode. If there’s a box marked ‘colourful political backstory,’ he’s ticked it.
In Parliament, Holloway made his name as something of a serial rebel: a Brexit hardliner, a regular on select committees, and never too shy to thumb his nose at the party line, whether over air strikes in Iraq or Theresa May’s Brexit deals. He even managed a brief stint as a government whip under Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, which in recent Tory history is less a badge of honour and more a sign you turned up to the right meeting.
His latest transformation came quickly after losing Gravesham to Labour at the last election. Instead of quietly nursing his wounds, Holloway wasted no time announcing he’d joined Reform, a haven for Tory exiles who still want to keep the flame of Brexit burning and their phone ringing with media requests.
In his grandstanding Spectator essay, Holloway follows the old cliche: “I didn’t leave the Conservative party, it left me.” Apparently, the Tories have given up on “sovereignty, secure borders, low taxes, personal responsibility, and cultural confidence,” all values Holloway now assures us are alive and well in Reform. He takes aim at his former party for “allowing 728,000 net arrivals in a single year” and launching what he calls a “job-exporting Net Zero agenda.” As ever, Holloway is big on casting himself as the honest man who finally had enough.
The move to Reform, he insists, isn’t about his own career—even if he concedes it “is a consideration.” Still, the timing is impeccable. Lose your seat, find a new cause that happens to be riding high in the polls, and write a piece for The Spectator. The line between renewal and opportunism is a very narrow one.
Whether he’s driven by conviction or just keen to stay in the limelight, Holloway’s journey from army captain and investigative reporter to restless Tory rebel and now Reform cheerleader is textbook modern Westminster. He finishes with the sort of apocalyptic warning every new convert must deliver. Only Reform, he says, is “fully fit and credible for the rescue mission of 2029, which may well be the United Kingdom’s last best chance.” Or perhaps just the next stop in a career that never lacked for drama.
In brief
🏘️ The ever excellent James O’Malley has written about what new towns can learn from Ebbsfleet.
💷 Residents in Ramsgate are being asked how to spend £20m in regeneration funding provided by the government.
🗄️ Plans have been submitted for 68 new homes, a commercial unit, and Fastrack bus provision as part of the ongoing redevelopment around Northfleet.
🏗️ Maidstone Borough Council is seeking a builder for a £50m project to build 103 flats on the former Springfield library site.
🚨 In a move that couldn’t possibly go wrong, a private security firm has been brought in to try to deter anti-social behaviour in Herne Bay.
🚗 Increases in the Dartford Crossing toll from £2.50 to £3.50 from September will generate up to £46m in additional revenue, and Kent County Council want a cut of it.
🚧 An investigation has been launched after an Amazon delivery driver was killed when his van was struck by a train at a level crossing near Teynham.
🚛 A Waitrose lorry veered off a road in Northfleet and nearly landed in a lake.
🚶 A row has broken out in Faversham over renaming a path called Shooting Meadows to one named after Queen Matilda.
🚌 Stagecoach has launched a new open-top bus service that will run throughout the summer, connecting Margate, Broadstairs, Ramsgate, Minnis Bay, and more locations.
🧱 A street cleaner has accidentally destroyed a century-old shelter next to the River Medway in Tonbridge.
🛥️ Great British Life has profiled Lionel Lukin, a Kent man who invented the lifeboat in the 1780s.
🔎 In the latest in the ongoing series of publications discovering Kent, the London newspaper Ham & High has found out about Hythe, the Mirror is excited about Margate, Secret London says Ramsgate ‘has it all,’ and Great British Life is enjoying Faversham.
More Currents
For our big weekend interview, we sat down with the new Reform leader of Kent County Council, Linden Kemkaran. In addition to discussing her life and career, she talks about the ‘nonsense’ of net-zero, Cliftonville councillor Daniel Taylor, who has been suspended from the party, and how she believes the UK is heading toward significant civil disturbance.
“I think there's a lot gone wrong with politics, not just in Kent”
In May, Reform swept to power at Kent County Council, taking 57 of 81 seats. Linden Kemkaran emerged as their new leader from that group. We met her at County Hall to discuss her experiences as the child of the Windrush generation, why she joined and left the Conservative Party, Brexit, running the UK’s largest local council, and lots more.
We believe this is by far the most extensive interview conducted with Kemkaran since she became the leader of Kent County Council, and it’s well worth your time if you’d like a better understanding of who is running the county.
Footnotes
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