Tracey Crouch MP
In conversation with Tracey Crouch MP for Chatham and Aylesford
by Tony Randall
In my final part of talking to Tracey we discuss all the issues that concern her local constituents from the proposed Thames Estuary airport to the closing of shops and jobs in local high streets, and how she is going about ensuring that matters can be resolved which will benefit the communities. Twitter and yes being booted off the Parliamentary football team all feature in our discussion.
TR: Before you became a Member of Parliament you had already worked with in Westminster for several MPs. Have you always wanted to be an MP and what made you want to become one?
TC: I actually didn't realise at first i wanted to be an MP. but a lot of my school friends would probably identify that i wanted to become one around the age of 17 or 18. I did some work experience for my then MP Michael Howard and he showed me how valuable the job is, It's not just about standing up in parliament waving order papers around, actually you really can make a massive difference to people's life's or a local community. Working for local MPs between 96 and 98 and in 2003- 2005 really did make my mind up that i wanted to serve as an Mp.
TR: Your MP for Chatham and Aylesford and surrounding towns, when constituents come to your surgeries are their different problems and worries for those who live in Medway compared to Snodland?
TC: Very much so i do surgeries in Chatham, Aylesford and Snodland, In Chatham for example there are many issues around deprivation for many families, but that is not saying those sort of problems will not crop up from time to time in other areas like Aylesford.
TR: When you walk round Chatham high street as you can in many towns up and down the country you see shops closing down, boarded up and big retail names moving out to larger out of town shopping centres. How can you persuade companies to invest in Chatham and bring in independent traders to boost the local economy?
TC: You have to open shops that are right for the area, the regeneration of Chatham is incredibly important for the future of the high street. A lot of work has gone in trying to make it more accessible to everyone. We have the new bus station which has been highly controversial , but it has been designed to make it much easier for people to come in town and spend money.The problem is to often there has been direct competition between the high street and Bluewater, and really they should be kept as two separate centres, instead of competing with Bluewater it should be something completely different.
TR: What about the rates for shopkeepers are they to high in town?
TC: I don't know what the precise rates are for the shops in Chatham but you need to have a really good mix of rates for different businesses that's what the Mary Portas review for government is all about.
TR: One big issue for constituents in Medway is the proposed airport at the Thames Estuary. Many people are against the idea of an airport but others say it would be good in that local people will benefit from jobs, What is your position on this?
What the proposed Thames Estuary airport will look like if given the go ahead.
TC: A lot of miss information has been put out there about this airport, when people come to me and say think of the jobs it will create for the young people, I have to say ask yourself why do you think local people will get these jobs? Actually Boris and his team have been clear that they see the Thames Estuary airport in the future will be an alternative to Heathrow. Well for starters there will be thousands of people who will transfer from Heathrow to the Thames Estuary airport because of the skilled jobs they currently do. Then when you have gone past the construction phase and unfortunately we don't have enough British jobs for British workers in the amount we should do, so there is no guarantee that all our young Chatham builders will get the work.
Then you have the airport being connected with Essex so we can't assume work will come from here in Kent. Also the way the planning system works and with a massive planning infrastructure like this one it won't get the go ahead for at least another 5 or 10 years and our youngsters need jobs now.
TR: Talking of young people what is the prospect for them in future years in terms of jobs, housing and a decent standard of living, after all they are our future.
TC: There is a future for the young people, I'm really optimistic for their future, you have to be, I'm not going to sit back and say it;s all doom and gloom, that is the job of the Labour Party. I would like to see more wiliness to go out there and do the jobs that i would have done as a youngster, but some people don't want to take any job going now.I worked in McDonald's as a teenager and loved it, every second of it. Young people need to see what opportunities are out there and take them to provide them with useful experience.
TR: A lot of MPs use Twitter now , how useful is it for you in terms of keeping people informed of what you are doing?
TC: I find it an incredible useful means of communication, I use it as a press release service, I can use it as flexible or political as i want. Each MP has a different way of using twitter, all the local press follow me on twitter so if i do say something in parliament which normally they might have ignored or be waiting for a press release now they can pick it up on twitter. More importantly i can get out the more human things the press don't write about, so people can see it.
TR: It also makes you more assessable to your constituents being on twitter as well.
TC: Absolutely it is a good way for constituents contacting me with this direct means of communication.
TR: You can also show that MPs do have a good sense of humour being on twitter like the time you was being interviewed for BBC South East Today looking smart top half upwards, after the interview you tweeted a photo with you wearing football shorts and socks.
Photo tweeted by Tracey showing what the viewers did not see during a live interview on the BBC.
TC: Ha Ha well it was one of those days when i was trying to do two things at once and i had to be dressed in two different ways.
TR: It's well known you were wrongly given the red card and not allowed to play for the parliamentary football team because your a woman and this is because of ludicrous FA rules but you are a qualified football coach and manage Meridian Girls under 14s putting your time back into your local community and young people, you must love doing that?
TC: Absolutely, I have been with them for 5 years now, seen them grow up together as a team, I love doing it and as i can't play football anymore so this is a great way of staying in the sport and being able to pass my love of football to the girls who i hope will eventually go off and play football at a much higher level than they are now.
TR: How are they doing in the league?
TC: Well we are not doing to bad this season, I'm very proud of them all, and also when I'm standing on the sideline when it's chucking down with rain and it's windy, I'm responsible for eleven girls on a field running around and it's a completely different world to my day job.
by Tony Randall
In my final part of talking to Tracey we discuss all the issues that concern her local constituents from the proposed Thames Estuary airport to the closing of shops and jobs in local high streets, and how she is going about ensuring that matters can be resolved which will benefit the communities. Twitter and yes being booted off the Parliamentary football team all feature in our discussion.
TR: Before you became a Member of Parliament you had already worked with in Westminster for several MPs. Have you always wanted to be an MP and what made you want to become one?
TC: I actually didn't realise at first i wanted to be an MP. but a lot of my school friends would probably identify that i wanted to become one around the age of 17 or 18. I did some work experience for my then MP Michael Howard and he showed me how valuable the job is, It's not just about standing up in parliament waving order papers around, actually you really can make a massive difference to people's life's or a local community. Working for local MPs between 96 and 98 and in 2003- 2005 really did make my mind up that i wanted to serve as an Mp.
TR: Your MP for Chatham and Aylesford and surrounding towns, when constituents come to your surgeries are their different problems and worries for those who live in Medway compared to Snodland?
TC: Very much so i do surgeries in Chatham, Aylesford and Snodland, In Chatham for example there are many issues around deprivation for many families, but that is not saying those sort of problems will not crop up from time to time in other areas like Aylesford.
TR: When you walk round Chatham high street as you can in many towns up and down the country you see shops closing down, boarded up and big retail names moving out to larger out of town shopping centres. How can you persuade companies to invest in Chatham and bring in independent traders to boost the local economy?
TC: You have to open shops that are right for the area, the regeneration of Chatham is incredibly important for the future of the high street. A lot of work has gone in trying to make it more accessible to everyone. We have the new bus station which has been highly controversial , but it has been designed to make it much easier for people to come in town and spend money.The problem is to often there has been direct competition between the high street and Bluewater, and really they should be kept as two separate centres, instead of competing with Bluewater it should be something completely different.
TR: What about the rates for shopkeepers are they to high in town?
TC: I don't know what the precise rates are for the shops in Chatham but you need to have a really good mix of rates for different businesses that's what the Mary Portas review for government is all about.
TR: One big issue for constituents in Medway is the proposed airport at the Thames Estuary. Many people are against the idea of an airport but others say it would be good in that local people will benefit from jobs, What is your position on this?
What the proposed Thames Estuary airport will look like if given the go ahead.
TC: A lot of miss information has been put out there about this airport, when people come to me and say think of the jobs it will create for the young people, I have to say ask yourself why do you think local people will get these jobs? Actually Boris and his team have been clear that they see the Thames Estuary airport in the future will be an alternative to Heathrow. Well for starters there will be thousands of people who will transfer from Heathrow to the Thames Estuary airport because of the skilled jobs they currently do. Then when you have gone past the construction phase and unfortunately we don't have enough British jobs for British workers in the amount we should do, so there is no guarantee that all our young Chatham builders will get the work.
Then you have the airport being connected with Essex so we can't assume work will come from here in Kent. Also the way the planning system works and with a massive planning infrastructure like this one it won't get the go ahead for at least another 5 or 10 years and our youngsters need jobs now.
TR: Talking of young people what is the prospect for them in future years in terms of jobs, housing and a decent standard of living, after all they are our future.
TC: There is a future for the young people, I'm really optimistic for their future, you have to be, I'm not going to sit back and say it;s all doom and gloom, that is the job of the Labour Party. I would like to see more wiliness to go out there and do the jobs that i would have done as a youngster, but some people don't want to take any job going now.I worked in McDonald's as a teenager and loved it, every second of it. Young people need to see what opportunities are out there and take them to provide them with useful experience.
TR: A lot of MPs use Twitter now , how useful is it for you in terms of keeping people informed of what you are doing?
TC: I find it an incredible useful means of communication, I use it as a press release service, I can use it as flexible or political as i want. Each MP has a different way of using twitter, all the local press follow me on twitter so if i do say something in parliament which normally they might have ignored or be waiting for a press release now they can pick it up on twitter. More importantly i can get out the more human things the press don't write about, so people can see it.
TR: It also makes you more assessable to your constituents being on twitter as well.
TC: Absolutely it is a good way for constituents contacting me with this direct means of communication.
TR: You can also show that MPs do have a good sense of humour being on twitter like the time you was being interviewed for BBC South East Today looking smart top half upwards, after the interview you tweeted a photo with you wearing football shorts and socks.
Photo tweeted by Tracey showing what the viewers did not see during a live interview on the BBC.
TC: Ha Ha well it was one of those days when i was trying to do two things at once and i had to be dressed in two different ways.
TR: It's well known you were wrongly given the red card and not allowed to play for the parliamentary football team because your a woman and this is because of ludicrous FA rules but you are a qualified football coach and manage Meridian Girls under 14s putting your time back into your local community and young people, you must love doing that?
TC: Absolutely, I have been with them for 5 years now, seen them grow up together as a team, I love doing it and as i can't play football anymore so this is a great way of staying in the sport and being able to pass my love of football to the girls who i hope will eventually go off and play football at a much higher level than they are now.
TR: How are they doing in the league?
TC: Well we are not doing to bad this season, I'm very proud of them all, and also when I'm standing on the sideline when it's chucking down with rain and it's windy, I'm responsible for eleven girls on a field running around and it's a completely different world to my day job.
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