Kevin McKenna MP
Labour MP for Sittingbourne & Sheppey and former nurse. For help & support please email kevin.mckenna.mp@parliament.uk with your name and address.
- Sadly it’s the first May 12th since 1998 I’m not registered with the NMC as a nurse due to a big career change in July One reason I ran as an MP was so healthcare workers voices are represented & I’ll keep pushing for better pay and better working lives Massive love to all my old colleagues today
- Also really glad to see we’re announcing this today, making Nurse a properly protected title. This is long, long overdue. www.mirror.co.uk/news/health/...
- My weekly update for this week is below. This week's focus is on the mental health conference I held today. Thank you to all those who attended, including the Mental Health Foundation, @gamblingwithlives.bsky.social, Swale CVS, NexYouth, and our local NHS Talking Therapies team.
- Everyone I’ve talked to in since being elected has raised mental health as one of our biggest challenges locally. Groups dealing with this don’t always get the chance to link up and share what they’re doing, so today I’ve set up a constituency conference to bring people together to help address this
- To mark VE day, my team laid a bouquet of flowers on my behalf at a service held by Sheerness Town council to celebrate VE day at Sheerness War Memorial. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend in person following my father's funeral.
- This week, as your MP, I... 👮 Met with the Chief Inspector of Kent Police 🪖 Attended a briefing on defence and security at Chatham House 🗣️ Spoke about Sheppey Passports in the House of Commons You can read my full weekly update below:
- Happy St George's Day to everyone in Sittingbourne and Sheppey! It was a real privilege to attend the St George's Day Reception at No 10 with Major Lynne Clifton of the Salvation Army.
- 🧑⚕️📈 Over 1,500 extra GPs have been recruited since 1st October. Bringing back the family doctor and ending the 8am scramble for appointments were key commitments in Labour's manifesto, and I'm delighted that we've been delivering on this promise.
- I was appalled to discover over the weekend that Seashells family hub will face an 87% cut in their funding next year. This choice made by the Conservative run Kent County Council (KCC) will only fund a small proportion of the essential services that Seashells currently provides.
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View full threadI have to repeat that the advice that I and other Labour MPs and Councillors have had is that the additional funds given to KCC by this Government are sufficient to support family hubs, including Seashells, across Kent to be funded.
- I look forward to continuing to work with the staff at Seashells and the Labour group at KCC to challenge this decision.
- Therefore, I am calling on KCC Cabinet Member for Children, Cllr Sue Chandler to resign and for KCC to reverse this decision and reinstate Seashells family hub with the funding it needs to support families in Sheerness.
- Reform UK has yet to comment on the decision made by KCC, seemingly showing a lack of commitment to the family and community values they claim to defend. This week, I will be speaking with the Minister for Children and Families to set out the Seashells funding situation.
- However, yesterday councillor Andy Booth, chair of the scrutiny committee chose not to call in the decision made by KCC, single handily cutting a vital lifeline to so many vulnerable families in Sheerness.
- This cruel decision will deprive some of the most vulnerable families of the vital services they need to survive. People on Sheppey have no confidence in this process or that their specific challenges have been adequately taken into account.
- On 13th March KCC voted to ‘maximise the benefits of [family hub] services to residents’, last Friday's decision made by KCC will mean that Sheerness no longer has an operating family hub, abandoning local families without the essential help they need in the most deprived area in Kent.
- Two weeks ago, when the decision to extend KCC’s funding of Seashells was made, Sheppey’s Conservative councillor Andy Booth claimed this would ‘guarantee a vital lifeline for our communities’.
- A really positive announcement from the Labour Government today, further delivering it's plan for change. We've funded over 1,000 flood protection schemes helping protect 52,000 more homes and businesses.
- Five schemes totalling £1.4 million will protect homes with river and sea defences at Snipeshill, Sheerness and Queenborough. One of the schemes will help support tidal habitats and farmland will also be protected.
- We know that because of climate change extreme weather events are going to happen more and their effects will be worse. Investing in our coastal protection is important, and I'll continue to push for better protection for our homes, businesses, and livelihoods.
- If you're looking for a job or support getting into work, head down to Swallows Leisure Centre in Sittingbourne for today's job fair
- Wishing all my family, friends and everyone who is celebrating a great St. Patrick’s Day today!
- Thank you so much for asking me to help host you at Parliament today! Totally inspired by the brilliant work you’ve been doing in helping people show to everyone else what matters to them.
- ✅ Employment Rights Bill! Tonight I voted for the Employment Rights Bill to end unfair dismissal, strengthen sick pay, and ban exploitative practices like fire & rehire.
- This Bill is now off to the House of Lords, and another step closer to improving the lives of ordinary, working people - the reason I got into politics in the first place.
- 🍃 £100k funding for local green energy Centrica - better known to most of us as British Gas - have launched their Energy for Tomorrow fund which could provide up to £100k of funding for green energy projects in Sittingbourne and Sheppey.
- This is a great opportunity for community groups with an innovative idea to help the UK reach net zero - perhaps by upgrading community premises to be more energy efficient? Learn more about the fund and how to apply at bit.ly/2SI4C3j - applications close on 17th April!
- Today schools across the country participated in the biggest football session! This session marks the end of celebrations for international women’s week, aiming to empowering girls through football and to ensure everyone has equal access to sport.
- I’m so glad that nine schools took part in this fantastic event.- congratulations all of you!
- I know that like me, many other people living in Sittingbourne and Sheppey will be very concerned on hearing the findings in the CQC (Care Quality Commission) report on Medway Maritime Hospital, run by Medway NHS Foundation Trust. My full statement on the report can be found below:
- The current system of local government just isn’t working for Sittingbourne & Sheppey. Too often, Kent County Council has shown it doesn’t understand the needs of our most deprived areas, and doesn’t adequately support the people who need them most. I asked a question in the House on this topic:
- Labour’s local government reforms are the best way to ensure that local people get local services. Services which are designed around their needs and where they live. That's why I asked the Minister about how he’ll ensure local government reorganisation doesn’t ignore the needs of local people.
- Today and every day, Britain stands with Ukraine 🇬🇧🇺🇦 It’s clear that the Ukrainian people are the victims of Russian aggression, and any peace must guarantee Ukrainian security and prosperity for years to come. A secure & peaceful Ukraine means peace and security for Britain and our neighbours.
- I’m proud to see Sir Keir Starmer take such a strong position to defend Britain, Ukraine, and international order, and he’s right that to invest in putting Ukraine in the strongest possible position is in both of our interests.
- Excellent points from my Labour colleagues here, who really do know what they are talking about in terms of what it takes to defend Britain, our allies and ensure we safeguard our way of life The last few weeks have really shown up Reform’s phoney clickbait ‘patriotism’ for the dangerous sham it is
- Fantastic news from the Labour government today: £100 million in extra funding for hospices to fund major building works, modernisations & digital transformation. I'm especially glad to see £242k of this funding going to Demelza in Sittingbourne, who do great work supporting extraordinary kids.
- Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦 Today marked three years of Ukrainian courage against Russia's horrific, illegal invasion and Parliament stood united in seeking a peace which respects the will of the Ukrainian people, their sovereignty, dignity and independence.
- Last Saturday I had the privilege of meeting Ukrainian refugees living in Sittingbourne and Sheppey, listening to their experiences and bravery, hearing from them about the challenges they face. They expressed immense gratitude to the British people for standing with them
- and we discussed how the British Government can help them and their families further. The UK will not abandon our allies in Ukraine, and we are determined to see a lasting peace where Ukraine is secure in its place in the free world.
- 🎉🥐 The Labour Government is giving Sunny Bank Primary a free breakfast club! I'm delighted that Sunny Bank Primary is one of the early adopters of the free breakfast clubs scheme launching at the start of the Summer Term.
- I visited the school last year and was incredibly impressed by how they supported children and their parents to thrive and succeed despite challenges. They're a perfect place to trial breakfast clubs, figure out what works well, and share best practices with other schools.
- This is only the start of a national rollout, with the programme launching in 750 schools to determine what works best to boost kids' chances in school. We're determined to ensure that no child goes hungry, and this is just the beginning.
- Raneem's Law will save lives. Today, the government has launched a pilot programme, embedding domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms to identify domestic abuse earlier and better respond to the calls that 999 operators receive. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
- I know the MCU has been struggling since Endgame, but I really don’t think this latest spin-off is going to rescue the franchise
- 🩺 HIV Testing Week 🧑⚕️ Preventing unqualified people from using the 'Nurse' title 🏭 Meeting with ministers for electricity generation My weekly update is now available below - for accessibility, the full text is in my Facebook post at www.facebook.com/kevinmckenna...
- I've lived a long time as an HIV+ man, and my message this National Testing Week is just get tested. People can live with HIV for a long time without symptoms. If you do have HIV, you can start treatment, live a healthy life, and end transmission of the virus. Get a free test today: bit.ly/3VQiG8e
- I'm very grateful to colleagues for their thoughtful and well-informed contributions in Westminster Hall today. You can watch the full debate online at parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/....
- For people of my generation, it's incredible to be so close to preventing *ALL* new HIV infections by 2030. 💊 HIV treatment today is typically one tablet a day, with no noticeable side effects for most people 🧓 HIV+ people on treatment now have just as long a life-expectancy as non-HIV+ people
- 😷 Once successfully on treatment people cannot pass HIV on to sexual partners ✅ People can take a tablet a day to prevent infection (PrEP) This national HIV testing week, you can get a free HIV test sent to your home. Help stop HIV in its tracks & get your FREE test now bit.ly/3VQiG8e
- Online Gambling is incredibly harmful and addictive, and gambling companies are using exploitative techniques to create this addiction. It’s time to replace the legislation and treat harmful gambling as the public health crisis that it is. I spoke in Westminster Hall: youtu.be/TSCUk8ydjY4
