@dannyesson

Local Democracy Reporter @Kent_Online | 📥 [email protected] | Opinions all mine

 Kent
muckrack.com/daniel-esson
Joined December 2019
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91Media
The government pressing pause on local government reorganisation means that almost every district in Kent will now have an election next year. TL;DR - I think incumbents are likely to take a beating kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/c…

Council carve-up pause will see 12 elections in Kent - what could it mean?

Kent’s councils were reaching the late phases of their own abolition but will now remain in place - for how long is unclear.

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Attended a pretty mad police misconduct hearing: police officer who was working in counter-slavery/prostitution in fact paid for the services of sex workers kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/n…

Veteran counter-prostitution cop banned after contacting sex workers himself

A police misconduct hearing has heard how an officer of 20 years standing would have been dismissed for gross misconduct if he’d not already retired.

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‘I’m a vegetarian, but animals don’t have rights like us’ I’m in KentOnline talking species-being, humanism, and how only the superiority of human beings makes it possible for animals to be treated well kentonline.co.uk/canterbury/…

‘I’m a vegetarian - but animals do not have ‘rights’ like us’

Animal rights activists have been protesting against plans for horse-drawn carriage rides - but do animals have rights?

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After many many hours of spreadsheet sorting happy to finally have this story out: hundreds of takeaways and cornershops in Kent have 'skilled worker' visa sponsor licences, allowing them to hire from abroad kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/i…

‘It’s absurd!’ Hundreds of Kent corner shops and takeaways can hire overseas ‘skilled workers’

Hundreds of Kent corner shops and takeaways have government licences to recruit “skilled workers” from abroad, KentOnline can reveal.

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In theory there's basically no economic incentive to hire from abroad - you have to pay £600 or so for the licence. The familial benefit which can be gained from using it as a system of chain migration seems to ease the blow, and also makes it easier for example to just under pay
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Loads of religious groups have visa sponsor licences of various sorts too. Couple Islamic cultural centres etc, but also loads of West African protestant churches incl. the very homophobic Winners Chapel International Dartford branch, which ITV busted running conversion therapy
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Pleasure to be alongside @LeaderSaxe last week to jointly receive the Kent Press & Broadcast Awards' Golden Microphone for our coverage of anti-immigration protests
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The most important thing about Burnham becoming PM is probably not anything he'll do himself, but the new forms of opposition he generates. I've written a piece about what the change of PM will mean for Kent politics: kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/a…
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Dan Esson 🗿 retweeted
Brad Harper@BradDAHarperJun 8
Thanks for shortlisting me for Print Journalist of the Year for the fourth year in a row, #KPBA and @Maxim. Delighted to be a Print Feature Journalist of the Year finalist too. Well done to my @Kent_Online colleagues, especially @BowlesMbowles, @MaxChesson and @dannyesson
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I’ve written a column about how ludicrously light sentences and other failures of the justice system are creating the groundwork for a violent hang ‘em and flog ‘em style populism kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/t…

‘The failures of the courts are laying the ground for a violent populism’

Columnist Dan Esson looks at the state of the criminal justice system and worries where light sentences will lead us.

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Also the ultimate cause of a lot of this is basically austerity in the justice system (not enough courts, prisons, etc)
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The point of criminal justice shouldn’t be to satisfy the libidinal urge for revenge, but that can be a pretty potent electoral weapon
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Very pleased to see Japanese ambassador Hiroshi Suzuki enjoyed his visit to Folkestone this bank holiday weekend @AmbJapanUK kentonline.co.uk/folkestone/…

‘Pure joy’: Viral Japanese ambassador enjoying heatwave at coastal town

A social media-star ambassador has shared joyful photographs from a visit to a coastal Kent town – attracting attention from his large following.

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Incredible indictment of NHS management this story. East Kent Hospitals need to save money on staffing, know they must have staff they could do without, but can’t identify them directly, so is asking staff who suspect their superfluousness to come forward kentonline.co.uk/ashford/new…

‘They need to weed out deadwood’: Hospital trust cutting staff to ‘significantly reduce costs’

Health campaigners say Kent’s largest hospital trust “needs to weed out deadwood” after bosses confirmed they are inviting staff to resign.

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They tell me this isn’t the same as a redundancy process, which I suppose is true, because that implies clear direction and identification of roles to be abolished. Here they’re just hoping people who suspect their job could be done away with come forward and ask
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The worst of state and market in one institution. Proliferation of managerial roles of questionable utility, while the ‘internal market’ processes lead to completely irrational and extremely costly things like different wards having different suppliers for PPE etc
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The balance on TWBC after today’s results. The Lib Dems picked up 3 seats, and defended all their holdings successfully. Poor showing for pretty much everyone else
Dan Esson 🗿@dannyessonMay 8
So far - 3 Lib Dem holds, 1 Lib Dem gain from Labour, 1 Conservative hold and 1 Independent hold
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So far - 3 Lib Dem holds, 1 Lib Dem gain from Labour, 1 Conservative hold and 1 Independent hold
Dan Esson 🗿@dannyessonMay 8
Tunbridge Wells election today, probably the last ever to the borough council. 15 seats are up for grabs thanks to the election-by-thirds system. Will be covering results on bere as we get them
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Turnout has been announced - 45.3%. In the last election in 2024, where all wards were up, it was 37%, so a significant increase
Dan Esson 🗿@dannyessonMay 8
Tunbridge Wells election today, probably the last ever to the borough council. 15 seats are up for grabs thanks to the election-by-thirds system. Will be covering results on bere as we get them
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