Katie Lam

To see what I’m up to locally follow KatieforKent on Facebook / Instagram and sign up to my newsletter on my website. Recently I’ve been everywhere from parish councils to church roofs, vineyards to a lion rescue centre! And I went to a bar so I had to pull a pint, it’s the law

Last week we heard we're spending £6 billion a year on benefits for migrants. Today we discover that asylum seekers are getting gambling money and half-price Lime Bikes. When so many are struggling, this is disgraceful. No more gravy train. State support for citizens only.

This line from a Home Office letter — “settlement is dependent on many uncontrollable factors” — is revealing. Settlement is a status conferred on migrants by the government based on criteria set by… the government. They can control ALL the factors. They just don’t want to.

We're spending £110bn on debt interest. If that were a government department it would be the 4th largest by spend. The last time it was this expensive to borrow (30yr gilts), I was 6 years old. Yet in June the govt borrowed more money than in any June ever, bar Covid. Insane.