Town MP ‘proud of firm’s legal aid work’


HELEN Grant says she is proud to have helped victims of domestic violence, after it emerged that her law firm received more than £200,000 in legal aid in the six months after she was promoted to the Ministry of Justice.


According to the ministry’s annual report,


total payments in 2012-13 to Grant Solici- tors LLP, which she co-owns with husband Simon, were £384,018, of which £219,751 were made on or after September 4, 2012 – the date she was made Justice Minister. When the MP for Maidstone and The


Weald was promoted to a junior minister, the legal aid portfolio was passed to another minister.However, she has continued to an- swer written questions on taxpayer-funded legal aid in parliament and her portfolio still includes law reform, legal services, civil law and the courts. Last year she launched an equality advi- sory service for people seeking to start a


legal aid claim for discrimination. Mrs Grant claims not to receive an income


from her company, but opponents say that as its co-owner she stands to benefit in the future. Mrs Grant said: “I have been completely


open and transparent about my interests in the legal firm of Grants Solicitors LLP and have complied fully with the ministerial code. I am extremely proud of the vital work Grants Solicitors carries out under the legal aid scheme. “For 17 years my team and I have helped thousands of women and children, and somemen, escape abusive and violent rela- tionships, including some of the most vul- nerable and needy in our society. “One in four women in our country suffer domestic violence at some time in their lives, and two women die here every week at the hand of their partner or former part- ner.


“I am often told that people want their politicians to be in touch with ‘real life’ and I am proud to serve as a minister with ex- perience of justice, women and equality is- sues well beyond the walls ofWestminster. After 23 years as a lawyer, a business owner and an employer, I believe my role in Gov- ernment is informed.” Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Jasper Gerard said: “Mrs Grant’s department con- firms that she is still an equity partner. Even if she is not receiving a wage from the firm, will the value of her shares increase as a re- sult of these windfalls? We also need to be told if Mr Grant is drawing a salary or a div- idend from the firm. “The people of this constituency are enti-


tled to answers.” Shadow Justice Minister Andy Slaughter


has also written to the Ministry of Justice demanding answers to a number of ques- tions regarding the MP’s role.


Anger at loss of woodland


Left: Pupils from New Line


Learning Academy Young Farmers’ Club with their sheep, and below, with Cllr Stephen Paine


Kent Show a real scorcher


MORE than twice asmanypeople visited the Kent County Show this yearcompared with last year, as blazingsunandscorchingtemperaturesmade2012’s soggyshowa distantmemory. A totalof75,000 visitors enjoyed animalshows,


tastedKentish foodanddrink,browsedcraft stallsand admired farm machinery atthe annualagricultural showin Detling. CllrStephenPaine (26), a boroughmemberforFant


ward,isalso amemberofNorth DownsYoung Farm- ers’ Club,based atStAugustine’s Abbeyin Oakwood Road.He and fellow members showed Suffolk-cross lambsborrowed fromGF Dayand Son in Staplehurst. Youngsters from New Line Learning Academy, in


Boughton Lane,showed cowsand sheep and won a second prizewithin hours ofthe showopening. Otheractivitiesonofferincludedcamelracing,cour-


tesy ofJoseph’s Amazing Camels, displays bydogs, horses, ducksand otheranimals, ferretracing,sheep shows, a fairground,craft stalls and demonstrations.


Continued from page one


so-called ‘greenest Government ever’ stated that the new NPPF would give sufficient protec- tion to irreplaceable habitats such as ancient woodland. It clearly does not. “We are extremely concerned


now that this outcome could define the level of protection given to ancient woods in all future planning decisions across England. With just 2% ancient woodland cover re- maining, we cannot afford to lose any more.” The application had been strongly opposed by theWood- land Trust in a two-year cam- paign along with 6,000 of its members and supporters, Kent Wildlife Trust, and hundreds of local opponents who formed the Save Oaken Wood commu- nity group. As well as reduced access to


the wood’s public pathways, a variety of rare wildlife species live in the wood and are now under threat, including pip- istrelle and Natterer’s bats. Ancient woodland is land


The pony club show in the main arena, and left, Joseph’s Amazing Camels


30 Town


that has been continuously wooded since 1600. The unique undisturbed soils and ecosystems found in these sites form theUK’s richest land habi- tat – home to a host of rare, pro- tected and threatened wildlife. The Gallagher Group won the argument by claiming there was no viable alternative to the quarrying of ragstone from the wood. The company said current re- serves at Hermitage Quarry were due to run out by 2015, and that the extension will allow quarrying to continue for a further 25 years and protect 300 jobs. Without the expan- sion, ragstone, which is used for construction in predomi- nantly conservation and her- itage areas, would have had to be imported from outside of Kent.


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