Sunderland Lib Dem dinner

 

Last night (27th Feb 2025) I ventured to Sunderland to enjoy the delights of the Sunderland Lib Dem annual dinner at the Roma Italian Restaurant. I was placed next to the contingent from Newcastle which gave me the opportunity to quiz them about the disintegration of the ruling Labour group, which is now technically without a majority. The guest speaker was Lord John Shipley who spoke about housing and other local government related issues.

Meanwhile, I won 3 prizes in the raffle.

Printing

 

In 2024 we spent the first 10 months of the year on election footing. We had local elections in May necessitating the first 4 months of the year working on electioneering, then we had 2 weeks off before the general election was called. Then along came 2 council by-elections in September and October. It meant that I spend a large amount of time in the Lib Dem print room churning off an impressively enormous quantity of literature. In November we stood down from election footing status but the rest has not lasted long. I was back in the print room today printing 2000 survey forms. 

300 years of the Tanfield railway

 

Celebrations are taking place this year to mark the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Tanfield Railway. Starting off as horse drawn on wooden rails in 1725, ably assisted in some areas by gravity, the railway carried coal from the northern Durham coalfield to the Tyne for export (much of it to London). Steam haulage and wrought iron tracks replaced timber and horses and the railway ran until 1964 when the last pit feeding into it (Watergate) closed. The Railway is now a tourist attraction as well as a reservoir of skilled labour and experts on maintaining steam railways.

Councillor Marilynn Ord and I paid them a visit on Sunday 23rd February 2025. Both of us had a great time. Well worth a visit.

Budget meeting

 

Gateshead's budget meeting was held on Thursday 20th February 2025. The Lib Dem group had met on the Monday before to decide whether to vote for, against or abstain. The budget itself was a standstill. In effect there were no cuts though the council still faces a deficit in the years ahead. The standstill however is only on the basis of a 4.99% rise in council tax. Had the Council not raised the council tax by this amount, the government would have taken away from Gateshead's grant the same amount that would otherwise have been raised had council tax been increased by the full 4.99%. That could have cost Gateshead £millions.

The picture is the same across England. In effect council tax rises have been nationalised and those councils that step out of line will be fined. It was interesting to note in neighbouring Co Durham, the opposition Labour party attacked the joint administration (led by a Lib Dem) for raising council tax by 4.99%. It seems no one in government had sent Durham Labour the memo on council tax! Just as an aside, Labour had previously run Co Durham for a century but lost in 2021. Labour expect to win in the May local elections but their antics suggest they are becoming comfortable with an opposition role. Meanwhile, back over the border in Gateshead, we are getting uncomfortable with the role of opposition. Officers of the council need to know that the Lib Dems are building up as an alternative administration ready to take power in 2026 and take the hard decisions. Hence our decision to vote for the budget.

Pictured above and below, the Lib Dem group at the budget meeting (I took the photo so that's why I'm not in it). The size of the group meant 2 photos were needed to get everyone in!

We need a bigger office

 

I took these photos in the opposition office on Thursday 20th February 2025, before the council budget meeting. As you can see, we are rather crowded. We were joined by a number of Lib Dem campaigners as well. SO we need to eye up bigger office space as we outgrow the opposition office. The Council Leader's suite of offices would be ideal for the growing Lib Dem group. It is potentially going spare in May 2026!

The TV adverts you thought you had forgotten

 

Robots selling mash, putting a tiger in your tank, Hamlet smoking Daleks and a Geordie woman casually borrowing £25K - I will be doing a talk on TV adverts from the past on Wednesday 5th March at Sunniside History Society at Sunniside Social Club. Come along and enjoy all those adverts you'd forgotten!

Sunniside street surgery

 

On Saturday 15th February, Marilynn Ord, Jonathan Mohammed and I, as the three Whickham South and Sunniside councillors, held our latest street surgery outside Sun Hill on Sunniside Front Street. Lots of conversations held and we managed to avoid the rain!

Generosity

 

On Monday 17th February 2025 the Gateshead Lib Dem council group meeting was held online to discuss the council budget. We went through Ron Beadle's report on the budget and then each of us said our bit and announced whether we should support, oppose or abstain on the budget. The budget meeting is tomorrow (20th Feb). Our group decision will be announced then.

There was a second item on the agenda. Labour's Robert Waugh, who won the by-election in Bridges ward in September, started his time as a councillor by setting a precedent for his term of office - he didn't turn up for his own count. Since his election, he has not turned up for any meetings. After his non appearance at his count, I did express my concerns in this blog that his absence could be down to his health. I wished him well and hoped to see him attend meetings as soon as possible.

There are of course other issues floating around in the background, not the least of which being "the Charity Commission looking into concerns regarding Labour Councillor Robert Waugh, who recently left his position as CEO of the organisation which now runs Gateshead Leisure Centre." (quoted from The Chronicle, 12 November 2024)

Nevertheless, in a spirit of generosity (to their own) the ruling Labour group are proposing to give Cllr Waugh a dispensation freeing him from having to attend any meetings until May 2026, which just happens to be when the next local elections are held. And that also means Labour won't face a by-election in Bridges ward, a contest they would almost certainly lose to the Lib Dems.

There will be a vote on this generosity at the council meeting tomorrow. I've never known a person to be elected and never attend any meetings during their term of office. So Gateshead could be home to a record breaker! Whether Gateshead wants such a record is another matter.

Core group meeting

On Sunday, Gateshead Lib Dem core strategy group met online. And what is the "core strategy group"? Effectively it is the campaign managers from across Gateshead. We meet regularly to coordinate campaigning and draw up timetables for activities. On Sunday we also discussed various council issues to consider how they fit in with our current campaigning. So, a busy time for us in Gateshead.

Restoring Kindred Wood

 

Kindred Wood is on the edge of Sunniside, the village in which I live and which I represent on Gateshead Council. It covers 5 hectares and is a recognised nature reserve, it's in the greenbelt and there are preservation orders on the trees. Recently, someone brought a digger onto the woodland, destroying trees and vegetation and dumping spoil on the ground next to one of the ponds. No planning permission has been granted for any development on the wood.

When the presence of a digger in the wood was first brought to my attention, I contacted the council's enforcement team. They very quickly stopped any further work on the site. The local Lib Dem team are now looking for those responsible to remove the spoil and replace the trees that have been destroyed.

On Saturday I visited the site with Cllr Marilynn Ord to ensure no further damage has been caused - fortunately none has.

Website meeting

 

Gateshead Lib Dems are continuing to develop our website. Three of us who are leading on this project met up last week at Sapori Restaurant on Gateshead High Street. I'm not sure whether this was an excuse to try out a restaurant none of us had visited before, a genuine attempt to get some website work done or both! Anyway, I was joined by Yoni Aibi and Matthew Jordison. The end result is that I need to sort out the events page on the website, and keep supplying more photos of Lib Dem activities around Gateshead for the gallery page. Feel free to take a look on this link.

By the way, I'm sure Yoni and Matt are doing a Charlie's Angels pose!

Group budget briefing

 

Last night Gateshead Lib Dem council group met to discuss, among other issues, the forthcoming council budget. We received a briefing from the head of finance and the chief executive, both useful contributions to the discussion. No decisions have yet been taken on the budget by the group (the budget will be voted on at full council on 20th February.) There will be further discussions by the group over the next week.

Chowdene action day

 

On Sunday 9th February, Gateshead Lib Dems were in Chowdene ward for an action day. The aim was to deliver our latest Focus across the entire ward. Target achieved. The ward will have new boundaries in the local elections in May next year. A chunk of neighbouring Low Fell will be added to Chowdene, making the ward an interesting battle.

Throughout the day, 22 members helped out. Free lunch included!

Devil's Porridge

On the first Wednesday of each month I chair the meeting of Sunniside History Society at Sunniside Social Club. Last week the speaker was Liz Purcell who spoke about the "Devil's Porridge". This was the name given by workers (mainly women) who were employed in the munitions factories in the First World War to the material that went into making explosives. An interesting meeting and fascinating subject.

Planning ahead

 

Gateshead Lib Dem executive last week looked at early plans for the local elections next year. We have had a number of new and newish members who are typically half my age but who are taking on much more of a role. This next generation will be taking a key role in the local election campaign. It was a productive meeting and as I head up the social media and literature campaigns, I had plenty to report.

Delivering in Lamesley

 

Yesterday (Sunday 2nd February) we had an action day in Lamesley ward in Gateshead. The ward is sandwiched between my ward (Whickham South and Sunniside) and Lib Dem held Birtley. the aim of the action day was to deliver our latest Focus newsletter. Most of the ward was done but a mopping up operation over the next few days will deliver what is left.