Where are the Green policies?

 

The Green Party in Gateshead have added Bridges ward to their list of hopefuls in the local elections on 2nd May. The hopeful list is rather short however - the only other seat they are targeting is Crawcrook and Greenside. (But it is better than the Tories who have no target seats here) I was sent the Greens' Bridges ward leaflet recently. Presentationally, it is an improvement on other Green leaflets I've seen. What is more interesting however is the almost complete lack of any Green policies. The candidate is seen out and about in the ward but, apart from a passing reference to cheap public transport, there is nothing else Green in their leaflet. Nor is there any use of the word "environment".

Perhaps the Greens have taken a leaf out of Labour's campaign manual - don't mention any policy. Starmer would be proud of them!

This is like gold dust

 

This is like gold dust - a Conservative local election leaflet in Gateshead! I haven't seen one of these for about 30 years. I picked this one up in Ryton last week. I don't reckon for a moment that this is evidence of the Conservatives taking an interest in elections to Gateshead Council. Instead, this is everything to do with the general election and changed constituency boundaries. Blaydon constituency (Labour held) has been broken up with the western part (including Ryton) being merged with a neighbouring County Durham seat (won by the Conservatives from Labour in 2019) to make the new constituency of Consett and Blaydon. So, territory won by the Conservatives in 2019 is being defended by them with new territory added to it.

The chances of the Conservatives winning Consett and Blaydon are microscopically thin but they clearly want to go down fighting. Hence the local election leaflet.

The Liz Truss car crash interview

 

Not one for the squeamish! Liz Truss, briefly Prime Minister in 2022, was interviewed by Sky News this morning. Her explanation for why things went wrong was because everyone else messed up, but not her. She then went on to attack Net Zero. And finally, asked who she wanted to win the US Presidental election, she immediately said Trump, whereas the answer should have been, "That's for the American people to decide." The whole interview was a car crash. Please please please everyone, contact the broadcasters and demand more of Liz Truss on prime time tv! The entertainment value alone is worth her weight in gold, regardless of the damage she does to the Conservative party!

Campaigning in Ryton

 

I was in Ryton yesterday campaigning in the local elections for the Lib Dem candidate Steve Kelly. We were on the main road and used a couple of our newly arrived large diamond posters. We certainly got noticed by passing motorists. Thumbs up from lots of people plus two fingers from one person and another who shouted "vote Reform" at us! This latter person may have difficulty trying to cast his vote for Reform. They have only one candidate in Gateshead (there are 22 wards),  in Chowdene, some considerable distance from Ryton.

We also had a team out doing what I call the mop up. In other words people were delivering the final few patches of leaflets. Response from people they spoke to was that many of them had already voted by post for Steve.

So anecdotally, the feeling is positive. We are certainly expecting a significantly improved performance in the ward.

Published and promoted by Andy Coleman on behalf of Steve Kelly (Liberal Democrats), all at 5 Wealcroft Court, Gateshead, NE10 8NR

Low Fell eFocus no. 133

 Low Fell Lib Dems have just published edition 133 of their email newsletter - eFocus. Issues covered include:

• Sewage on Durham Road;
• Daniel and the Focus Team need your support;
• Clean up on Kells Lane/Home Avenue cut;
• Call to scrap "snails pace" Gateshead High Street plans.

You can read Low Fell eFocus on this link.

Candidates in Gateshead

With postal votes starting to arrive in Gateshead, I thought I would look at the candidates on offer. Polling day is Thursday 2nd May, and one third of the council is up for grabs. This is the last local election under the current boundaries. In 2026, the new ones will come into use though the changes are relatively small.

There are 22 seats on the council up for election. Labour, Lib Dems and the Conservatives are fielding 22 candidates each. There are 18 Greens, 5 Trade Union and Socialist Coalition and 2 independents. That is not the whole story however. There are a splattering of other parties. Firstly, Reform UK are fielding one candidate in Chowdene and none elsewhere. Given their current opinion poll ratings, the lack of any Reform candidates in the other 21 seats suggests Reform UK have failed to grow any grassroots. The party may just be a creation of the opinion polls and has no party machine to speak of. Yet this is crucial for delivering winning council and general election campaigns.

The North East Party is fielding one candidate. I have no idea what they stand for. Perhaps they want independence for the North East. My prediction is that they are facing a an uphill struggle.

Another party that has only one candidate is "Save Us Now", standing in Dunston Hill and Whickham East, The key message of this "party" is that they believe that lamp posts are killing people through some kind of radiation. They have stood previously and got nowhere. I can't throw any light onto what else they believe in.

And finally, what is it about the Conservatives and "Ventnor"? There are 4 candidates with addresses in Ventnor Crescent and Ventnor Gardens in Saltwell. Interestingly, Saltwell was the most marginal ward in Gateshead last year when the Lib Dems won the seat from Labour by just 58 votes. In the consultation on new ward boundaries Labour lobbied for Ventnor Crescent and Ventnor Gardens to be moved to neighbouring Low Fell ward, a strong Lib Dem area. The Lib Dems in Gateshead have developed significant skills for squeezing the 3rd party. Labour would have had a better chance of winning in Saltwell in 2026 without the Ventnors. Sadly for Labour, the local government boundary commissioners decided to keep the streets in Saltwell!

What's the point of privatisation of Thames Water?

The recent default of Thames Water on loans in the past few days has highlighted how the funding of the water industry and infrastructure has fallen apart. There is talk now of renationalisation or some degree of government intervention.

Privatisation of water back in the late 1980s was done because of the need to raise capital to invest in and modernise the water supply service. After decades of neglect in the public sector, starved of money by governments which had other priorities, the transfer to the private sector relieved the government of the need to stump up the capital needed to move the industry on from its decrepit state. Private companies could raise the capital needed by borrowing at commercial rates or issuing new shares or a combination of both. Pension funds in particular were interested in becoming shareholders as water was regarded as a good long term investment. But of course, in the case of Thames Water, it has all gone horribly wrong.

Add to the financial crisis the impact of climate change and the company is facing a battering. Climate change with increased rainfall will lead to a drainage system that is already unable to cope becoming an even bigger problem. The country has made the mistake of draining rainwater into the sewers so the risk of sewage pouring into overflows and water courses is now a national scandal.

There are no easy solutions to this. One of the most touted is full nationlisation. I believe this is a non-starter. It would mean public money would be used to buy out the other shareholders leaving little if anything to invest in the infrastructure. And nationalisation without compensation would mean stripping the pension funds that have invested in the company of their capital - remember that is cash that belongs to you and me, future or current pensioners.

Do nothing is also an option but is not realistic. It seems to me the only realistic option is a part nationalisation of Thames Water. The government would need to stump up the cash but it will be in the form of new shares in the company. There would be no dividend for years but a recovery by the company could lead to the sale of the publicly owned shares.

It is not ideal and would require public sector investment. At least it keeps the water supply service on its feet rather than crashing and sinking under a flood of debt and sewage.

What if the Entente Cordial was never signed?

Changing of the guard today at Buckingham Palace was different from usual - French soldiers were taking part as part of the celebration of the Entente Cordial which was signed back in 1904. The decision to commit the UK to involvement in the affairs of Europe by aligning ourselves with France in the face of a growing German threat to the stability of the Continent was strengthened over the following years both militarily and diplomatically. 

It was not necessarily a foregone conclusion that the UK was ready to make a Continental commitment before 1904 but gradually British governments (both Conservative and Liberal) realised that what happened in Europe directly impacted on Britain. Far better to be involved in the affairs of Europe to shape outcomes that were more favourable to Britain.

Imagine however if Balfour's Conservative government decided not to sign the Entente Cordial in 1904, and that policy continued by the following Liberal government. If we washed our hands of Europe, German power would have grown to the point where France would have fallen into the orbit of Germany and become a satellite state. Any confrontation between Germany and Russia would have gone in the former's favour as the Tsar would have been without allies. Italy would have continued as a Central Power, adding further to German hegemony of the Continent.

Across the Channel Britain would have bobbed along in the wake of a militaristic and wealthy Germany, isolated and buffeted, gradually dropping in power and status to something similar to France. We may have avoided the First World War but the cost to Britain would have been even more tremendous.

Let's hope that we don't make the mistake that we avoided in 1904. As a European nation we need to influence what happens there. Europe united without Britain  is a danger to Britain. Let's just hope we are not too late to learn that lesson - or are we?

Take your seat

 

There has been a bench next to the Kingsway/Sunniside Road junction in Sunniside for as long as I can remember. It wasn't in a great state but that problem has been resolved. Planting Up Whickham, the new group of volunteers aiming to plant up areas in Sunniside and keep the village looking good, has paid for the bench to be replaced. The work is now done.

Letters and leaflets

We are now well into our next cycle of literature in Birtley ward. I was part of the team out in the ward yesterday. We shifted a significant quantity of both Focuses and letters. I was keeping my eyes peeled for literature from the other parties. I spotted nothing.

I will be back on Tuesday as I still have 2 patches left to deliver. My shoes have not yet been worn out but I suspect I will need a new pair by May.

History Society meeting on Wednesday

 

The next meeting of Sunniside History Society will be on Wednesday 3rd April at Sunniside Social Club (7pm). The speaker will be Geoff Purcell-Smith who will be speaking on Victorian social reformer Josephine Butler. All welcome.

Late arrival

 

I had planned to go to Lib Dem conference on Friday last week but a request for a goat meant a change of plan! I am often invited by Whickham Library to bring animals to their fairs. Unfortunately the Library's Easter fair coincided with Lib Dem spring conference so I took the decision to take a couple of goats to the fair on Saturday morning and then head down to York. Ant and Dec, our two young billy goats, were chosen as the animals going to the Library. 

Fortunately the rail journey from Newcastle to York is only an hour so I was at the conference by about 2pm. Now that I am officially old, I have a seniors' railcard, knocking a third off the price of a ticket. As the return fare was only £25, I didn't bother to book a hotel. I simply headed back home in the evening, saving me a ton of cash on hotel bills. It also meant I wasn't forking out on overpriced booze at the conference hotel!

I was back in York on Sunday morning, in time for Alistair Carmichael's speech which was quite entertaining. And of course there was Ed Davey's speech which was notable for a couple of issues which tend to be ignored by politicians generally: proportional representation and Europe. I was back home by 3pm.

Printing

 

This morning I was in the Lib Dem office printing hundreds of letters for Whickham South and Sunniside. Fortunately the folding machine was working, something of a new experience for me! The big job now is to get the letters stuffed into envelopes and then delivered. Expect some shoe leather to be burnt this coming week.

Missing conference

I had booked up for Lib Dem spring conference a few weeks ago with the expectation that I would be attending for the full three days (starting today). And then I got a message from Whickham Voluntary Library asking me if I would bring some animals to their Easter fair tomorrow. I didn't want to let them down and the appearance of lambs and goat kids outside the fair is always popular. So I told them I would bring a couple of our billy goat kids but would leave the fair at 12pm so I could catch the train to York for conference. It was useful that I hadn't got round to booking a hotel for my conference stay. Instead, I will travel down on Saturday afternoon, return home in the evening, then head back down to York first thing on Sunday morning, returning again in the afternoon. The train journey only takes an hour. It works out much cheaper than getting a hotel!

Is this news?

I'm not sure this merits the title of "news" but the PM today announced that there will not be a general election on 2nd May, the same day as the local elections. Is this a case of stating the bleedin' obvious? No PM is likely to voluntarily go early when his/her party is experiencing the loss of over half of their vote share. So, summer, autumn or winter it will be. I believe the latest date for the general election is 25th January. My money, were I a gambling person (I'm not!) would be on late October. That way the UK gets the election over before the US go to the polls. Imagine if we go after the US instead and all our worst nightmares come true and Trump wins. Imagine Labour and the Conservatives trying to explain what sort of relationship they would have with a Trump Whitehouse. That in itself could become a major election issue. 

Sadly, for the UK as a whole, we have months ahead of us of the Tories fighting themselves. While they are kick boxing themselves into potential oblivion Labour will be mouthing vacuous statements in a bid to tell voters nothing about their policies for fear of alienating the great British public. Looks like 2024 will be a year to forget!

Camera shy

 

We have become so used to online meetings over the past 4 years that in-person meetings now feel rather odd. So, on Tuesday, we had the odd situation of sitting with colleagues at the Gateshead Lib Dem exec at the Civic Centre. We even had sheets of paper rather than sharing something on a screen! The bulk of the meeting was about the local election campaign though Ron Beadle also gave quite a comprehensive report from the council group. That job used to be mine but I happily passed on the baton to Ron when I retired as Group Leader last year.

Dinner time

 

It seems Lib Dem local parties in the North East have developed a knack of organising fundraising dinners. Last autumn, Gateshead hosted Simon Hughes and Sunderland hosted Wendy Chamberlain MP. Coming shortly to Newcastle is Vince Cable but last week, Sunderland hosted another dinner with Jamie Stone MP as the guest speaker. Jamie is one of the Lib Dem MPs I barely know. He was elected many years after I stopped working for the Lib Dems so, other than his constituency (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) I knew next to nothing about him. He turned out to be quite an entertaining speaker. One of his claims to fame is that he was first elected in 2017, an unexpected victory for the Lib Dems. Given the drubbing we received, his gain of the constituency from the SNP must be regarded as something of a modest miracle!

On a brighter note, though the raffle seemed to go on for ever, I was one of the winners. The bad news is that the scented candle (not quite my thing) will be alighting at the next Sunniside History Society as a raffle prize!

At your convenience

 

The next meeting of Sunniside History Society will be held on Wednesday 6th March at 7pm at Sunniside Social Club. The speaker is Richard Pears and he will be talking about the history of "The British Toilet". So be ready to take your seat. This is not a crap subject. Hopefully the meeting will be flushed with success. Etc......

Campaigning in Ryton

 

Ryton ward in Gateshead used to be Lib Dem held. Sadly, it went Labour in the Coalition years and before now we were not in a position to mount a strong campaign. But that is changing. We have a new candidate and a new determination to take on Labour in the ward. Steve Kelly has been adopted by the Lib Dems to take on Labour in the May local elections.

He had a meet-the-people event outside the Coop this morning so I went down to give him a hand. My job was to stand next to the main road holding one of our big diamond posters. I had five toots of support from passing drivers and one person shouted at me (I'm not sure it was complimentary!) All-in-all it was a good event and our profile in Ryton is starting to go back up. The challenging news for me is that in addition to managing election campaigns in Birtley and Whickham South and Sunniside, I am now looking after Ryton as well. Looks like a busy few months ahead.

Delivery complete in Sunniside

 

Focus on Sunniside has now been delivered. Hooray! The last patch went out over the weekend when one of our helpers took the Streetgate area. This patch has grown by 89 houses in recent years due to new house building. 

With my ward's Focus now fully delivered, I was able to spend some time in Saltwell over the weekend, helping to deliver our latest Focus there. I hear on the grapevine that Labour were out in Saltwell as well. There are hints of aspiring wannabee MPs hoping to get the selection for the new Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency. There are also hints that Labour may leave the selection of their candidate to the last minute, meaning the national party will parachute in one of their favourites. Given that nearly half the wards in this constituency are represented by Lib Dems, this one will be one to watch at the general election.

More Focus deliveries

I was back in Birtley yesterday (Saturday 20th January) to deliver another patch of Focuses. And today I was delivering in my own ward. To be precise, I was delivering in Sunniside. We are aiming to get the village delivered by Friday though the weather may be a problem tomorrow.

Planning for our next meeting

I met up with Alan Guest, secretary of the Sunniside History Society, last night in Sunniside Club, to review some of the photos donated to the Society by Francis Newman. Many of the photos were taken in Sunniside 30 years ago though there were some which were much older. We made a selection of photos to present at the next meeting on 1st February. The aim is to get people to share their memories and possibly fill in the gaps in our knowledge of the events that caused the photos to be taken in the first place. Anyone interested in coming to the meeting is welcome. It starts in Sunniside Club at 7pm, £1 for Society members, £2 for visitors.

Happy birthday from the NHS

 

I turned 60 recently. As birthday presents from the nation, I was allowed free prescriptions, reduced rail fares and a poo kit!

The free prescriptions are no use to me, at least for the time being. I don't take any. The reduced rail fares are a bit more useful. Though the amount of travel I do is only a small fraction of what I did before 2017, I do have 3 short trips coming up. So a saving can be made by getting an older persons railcard. 

The poo kit however is the most important of the presents. I have seen 2 friends suffer from but also recover from bowel cancer. It's best not to take any risks. Ignoring the poo kit in the hope that I am good health continues is inviting problems. So, this present will be put to use shortly.

Delivering in Birtley

 

I was in Birtley on Monday helping to deliver our latest Lib Dem Focus. Somehow Birtley had avoided the snow. Not so in Sunniside though we had only about 1 cm. I will be back in Birtley later this week as I have one more patch to deliver. Hopefully Birtley will continue to be a snow free zone!

Bridge over troubled waters

 

It seems as though the Green Party in Gateshead are continuing to target Bridges ward. Another leaflet was popped through people's doors in December. Labour hold the ward and had previously won with comfortable majorities with opposition campaigns aimed at flying the flag. Labour's hold however is based on a low turnout. Any party that could mount a good campaign could run Labour close in the ward. Labour could well be on a bridge over troubled waters here.

The person featured in the leaflet is Rachel Cabral. This is an interesting choice as it appears that she has abandoned Saltwell. She had stood there in 2021, taking 185 votes and 4th place. In 2022 however, disaster struck when the Greens messed up their Saltwell nomination. Rachel Cabral stood in the ward, but without a political description. She recorded only 60 votes. She did not stand in Saltwell in 2023, the year the Lib Dems won the ward from Labour for the first time since the 1930s.

Perhaps her abandonment of Saltwell says a great deal about the Greens realization that the battle in the ward is between Lib Dems and Labour. I hope for the Greens' sake that they don't repeat their mistake on the local election nomination this year as they did in 2022!

Last delivery of 2023

 

I did my last Focus delivery of 2023 in my own ward of Whickham South and Sunniside between Christmas and new year. It was a good way of burning off some of those Christmas calories. The next edition of Focus for my ward is already partly written. More calorie burning is on its way!

Birtley eFocus no. 12

 Published tonight, the next eFocus for Birtley. Issues covered include:

• Birtley pool re-opening delayed;
• Security fencing at Birtley Swimming Centre;
• Joe joins Focus Team;
• Lloyds and Barclays branches closing on Team Valley;
• Ciaran chosen for Washington and Gateshead South;
• Have your say on Gateshead Council's budget.

You can read eFocus on this link.

Low Fell eFocus 130

The competition to be the first in 2024 to publish eFocus has been won by Low Fell. Edition 130 was sent to recipients a couple of days ago. Issues covered include:

·  Best wishes for 2024

·  Have your say on Gateshead Council's Budget plans

·  New salt bin at Eastwood Avenue

·  Meeting with the Police

·  Eastern Avenue

You can read Low Fell eFocus on this link.

You're nicked!

Labour's former whip and cabinet minister Nick Brown MP has announced he has resigned from the Labour Party and will not be standing at the general election next year. A complaint against him had been submitted to the Labour Party in September last year though there is no explanation as to what was at the centre of it. Whatever the basis of the complaint happens to be, the fact it is unresolved 15 months later does strike me as contrary to natural justice. Brown was suspended from Labour last year and with the complaint dragging on, it was looking likely that he would have been blocked from standing for Labour at the general election. After 40 years as MP for Newcastle East, he has thrown in the towel and announced his retirement.

There will of course be a stampede of hopeful Labour candidates aiming to fill the vacancy in the redrawn constituency. It would not surprise me if the powers-that-be in the Labour Party parachute in Nick Forbes, former Leader of Newcastle Council. His political career was cut short after a Labour selection meeting, attended by 13 members, chose a different council candidate, leaving poor Nick without a seat on the council. So could Nick Forbes be about to step out of the political graveyard? We shall see!

40 years of Focus photos

Sunniside History Society had their monthly meeting last week. With Christmas around the corner, there was a buffet which included an edible Christmas wreath (see above). We also had the annual quiz, which I put together. I have been writing and editing Focuses for nearly 40 years and as a result I have built up a big collection of photos around Gateshead. So this formed the basis of the quiz - 40 photos taken over the past 40 years of places in Gateshead before they were restored, demolished or changed in some way. People had to identify them. The winner got 31 points. The prize was a bottle of prosecco which admittedly has left over from my wedding reception in July.

The next meeting is on Wednesday 3rd January at Sunniside Social Club.

Ron selected for Gateshead Central and Whickham

I am delighted to announce that Ron Beadle has been selected as the Lib Dem candidate for the new Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency at the general election. The constituency includes two strong Lib Dem areas - Whickham (3 wards) and Low Fell (one ward) - as well as Saltwell, won by the Lib Dems from Labour in the May local elections this year. It means nearly half the residents of the constituency are represented by Liberal Democrats on Gateshead Council. The overall votes cast in May in wards in the new constituency are:

So, it's a good base from which to work. Ron could easily take on any MP currently representing all or part of a Gateshead constituency. So watch this battle for an interesting result.

Mick Henry appointed freeman of the borough

 

Former Gateshead Council Leader Mick Henry was appointed as a freeman of the borough last week. Mick presided over the regeneration of Gateshead Quays as a cultural centre. During his time as Leader, the Millennium Bridge was opened and the Sage (now the Glasshouse) and the Baltic Art Gallery opened. A record to be proud of. 

The video above is of Mick signing the register of freemen. Below is his acceptance speech.

Gateshead freeman ceremony - speech by David Olusaga

 

David Olusaga, one of Britain's top historians, was appointed a freeman of Gateshead on 4th December. You can view his acceptance speech above. David was raised in Gateshead and he spoke about his memories during his speech.

Gateshead freeman ceremony - David Olusaga signed the register

 

David Olusaga is one of Britain's top historians and he was raised in Gateshead. I am delighted to say that he was appointed as a freeman of the borough on 4th December. In this video he signed the register of freeman in the presence of the mayor.

The birthday party

 

It was my 60th birthday recently, and David's 66th. So we decided to have a party at Sunniside Social Club. I had a big fear in the morning that few would turn up. In the end, as the video I shot on the day shows (see above) there was a good turnout. The cakes were demolished in minutes!

Blame the Liberal Democrats!

It's Labour's favourite tradition in Gateshead - blame the Liberal Democrats for everything. War, famine, plague, climate change. Just blame the Liberal Democrats! At full council last week, Angela Douglas, cabinet member for leisure, took the opportunity to blame everything that has happened since 2015 on the Lib Dems. We don't often hear from Angela. In January, cabinet debated the future of leisure services in Gateshead. The debate took about 2 hours. Angela, whose portfolio was being debated, said nothing. She sat silently through the meeting. Quite what Gateshead gets for the £16K paid to her for being the cabinet member for leisure services is not clear. But it was a pleasant change to hear from Angela at the council meeting last week.

Labour nationally have committed to continuing the current regime of tax and spending. That means onging cuts to local government. Indeed, Labour Gateshead are preparing not for a government that will splash the cash as they have demanded over the past 13 years. Instead, they are planning on the basis of the next government continuing the cuts. Quite how Angela and her "socialist" chums will explain their party's support for Conservative cuts would be interesting to hear. What is the probability of her blaming the Liberal Democrats!?

One million viewings but here comes the competition!

A milestone in my blogging world - my blog has now had one million viewings! It only took me 17 years to get to that figure, aided kindly by lots of Labour members who are drawn to its contents and then criticise me in council meetings! But the crown of Gateshead's blogger of the year may be about to slip from my grasp. None other than Labour Leader Martin Gannon has launched a blog, via Gateshead Council website.

So what essay length posts can we hope to read as we all sit huddled around our ipads waiting for the next thrilling episode of "The Leader's thoughts"? To make his blog even more interesting, Martin has filmed a 5 minute video in which he talks about the big issues of the day. Three days after uploading the video, viewing figures have already reached a whopping total of 5 (and one of them was me!) If you don't want to view the video, a transcript is on the blog with all the "errs" and "ummms" carefully edited out!

So everyone, give Martin's blog a fighting chance and visit it now. Get those viewing figures up! After all, Martin only needs a million more visits to catch up with me!

https://www.gateshead.gov.uk/article/25804/Leader-s-blog-Thursday-23-November

Sandwiches in Saltwell

 

I was in Saltwell on Sunday, helping to deliver the latest edition of Focus. Saltwell is a very compact ward with a significant number of terraces, often with up to 300 homes in a street. Delivery rounds often consist of one street. Delivery times however are short. It took me only 25 minutes to deliver one street, which was about 8% of the total ward! Over in my ward, the delivery patches contain fewer delivery points but take much longer to do because of the gardens around which we have to walk.

I did however cross paths with Saltwell Labour Councillor John Adams. He arrived in his car and hung around the end of the street I was delivering. I assume he had not driven from his home which was only about a 5 minute walk away, if that. Surely, anyone wanting to save the planet would have walked such a short journey? So, wherever he had been previously, I hope he was having a productive day.

Meanwhile, back at Cllr Leanne Brand's flat, which was HQ for the day, sandwiches left over from my birthday party at Sunniside Social Club on Saturday were being consumed by a small army of Lib Dem helpers. Then it was time again to deliver another patch before heading home.

Let them eat cake

 

I turned 60 recently. Meanwhile David turned 66 a few weeks ago. Both milestone life events so we decided to have a joint 126th birthday party at Sunniside Club. My sister Esther made the cakes. There were only crumbs left by the end. We did however manage to use up the 8 bottles of Prosecco left over from our wedding. 

So thank you to the 50 people who joined the celebration.

Whickham Christmas tree lights switch-on

 

Father Barry Abbott switched on the Whickham Christmas tree lights yesterday. I was inevitably there with my video camera - see video about.

Me, Cllr Sonya Hawkins, Cllr Peter Craig and Father Barry Abbott join local police next to the tree on Church Green.

One of me next to the tree.

Low Fell eFocus no. 129

 The Lib Dem team in Low Fell today published their latest edition of eFocus. Issues covered include:

• Christmas lights switch on;
• Armistice day;
• Dryden Road tree pruning;
• Looking for a child's Christmas present?;
• Recycling in Gateshead.

You can read eFocus on this link.

A parallel universe!

Back from feeding my livestock this morning and I struggled to believe what I heard when I put the tv on to watch the news. Braverman gone (less of a surprise) but Cameron back in government with a life peerage as well! I felt like I was living in a strange parallel universe. Is this for real? From memory, this is the first time in 50 years a former prime minister has returned to government to serve another PM. This may need checking but I think Alec Douglas-Home, PM 1963-64, returned to government as Foreign Secretary in the Heath government of the early 70s.

The question now is what will the right of the Conservative party do now that their standard bearer (Braverman) got herself booted out of the cabinet? And how long will it take the Conservative right to realise that elections are won in the centre ground. It took Labour a number of election defeats, especially 2019, before the "comrades" abandoned all their crackpot rubbish of the Corbyn period of lunacy to return to the middle ground. Will the Conservative right try to drag their party further away from the centre ground now that Braverman is free to cause even more chaos.

Remembrance Sunday Day in Whickham

 

Yesterday I attended the Remembrance Sunday parade and wreath-laying service in Whickham. Over 40 organisations took part, making it the biggest parade and service in Gateshead. Cllr Jonathan Mohammed laid the wreath on behalf of residents of Whickham South and Sunniside. The video above covers the service and the wreath-laying.

Councillors Sonya Hawkins, Peter Maughan and Jonathan Mohammed at the Whickham war memorial after the wreaths were laid.

Local Remembrance parades and services

It is Remembrance Sunday on 12th November. I will be attending the parade and service in Whickham though Cllr Jonathan Mohammed will be laying the wreath on behalf of our Whickham South and Sunniside residents. Below are some details about the various local events.

Whickham

Whickham now hosts the biggest Remembrance Parade and wreath-laying service in Gateshead. For those wishing to see the parade, this will move off from the eastern point of Back Row at 10:30 am, arriving at Whickham cenotaph at approximately 10:40 am.

A Remembrance service and wreath-laying ceremony will commence at the cenotaph at 10:45 am. Cllrs Peter Maughan, Sonya Hawkins and Jonathan Mohammed will lay wreaths on behalf of Whickham residents.

The Deputy Lord Lieutenant will be in attendance and the ceremony will be followed by a march past and then a short service in St. Mary’s Church.

Road Closures
To accommodate the parade, School Street and Back Row will be closed from 10:00am until approximately 10:45 am - and Front Street from Rectory Lane to Fellside Road will be closed from around 10:30 am until approximately 10:45 am.

Road closures will be also in place for the Remembrance service and wreath-laying ceremony - Front Street between Rectory Lane and Broom Lane will be closed from approximately 10:30 am until 11:30 am.

If there are any queries or any wreath layers who have previously not been in touch, could they please contact; Cllr. Peter Craig before Sunday.

Dunston

Assemble at St Nicholas Church at 10am for a service followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at the War Memorial, Dunston at 11am. 

Marley Hill

Assemble at St Cuthbert's Church, Marley Hill, a Remembrance Service combined with Methodists, at 10.15am for an Act of Remembrance and wreath-laying.

Swalwell

Service at the Holy Trinity Church, Hexham Old Road at 9am. This will be followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at 10am.

eFocus edition 184

 We recently published our latest edition of eFocus for the Whickham area (no. 184). Issues covered include:

• Gateshead Council not to be cut in size;
• King Arthur Garden at Whinnies Community Garden opened;
• Tyne Bridge repairs taking place;
• Central Nursery arson and demolition;
• Leven House plan withdrawn;
• Planning applications;
• Sunniside leek show;
• Musical Comedy comes to Swalwell;
• What happens to your waste for recycling;
• Rained off - but Whickham flowerbeds will be replanted.

You can read eFocus on this link.

Delivering in Swalwell

 

Last week I was in the unusual situation of having no Focuses to delivery. It was a situation that changed rapidly thanks to the Lib Dem team in Whickham North. They discovered I had no leaflets and decided to help me out of my urgent need to put newsletters through people's doors by giving me 200 to deliver. Two streets in Swalwell enjoyed my company - Park Terrace and Napier Road, the latter being where I lived for 15 years. Though I am a great fan of gardens, I rather liked the fact that three quarters of the houses to which I delivered had no garden space at all. I delivered all 200 in 25 minutes.

Regional conference in Gateshead

 

North East Lib Dem regional conference took place today and Gateshead were the hosts. The gathering took place in the Little Theatre in Saltwell.

The main session in the morning was a Q&A with Ed Davey online. He also talked about the forthcoming general election campaign and the success of the Lib Dems in the region in the local elections this year.

In the afternoon, there was an awards ceremony. Gateshead won the Alistair Wardlaw trophy for our progress in the local elections and developing the local party over the past year.

The biggest challenge of the day was the raffle! With 28 prizes and too many Lib Dems being far too nice by refusing to claim more than one prize, the end of conference had to be delayed!

A lovely touch

 

On Friday 27th October, the funeral of Doreen Boyes took place at Mountsett Crematorium. Doreen had been Lib Dem councillor for Pelaw and Heworth in Gateshead from 2001 to 2011. This was our opportunity to say thank you for her work for both her constituents and the party. I particularly liked the bell and the card handed out to each of us. "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings." It's a quote from one of my favourite films: It's a wonderful life.

RIP Doreen.

Visiting the waste resource extraction plant

In Gateshead, cardboard, plastic, bottles and cans are collected fortnightly. This waste goes mixed into a wheelie bin. But the waste then needs to be separated out. This is done at a resource extraction plant in Middlesbrough. I visited the plant recently and filmed the process of separating out and baling the different materials.

Poppies popping up in Sunniside

 

A big thank you to the volunteers from Planting Up Sunniside who recently placed the poppies on the street signs and lamp posts along the main road through Sunniside and Streetgate. They are certainly getting noticed!

Bridges on the Greens' target list

 

The Greens in Gateshead hope to emulate the "success" of their party nationally by winning council seats here. Up to now they have had one target seat (Crawcrook and Greenside) but have failed to win it (though they were modestly close to victory in May this year. The Greens' attention however may be expanding from their not-quite-a-toe-hold single target ward. They have just put out a leaflet in Bridges ward. 

Bridges is an example of a ward taken for granted for decades by Labour. Their councillors there are re-elected on a low turnout. Typically, the Labour vote in the ward is a fraction of the majority I would expect in my own ward. Any party moving into Bridges could, with the right campaign and level of intensity, snatch the ward from Labour. There is an interesting difference with Crawcrook and Greenside. The turnout there is much higher and therefore the hurdle to overcome is all the greater. In May, Labour got 1374 votes in C&G. In Bridges ward, Labour got 904. Indeed, the Greens' losing candidate in C&G got 1017 votes. That would have won them Bridges ward.

One of the Labour councillors in Bridges is Angela Douglas, cabinet member for leisure and culture and whose disastrous leadership (or lack of) on the future of leisure services was a key issue in the local elections this year. She famously turned up for cabinet in January and despite a nearly two hour discussion on proposals to close two leisure centres, she sat silently throughout the entire meeting. The Greens' leaflets about this issue could write themselves!

Guests at the annual dinner

I filmed this at the Gateshead Lib Dem annual dinner last week - members and guests assembling at the Rosa 12 restaurant in Low Fell. A good turnout for our first annual dinner. Sorting the dinner for autumn next year may be a bit more challenging. It is looking increasingly likely that the general election will be held then!

Planting Up Whickham

 

On Sunday, I joined volunteers from Planting Up Whickham to strip out the flowerbeds on Church Green. My job was to load all the garden waste into my pickup and take it down to my farm where I will turn it into compost. I filmed this video while the work was taking place.

Simon speaks at Gateshead Lib Dem annual dinner

 

Our first annual Gateshead Lib Dem dinner was held last night and the guest speaker was Simon Hughes, former MP for Bermondsey. The dinner was held at Rosa Twelve in Low Fell. About 50 people there but I had been put on the same table as Simon. I've known him for over 20 years, since I first worked for the party. During his speech he talked about the need to appear to Labour voters as well ac Conservatives. He also talked about his hopes that the Lib Dems will move back into the position as the 3rd largest party in the Commons after the general election, moving ahead of a retreating SNP.

So, now that the idea of an annual Gateshead dinner has been established, we need to start thinking about who to invite next year. The spanner in the works will be the timing of the general election.

Buying litter

 

I spotted this litter on my farm on Sunday. Indeed, I spotted it from a distance of about 200 metres. It is a balloon that had lost most of its helium gas, therefore causing it to fall to the ground. These balloons are killers. They drift out to sea where they can be ingested by marine life such as dolphins and seals. When that happens, the animal can choke to death. On land they can be ingested by livestock or by large wild animals such as deer, again resulting in death. If they are not ingested, they remain as litter taking hundreds of years to decompose.

The balloons are the only product I can think of that can be described as litter the moment they are bought. They are bought on the expectation that they will be released into the environment. In effect, they serve no purpose other than to be thrown away as litter.

The balloon above was clearly released to celebrate a forthcoming wedding. Do you really need to mark the occasion by paying for and then dumping a load of litter on the environment? "Your wedding is so great that we are celebrating it by scattering rubbish over a large area."

Please everyone, avoid ever releasing this sort of rubbish onto local communities. Spend your money on something much more worthwhile than litter. Celebrate people's special days in a sustainable way.

Back to the Mothers' Union

Last year I gave a history talk to the Whickham Mothers' Union about the lost forts of Whickham. They decided to invite me back to give them another talk so today I gave them a talk about self-sufficiency. It was a whirlwind look at the last 14 years from when I first gave up paid employment to live the good life. A mark of the success of a talk is the number of questions at the end, of which there were plenty! And they have invited me again to come back and give another talk next year.

Windy Nook talk

I was invited by St Albans Church in Windy Nook, Gateshead, to speak to them about how to improve their environmental credentials. They are aiming to be an "ecochurch" so I accepted the invite and went along to their harvest supper yesterday. They asked me to speak for about 20 minutes though I ended up speaking for at least double that! There was a good interaction with audience members as I advised them on bird and bee boxes, keeping some bee hives, avoiding cutting the grass during April and May, setting up small ponds (they have one already), not cutting privet hedges in August to allow them to flower (pollinators love the flowers) and planting pollinator friendly flowers, among many other issues. Hopefully some of the suggestions will be taken up and I hope to put them in touch with people who can direct them to various funding organisations.

RIP Doreen Boyes

It was with great sadness that I learnt of the death last week of Doreen Boyes. Doreen was Lib Dem Councillor for Pelaw and Heworth in Gateshead, serving her constituents from 2002 to 2011. After her retirement from the council, she was appointed an honorary alderman. Doreen was a great friend of the group both during her time as councillor and afterwards. She could always be counted on to give a sensible and level-headed judgement on whatever we were considering.

RIP Doreen.

Staying at home

 So, the expected happened in the Rutherglen by-election. Labour won, and did so comfortably. What was unexpected was the size of the swing - 20% from SNP to Labour. There's nothing like a by-election victory to make a conference go with a bang. I speak from experience. There was a great feeling seeing our new by-election victors around the conference centre. Labour members will have a spring in their step when they arrive in Liverpool. But let's not get carried away....

While it was clear that Labour were able to pull off a significant gain, take a look at the votes cast. There was a big collapse in the SNP vote but Labour's vote, compared to the general election, was largely unchanged, indeed it was down a smidgen, from 18,545 to 17,845. Remember - the last general election saw Labour's vote down to its lowest level since 1983. What has happened is that SNP voters are staying at home. They are currently sitting out election contests, unsure on what to do. Unlike 1997 when the Blair government was able to reach out and soak up some of the undecided votes of other parties, Rutherglen is an illustration of the limited appeal of Labour. Dig a bit further back in time and the total Labour vote in the byelection is their lowest since the constituency was created in 2005. Indeed, in 2010, Labour's winning candidate in the constituency notched up over 28,000 votes in a general election in which Labour went down to defeat.

The appeal of opposition parties to voters who had previously supported the government (SNP in Scotland and Conservatives in England) is what will decide the outcome of the next general election. Both Labour and the Lib Dems aim to appeal to Conservatives who are currently staying at home. But how successful has that appeal been? Take a look at the Somerton and Frome by-election. The Lib Dem vote increased by about 4,000. But how much of that was the result of a successful squeeze on the Labour vote?  The Conservative vote meanwhile dropped from 36,000 to 10,000. Clearly, most of that stayed at home though the figures suggest a modest inroad by the Lib Dems into the Conservative total.

On the same day, the Selby by-election produced a similar result in terms of vote changes: a collapse in the Conservative vote and a modest increase in the vote of Labour with the Lib Dem vote squeezed. But the biggest group of voters across the constituency, as in Somerton and Frome, is likely to be stay-at-home Conservatives unhappy with their party's performance.

As we get closer to the general election, this group of undecided Conservatives will start to move. Some will go back to the Conservatives, others to the opposition parties (at a constituency level they will move to the party most likely to defeat the Conservatives - likely to be Labour in Red Wall seats and Lib Dems in Blue Wall). The killer question is, what proportion of the undecided Conservatives will turn out to vote Conservative?

Back to Rutherglen. The bloated representation of the SNP in the UK parliament annoys me. While the SNP has most seats, their vote share in Scotland is in a minority - in other words, most people in Scotland didn't vote SNP in the last general election. Yet, because of Parliamentary arithmetic, they are the UK's third party in the Commons. This results in media coverage going to the SNP that is unmerited while stripping it from the Lib Dems. We have the daft situation of the SNP being invited on to UK wide news programmes to explain SNP policy on issues that in Scotland are devolved. The SNP leader in Scotland gets 2 questions at PMQ while Ed Davey gets pot luck.

So Labour may have done us a favour in Rutherglen. If they are able to take seats in the Tartan Wall from the SNP, we could see the Lib Dems overtaking the SNP in Parliament, and returning to third party status in the House of Commons.

Ed speaking to Lib Dem local councillors

 

Last week at Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth, I attended the Association of Lib Dem Councillors and the Local Government Association joint reception. Ed Davey was the guest speaker and he spoke about the importance of local councillors to the party and the electoral successes of the past year. The video above covers the whole of his speech.

The Bournemouth West Cliff goats

 

This made me feel at home at Bournemouth conference last week! Goats are kept on the cliff in front of the Highcliff Hotel. I assume they are there to keep the vegetation under control. I counted 6 in total, all Boer billies. It looks as though they are doing a good job!

Conference video diary - day 4

 

It's the final day of Lib Dem conference at Bournemouth. I attend the debate on biodiversity and was in the main hall for Ed Davey's speech. Once Ed had finished speaking, it was a rush to the train station to catch my train for the start of the journey home. I go there with a minute to spare!

Conference video diary, day 3

 

Day 3 of the Lib Dem conference at Bournemouth. I started at the food and farming debate, then took my seat for a speech by Kira Rudik, Leader of the Ukrainian Liberal Party. Lunch was at the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, and after this I went to the National Farmers' Union where Tim Farron and Ed Davey were the guest speakers. The day finished at the Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidates Association dinner.

Conference Video Diary day 2

 

My video diary of the 2nd day at Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth. Health and education debates took place, Daisy Cooper gave a great speech, I checked out by-election cheesy props, I popped in to the Liberty Network fringe, in the afternoon I went to Ed Davey's Q&A and in the evening I rounded off my day by going to an LGBT meeting followed by the ALDC/LGA reception.

Conference video day 1

 

Last week we were back at Lib Dem autumn conference for the first time in 4 years. This video was filmed across day one of the gathering in Bournemouth and includes:

• a look at the exhibition area;
• the general election briefing;
• lessons from the Somerton and Frome by-election;
• Countryside Alliance fringe meeting;
• and the rally which included videos of Steve Coogan and Carol Vorderman backing fair votes.