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Politics |News Ann brings Brexit Party home


THE Brexit Party’s campaigning bandwagon rolled into Maidstone at the end of last month. Simon Finlaywitnessed the return of an old friend…


FOURwords and eight syllables were enough to remind an ad- miring congregation what they have been missing these past nine years. The diminutive, grey-haired


Ann Widdecombe, aged 71, strode through 1,400 cheering Brexit Party supporters and an- nounced in that unmistakably shrill voice: “Hello Maidstone. Rememberme?” It wasn’t even a joke, but it


raised the roof on a cheerless au- tumnal night. As the next fewminuteswould


prove, her near decade away from the frontline of British politics, until her recent election to the Eu- ropean Parliament, has not di- minished her propensity for brutal honesty. For those of us who have dealt


with Miss Widdecombe over the years,we knowher to be straight- talking, a bit bonkers and some- times curt, but always sharp and across her brief. Tonight at the Kent Event Cen-


tre, Detling, she was second on the bill for the main star turn at the end, the charismatic tub- thumper Nigel Farage, who at least acknowledged he couldn’t begin to upstage her. It was a partisan crowd on the


party’s “Conference Tour” rally and Miss Widdecombe was very


Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage andMEP AnnWiddecombe


much among friends (and very probably former voters) fromher 23 years asMaidstoneMP. She laid into the parlous state of


British politics, particularly at Westminster (which she charac- terised as the worst Parliament since the CivilWar); the near col- lapse of democracy; seethedwith- ering contempt for Europe and the recent “scandal” over lan- guage used in theHouse of Com- mons.


A VEHICLE Parked in Trevor Drive, Allington, was deliberately scratched. A parked vehicle was broken into in


Foley Street. A disc cutter was stolen from a build-


ing site in Allington. Mail was stolen from an external mail-


box at a block of flats in Moorhen Road, Tovil. Thieves broke into a vehicle in Union


Street and stole items including a bank card, which was subsequently used fraudulently. A vehicle parked in Lower Boxley


Road was broken into and a sat nav was stolen. Thieves stole a grey bicycle from out-


side a house in Hardy Street. Somebody tried to break into a com-


mercial property in Tovil Hill, Tovil. There was an attempt to break into a


cafe inMilton Street, Fant. A Nissan Juke Tekna and a bunch of


keys were stolen inWharf Road, Tovil. A vehicle in Marsham Street was bro-


ken into. At which point, in a clear refer-


ence to the PM’s accusation that his opponents are “surrendering” British power, she spat: “Well, I call a spade a spade and I call a surrender a surrender.” The place erupted in thunder-


ous acclaim, a spontaneous stand- ing ovation and a greatwaving of “I amready” posters. Why, then, does she not stand


here oncemore? Surely she could win it, couldn’t she?


Such a move would be rude


and provocative to themany hun- dreds of solid, local people who stomped the streets and delivered literature for her over the years, and she simply is not prepared to do that, she said. One sensed a fair few were in


this evening.WhileMr Farage ap- peared to exciteworship fromthis lot, Miss Widdecombe inspired warmth, nostalgic familiarity anda sense of something lost. At one point the fire alarmwent


off. Miss Widdecombe threw a pointed finger in the air and de- clared: “Don’tworry about that.” Regardless of the din, she car-


ried on while various security types scuttled back and forth and then,when the noise stopped, she screamed: “This is what happens in the Brexit Party. If you keep on at themlong enough, they’ll even- tually shut up.” More cheers. Not long afterwards, she took


her applause and slipped into the darkness, off to London to appear on Newsnight, where she tore into ex-Tory rebel MP Dominic Grieve. After years of Brexit deadlock,


this audience, at least, enjoyed a few flummery-free minutes in front of a little woman who can’t dance, but who can still com- mand enormous respect.


NeighbourhoodWatch Working to reduce crime. Call Crimestoppers 0800 555 111 or local police Somebody poured paint over an Audi


A7, an Audi A4, a Jaguar X-Type, a Ford Focus, a Ford Fiesta and a Seat Altea in WillowWay. Somebody cracked the top side of a


bathroom window in Wingham Close, Shepway. A catalytic converter and other parts


were stolen froma vehicle parked inMill Street. Somebody attempted to gain entry to a


building by tampering with the glass door in College Road. A Ford Focus parked in Mote Road


was broken into. Items stolen included a hoodie, a DVD


player and twoHuawei tablet computers. Gates to a car park were forced open


and rubbishwas dumped inside inWyke Manor Road.


Somebody broke into a vehicle parked


in Claygate, Shepway. A Fiat van parked in Hubbards Lane,


Loose, was broken into and various tools were stolen. A vehicle parked in Northumberland


Road, Shepway, was broken into and items were taken from inside. A Vauxhall Corsa and other vehicles


were damagedwith spray paint along the bonnet, windscreen and mirrors in Bic- knor Road, ParkWood. An object hit and damaged thewindow


of a home in CumberlandAvenue, Shep- way. Somebody stole both registration num-


ber plates from a vehicle parked in Old Tovil Road. A vehicle parked in Plains Avenue, Shepway, was interfered with.


Maidstone November 2019 37


Crime reports


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