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00:27Hello and welcome
00:29to Kent Tonight live here on KMTV. I'm Oli Leder and here are your top stories on Thursday
00:36the 14th of May. Resigned to civil war, Kent braces for bruising battle for number 10
00:43after health secretary quits. And I'm here at Downing Street where the cracks are starting
00:49to show in Keir Starmer's hole for the Labour Party. Six years of heartbreak, deal couples
00:55speak out on infertility struggle. Every month you build up hope and only have then the
01:02disappointment. Charities, Colab, Maystone's great and good attend first local scale get
01:09together. I'm hoping that everyone here today is learning a little bit more about another
01:15charity.
01:27First tonight, a bad day for the man beside me. So Keir Starmer was launched the Labour campaign
01:33in Gillingham just a few years ago. Now he's fighting for his future as Wes Streeting resigned
01:39from his cabinet. He wasn't speaking terms to us during the meningitis outbreak, no longer
01:44on speaking terms with the incumbent Prime Minister. And with other candidates threatening
01:51to enter what could be a brutal leadership contest, what does this mean for you here in Kent? Well,
01:59our reporter Finn McDermott joins us from number 10 Downing Street earlier with all the details.
02:06Well, Finn, it's not been a good day for the Prime Minister behind that very famous door, is it?
02:14Not at all, Ollie. I mean, back in Kent, the weather's been pretty on and off. But here in
02:18London, there is certainly a storm brewing, a political storm. And right at the centre is Sir
02:23Keir Starmer and Wes Streeting. Obviously, this comes from the news that Wes Streeting resigned
02:27as the health secretary today. And with that, he opens the door to a potential bid for a leadership
02:33challenge. But there's a few steps to go through before he can actually do that. He has to garner
02:38some support. 81 other Labour MPs, 20% of the party, need to back him for him to submit that
02:45challenge.
02:45And here in Kent, decisions have been split mostly down the middle. You have five MPs who are publicly
02:51announcing their support for Keir Starmer. You have two that are on the fence or haven't yet gone
02:57public with their views. And then you have three who have publicly come out against Keir Starmer,
03:03preferring someone else in that top job. They include Tony Vaughan, the MP for Folkestone,
03:09and Nashaba Khan, the MP for Gillingham and Rainham. And Kevin McKenna for Sitting Vaughan
03:15Shedby makes up the last of those three. Now, one of those two unannounced is Lauren Edwards,
03:23the MP for Rochester and Strew. She hasn't exactly come out of the woodwork to say her allegiances.
03:29So we went down to Rochester to see if the public could shed any light on how they feel about
03:34who
03:35should take the help. I don't know. It's just that between Angela and Andy Burnham, I suppose, for me.
03:42West Streeting is a bit too robotic for me. Yeah. I don't kind of get him, really.
03:51I feel like we've had enough instability in our lifetime. As much as I don't really like Keir Starmer,
03:57we've had so many Conservative Prime Ministers and they've all cut and run as soon as the going's got
04:03tough. It is nice to see someone sort of stick at it, but that doesn't mean I approve of his
04:10policies
04:10a lot of the time. My only other choice would probably be Andy Burnham.
04:16I think he's stained into the term simply because he's not had a chance yet. You know,
04:21two years in. You know, I'm quite tempted with Angela. Yeah. I quite like Angela. I think
04:27she's very down to earth. I actually think she complements Keir. Oh, forget it.
04:37Well, we heard there a divided public in Rochester and Strood. How has this potential Labour civil war
04:47split, Kent?
04:51Well, it's as we've been talking about all week, Oli. Various MPs have said they're for Keir Starmer,
04:58they're against Keir Starmer, they're neutral. Obviously, we heard a little bit there about what
05:02Lauren Edwards constituents think. The other unaccounted for MP is Polly Billington in East
05:09Thanet, with Tristan Osborne, Jim Dixon, Dr Lauren Sullivan, Mike Tapp and Sojan Joseph being those
05:15in support of Keir Starmer for Dover, Gravesham, Dartford, Chatham and Ashford. We've also been
05:20hearing from some of those Medway MPs, which Medway is particularly split with Neshaba on one side and
05:26Tris on the other. According to Tris, he said he still supports Keir Starmer and hopes that he
05:32continues in the role. And he's saying that this current crisis that's been created in the party
05:36isn't exactly helpful. While Neshaba Khan, we've been speaking to her and she's not exactly mincing
05:42her words about how she feels about the state of the Labour Party and Keir Starmer's leadership.
05:47I've got a 4,000 majority in Drillingham. Who knows if I'll be able to be an MP at the
05:52next election
05:53or not? The chances are possibly, probably not. So for me, this is about being really honest. And
06:00I got into politics to deliver that change that our communities need and want. And I do that with
06:05my Labour values at my heart, because that's what I believe is right. And that's why I took that
06:11decision. Well, Neshaba Khan quite steadfast in her view there. But opinions are mixed,
06:16as we've heard there from Kent's other MPs and Kent's other residents. So the cracks might be
06:22beginning to show in Keir Starmer's position. But it remains to be seen who exactly will take
06:28that top job or if any potential leadership bids will be started.
06:34And there'll be more on that on the Kent online website. But now in breaking news, a section of the
06:39M2 has been shut while police investigate a crash between a lorry and a pedestrian. A section of the M2
06:46between Maidstone and Gillingham is closed after a collision at around 2pm today. Police,
06:52paramedics and members of the air ambulance are currently in attendance, with National
06:57Highs branding the collision serious. Kent police are saying they are leading the response
07:01while we're carrying out a full investigation, meaning the road will remain closed throughout
07:06the afternoon and into the evening. A woman has been banned from keeping animals for life after
07:13nine dogs were discovered living in incredibly poor conditions in Gillingham. Chloe Cooper was
07:19handed an eight-month prison sentence, ordered to pay £450 in costs and disqualified from keeping
07:26animals for life, having pleaded guilty to two offences to meet the needs of dogs in her care. The RSPCA
07:33launched an investigation after her dog called Storm had to be euthanised after it was taken to a vet in
07:39critical condition last March. Police and RSPCA officers had to remove nine dogs from her home,
07:46with conditions being described as incredibly poor. A man from Deal has opened up a six-year struggle to
07:54conceive with his partner Katie after enduring two failed rounds of IVF and the heartbreak of an early
08:00miscarriage. New figures reveal that a growing baby gap may be driven by external pressures rather
08:06than personal choice. And so Toby is speaking out about the mental health impacts of unexplained
08:12infertility and urgent need for more advanced testing for men trying to conceive. Maisie Walker
08:18has this report. A new study suggests fertility is often shaped not by choice but by barriers with
08:25many delaying parenthoods because of career pressures, finances or health challenges. More
08:31than half of those surveys said they needed medical intervention during their fertility journey. There's
08:36a combination of barriers when trying to grow your family. For Toby and Katie, despite being healthy,
08:42it took them more than six years to conceive. I'm in Dover to meet with them and discuss their story.
08:55For Toby and his wife Katie from the Dover area, their journey costed more than £12,000 and included
09:01two failed rounds of IVF and the heartbreak of miscarriage. It was a complete turmoil, I think was
09:09the best way I can describe it. Six years of trying for a family was brutal. Every month you build
09:16up hope
09:16to only have then the disappointment. So we were offered the two NHS funded rounds, hopeful that it would
09:22work. And obviously, sadly, those two rounds failed and it was a really, really sad time. And I think it
09:28was at
09:28that point that I fell into my depression. And that became my kind of lowest ebb, really. I was trying
09:34to stay
09:34strong for my wife for that whole time. By this point, we're about five years into our treatment.
09:40Despite being fit and healthy, and initially being told through NHS sperm testing that everything was
09:45normal, Toby pushed for further investigations. Those tests revealed DNA fragmentation and a varicocele,
09:53both affecting his sperm quality. After an operation to correct the issue, they did manage to conceive
09:59naturally. But Toby is calling for more comprehensive malfertility testing to be made available on the
10:05NHS. So others can access answers sooner and avoid the frustration, heartbreak and grief he and his
10:12wife Katie went through. Maisie Walker for KMTV. Deal.
10:18Well, Maisie joins me in the studio now. This is something that's really difficult for many people to go
10:23through. How did Toby cope with his infertility journey? Yeah, well, Toby is actually somewhat of
10:29a local celebrity when it comes to the racing world. And he made his debut in the Ganetta Racing
10:35Drivers Club in 2019 after his friends, you know, encouraged him to give it a go, get out the house
10:40and just have some fun, obviously, because him and his wife were struggling with infertility. So, and much to
10:46his surprise, he quickly fell in love with the sport and it became almost an escape from the heartbreak he
10:51and his
10:51wife were experiencing. And that same year, he launched, he launched a campaign racing for fertility,
10:57initially as a way to distract himself, regain some focus and clarity on life. And that decision,
11:02he said, ended up, you know, saving his life. And he said the name came about because, of course,
11:07he was racing, but also fertility itself can feel like a race against time. And he wanted to give his
11:12experience a greater purpose. And he's done exactly that, you know, raising awareness across the county
11:17and helping other men facing fertility struggles. But of course, you can hear a little bit more
11:22about that from himself.
11:26Well, I don't think we actually have that clip to hand, unfortunately. We're going to find that
11:30on our website. But thanks so much, Maisie, for joining us with all of those details.
11:37Now it's time for a short break. We don't go anywhere as we take a quick look at a sauna
11:45causing a lot of hot
11:47hot and bother in Stroud. Please stay with us.
15:15Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight Live here on KMT.
15:20Now, Medway Council are in hot water over scrapping a beloved steam room and sauna at the Stroud Leisure
15:27Centre. The authority says the business decision will create opportunities for youth fitness.
15:32But users I've been speaking to are far less convinced that removing the unisex facilities
15:38is in their interest.
15:40I'm incredibly worried. I mean, it's going to make a fundamental difference to my life
15:45and to a lot of people I know who probably needed even more than I do.
15:50Hot and bothered over losing their all-gender sauna and steam room.
15:56These premium members here at the Stroud Leisure Centre shell out 40 quid a month for access
16:02to a communal health suite. But those council-run facilities are being shut down in favour of
16:09fitness opportunities for young people and smaller private sauna pods.
16:14For premium members, losing the health suite here isn't just about losing access to facilities,
16:22but also losing a community that's built up over years.
16:27I know these people for two years. We exchange conversations about problems, life, work,
16:34and all sorts of things. So it would be really sad.
16:38The problem is they're taking away a social hub for people that only have this as a social network,
16:43suffer with anxiety, and taking that away from them and separating male to female in 2026,
16:50I think, supporting.
16:51I would feel isolated. Everybody here, we just really get on and we're going to lose that.
16:57And that's such a shame and really sad.
17:01Medway Council say these closures were a business decision made by the sports management team.
17:07And while there was no period of formal consultation with members,
17:12the authority says the aim of these plans is to ensure the sports centre meets current and future demand.
17:19But with some users now considering cancelling their memberships,
17:25the anger here is showing no sign of losing steam.
17:29Olly Leader in Strood.
17:33More of that story on Kent Online.
17:35But now a young boy from Romney Marsh is set to take on the Three Peaks Challenge
17:40after a battle with arthritis.
17:4211-year-old June Shell Strup from Limp has suffered from juvenile idiopathic arthritis
17:48and autoimmune disorder which makes me extremely vulnerable to infections.
17:53June spent 57 days in paediatric intensive care and was placed on life support during the worst
17:59points of his illness. His mission to climb Britain's highest mountains will raise money
18:04for the organisations who helped him through his illness.
18:09Now a women clothes shop in Gravesend Fort Gurley's is set to close after 30 years.
18:15Tracy Baker has decided to close the store after the building's rent was increased by 65%
18:22and rising overheads made the business unsustainable.
18:25The 62-year-old spoke to us about it.
18:30It's disgusting really because it's just been, I didn't want to, after 30 years,
18:34I don't want it to end like this. I've got deliveries,
18:36there's probably another delivery that can turn up in a minute.
18:38Still coming in, we've still got stock. Not ready to go.
18:42People shop online more, they don't shop on the high street but
18:45because we've been going so long, we've got such a fantastic customer base.
18:51A lot of people don't want to shop online so we're catering for them people.
18:54We post that all the time and other people, you know, a lot of people just come from all over.
18:59They do, they just visit, they come and visit their friends and they go,
19:01we'll come here and they get trains down from London.
19:05But it's still not enough to pay what he wants to pay and to sign a great big new lease
19:10and with what's going on in the world and the economy and everything.
19:15Sad news for a day with lots of sad weather but will that change in the coming days?
19:27Tonight, clouds across Kent. Wind speeds heading east at six miles per hour
19:32and into tomorrow morning. Highs of 12 degrees and Canterbury lows of nine throughout Kent.
19:38Winds in the east reaching 14 miles per hour. Tomorrow afternoon, rain and sunshine in equal
19:44measure across most of the county. And over the weekend, bring an umbrella on Sunday.
19:51It's not looking good, is it?
20:02Now, don't forget, you can keep up to date with all the latest stories across Kent by logging on
20:08to our website, kmtv.co.uk. There you'll find all our reports, including this one,
20:14but a post office yet to close after 126 years of service.
20:18After 126 years, the future of this post office may be stamped out,
20:24as it's set to close after current postmasters Tim and June retire next month.
20:30And being in rural Maidstone, for many customers, access to nearby post offices may not be so easy.
20:38Now, the main concern for the couple is that once this post office closes,
20:42the nearest ones are Maidstone, which is eight miles away, and Tunbridge Wells, which is 13 miles away.
20:47There are other little villages nearby, but they're not accessible unless you have a car,
20:52which is worrying for the couple because most of their customers are elderly.
20:55And so train is the next best option. There are a lot of people who don't drive,
21:00and the public transport from here is negligible, to say the least. So I was rather hoping we would
21:08transfer everything over to a new premises so the service wouldn't be cut, but it's not looking like
21:16that's happening. In this transition time, they've got nothing planned at all. So they're quite
21:22happy to have this closed, then nothing, and maybe open another one in six months' time.
21:27Or nine months' time. Or whatever.
21:29No, there's no guaranteed time. The Youlding Post Office also sells locally
21:34sourced products and acts as a community hub. I think Youlding itself is a fantastic community
21:40where we're working. And it will be a big, big loss if there is no post office in an intervening
21:46period of time before it actually reopens somewhere else. How are these people going to be able to survive?
21:51The couple reached out to Post Office one year ago, announcing their retirement,
21:56but say they are disappointed that no replacement has been found. They also asked if a temporary
22:02outreach for one day a week in the same building could be established, but have been told that this
22:07is not possible due to having too many customers. In a recent statement, a spokesperson for Post Office
22:13said,
22:29I would like the Post Office to reconsider opening one day a week until the new shop is open and
22:38not take
22:39everything away before then. We could just open one day a week until they take it over,
22:43then at least we've given a little bit of a service.
22:46So now, after 126 years of service, and no one yet to replace Tim and June,
22:52is the fate of this Post Office signed, sealed and delivered?
22:56Naila Mahamud for KMTV in Yolding.
23:00Time for a bit of good news though. Local charities have come together thanks to a new initiative.
23:05Charities Connect 2026 in Maidstone was created to help organisers connect and acknowledge their
23:12community work. The event was put together by staff from Five Acre Woods Special Educational
23:18Need School, who said the response so far has been absolutely wonderful. Our community reporter
23:24Henry Luck went down to find out a little bit more for us. Mainstone's The Kentish Lady is host
23:32to a first of its kind event on a local scale. Charities Connect 2026 brings organisers from across
23:43the borough to share ideas in a relaxed setting, an idea created by one of the staff at Five Acre
23:53Woods
23:53School. The event was inspired by wanting to bring together all our local charities. We all do such an
24:00amazing thing within the community and it was about giving opportunity for us to connect and getting to
24:06know each other and hopefully be able to collaborate. I'm hoping that everybody here today is learning a
24:13little bit more about another charity and you know they all do amazing amazing work and by everybody
24:22chatting, collaborating, connecting, they can share their own stories, they can share their own work
24:29and hopefully we're all making friends and we'll be able to support each other so that's the main
24:34aim is just to get together and do you know what we're a community. Charity leaders say events like
24:41this are vital for helping them reach out to others especially during the ongoing financial and social
24:52struggles. Well I'm here tonight just to talk to other charities and organisations just seeing where
24:59we can collaborate work together is there anything we can help them with them with us we're all looking
25:05to do the same thing helping people in the Maystone area and we just want to make a bigger difference
25:11as we can. I think I've learned that as charitable organisations we all face the same sort of problems
25:18there are you know people funding and things like that are struggling with but it's it's just that we
25:24also have a lot in common a lot more in common than perhaps lots of people realise so it's it's
25:31exciting to
25:31be in the same room or the same boat as all these organisations. After tonight's meet-up these charity
25:39gatherings could soon get a whole lot bigger. Henry Luck for KMTV in Maystone. And just before we go
25:50at Howlett's wild animal park it's farewell to too much love playful and cheeky elephants but welcome to a
25:57new arrival. 15 year old Impy and Machumba have left Howlett for Noah's Ark Zoo farm in Bristol in a
26:05careful natural exchange. This move highlights a natural occurrence in the wild where Impy and Machumba
26:11leave their birth group to establish themselves independently but it also means hello to Shaka
26:18a dominant bull describing described as confident and commanding. Star says arrival will maintain social
26:26stability. Well that's all from us on Kent tonight. We'll be back at 8pm with our evening bulletin but
26:36until then check out all our website if you want to get all the latest news but from me for
26:42now have a lovely evening.
26:44Good night.
26:46Good night.
26:47Good night.
26:47Good night.
26:47Good night.
26:58Transcription by CastingWords
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