On Saturday 15th July David and I got married. Thanks to the change is the law that was guided through Parliament by the then Lib Dem Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone, same sex marriage could take place from 2014. After 38 years of knowing each other, we decided to tie the knot. Apart from the rain just before the wedding, everything went to plan. Gateshead Registry Office did a great job and Sunniside Social Club did a grand job of hosting the reception. Samantha Cheeseman of Saltmarsh Catering in Dunston did a fantastic job of putting together a buffet that included produce from our farm.
We had a "honeymoon at home" over the past week. We are took busy on the farm to go away, especially with the recent birth of 5 goat kids, all of which we are hand feeding. We did however have some day trips, going to Beamish, Newcastle keep, the Baltic Art Gallery and Marsden.
Thanks for all the good wishes people have sent and thanks to the 100 guests who came along to the reception.
I was in Newcastle yesterday for the Northern Pride parade. Gateshead Lib Dem councillors on the parade in addition to myself were Leanne Brand, Amanda Wintcher, Ron Beadle and Vicky Anderson. Sadly the rain also joined the procession which led to the event on the Town Moor being cancelled. Nevertheless, Pride is something we continue to need. Look at some countries such as Uganda, Malaysia and Russia and the repression and hostility to the LGBT community is horrifying.
In my in box yesterday was an email from the North East Lib Dems. I've just got round to opening it now. It's about the forthcoming North East Lib Dem regional conference and it is being held in Gateshead on 4th November. More specifically, it is to be held in the Little Theatre (hopefully not too small!) which is on the border between Lib Dem held Low Fell and Saltwell, gained by the Lib Dems from Labour in May. A good venue to celebrate! The agenda is not ready yet so we await the motions that will be debated.
David and I will get married on Saturday. My sister Esther has made the cake. She sent me this photo of it. The icing is on but the decoration is still to be done. I am banned from seeing it until we get to the reception!
It has been nearly 15 years since I last bought a suit. I had 6 months' wear out of it before I moved on from my office based job in Lib Dem HQ to the world of self-sufficiency. Since then, the suit only came out of the wardrobe when there is a full council meeting in Gateshead or I have to attend a funeral or wedding. The suit is now showing 15 years of wear and tear and a modestly expanded waistline has not helped! So off to Marks and Spencer I went. A new shirt and a suit were acquired.
36 years ago, at the age of 23, I was elected to Gateshead for the first time. I remember fitting into my shirts which were all 15 inch collars. I then took up swimming as a hobby and had to replace all my shirts as my collar size had grown to 18 inches! It has stayed at that size for the past 30 years. Alas, my waistline has gone from 30 inches in 1987 to 36 inches now.
The point about this is that a new suit was needed not just to replace my Worzel Gummidge style tatters of a suit, but because my wedding is coming up and I guess I need to look presentable rather than having the appearance of a sack of potatoes! Hopefully, this new suit will last me another decade and a half.
Tonight the Suniside History Society will enjoy a talk about the history of Chase Park in Whickham. The speaker is Richard Pears who has spoken to the Society on a number of occasions. The talk kicks off at 7pm in Sunniside Club.
The park has seen some controversy recently when Gateshead Labour Council decided to flog off the stable block and the main park entrance to developers. Labour cabinet member for housing, John Adams, claimed the areas to be used for new executive housing are not in the park but are "adjacent" to it! Labour Leader Martin Gannon repeated the same absurd claim.
Perhaps both would care to come along to the talk tonight. It would be an opportunity for each to learn something about the park before they each next open their mouth on the issue.
The future of leisure centres in Gateshead has been a hot topic for over a year. A consultation was launched in October 2022 which included proposed closures and plans to privatise the management of any remaining facilities. The two most threatened centres also happened to be in the most marginal Labour held wards in Gateshead (Birtley and Saltwell). I think it is fair to say that Labour went into panic mode as the end of the consultation approached in January. The result of this was a last minute change of plan at the all-Labour cabinet which delayed the end of the consultation to 8th May, 3 days after the local elections! The cost of that was £600,000.
If Labour thought they could avoid defeat by delay, they were mistaken. They lost both Birtley and Saltwell to the Lib Dems.
The cabinet member responsible for leisure services is Angela Douglas. The plans for closures and privatisation belong to her. She has presided over a failure to make the facilities self-financing. Cllr Douglas has been rather quiet about the leisure facilities. When the report came to the cabinet in January she had nothing to say, despite the two hour debate that took place. At the budget meeting there was an amendment from the Lib Dems calling for reserves to be used to keep the facilities open while their future was sorted. She made no contribution to the debate despite being the responsible portfolio holder.
The people of Gateshead have every right to ask, "What is the point of Cllr Douglas and what do the people get for the £16K she is paid in addition to her councillor allowance?"
Fortunately her vow of silence came to an end in June at the cabinet meeting that considered again the closure of two facilities and to seek private sector providers to take on the running of what's left. Cllr Douglas in her speech to cabinet decided to blame the Liberal Democrats for the closures and the current state of the centres!
This is somewhat rich coming from Gateshead Labour - they have run the council for nearly 50 years (or should that be "they have run the council into the ground for nearly 50 years?") Given the privatisation agenda of Cllr Douglas, the mini-Margaret Thatcher of Gateshead Council, she should be the last person making such comments!
There is one hopeful element to this saga. There are possible community asset transfers that could result in the voluntary sector taking on Gateshead Leisure Centre and Birtley Swimming Centre. Nevertheless, the two centres will have to close on the day the school summer holidays begin, stripping Birtley and Gateshead Centres of vital income as well as denying local communities access to important leisure facilities when the kids are out of school. If they were to reopen in the voluntary sector, much of their customer base is likely to have gone elsewhere, helping to fatten up the facilities where Cllr Douglas is looking to privatise the management. But that's market forces for you. Margaret Thatcher would have been proud of her mini.
I took this photo on my farm yesterday afternoon. Note the plume of smoke on the horizon. The second big fire in a disused building in Newcastle in a month, both times visible from my farm. From what I understand, there is still some disruption to anyone using the central motorway or wanting to travel into central Newcastle.
Here's the good news. The Boundary Commission have announced their final boundaries and names for new Parliamentary constituencies and the new Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency has survived attempts by Gateshead Labour to remove "Whickham" from the name. The new constituency contains 4 strong Lib Dem wards (Whickham North, Whickham South and Sunniside, Dunston Hill and Whickham East and Low Fell). In addition, it contains Saltwell, won by the Lib Dems from Labour in May though the majority is narrow. The inclusion of the name "Whickham" recognises the importance of the biggest town in Gateshead outside the inner core. It also puts into play the notion that the new Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency is one in which Labour are the lead party but the Lib Dems are the challengers. No wonder Labour wanted to expunge "Whickham" from the name! An interesting battle lies ahead.
It wasn't all good news however. Labour won the battle to keep the name of Birtley out of the new constituency covering the town. Instead of Washington and Birtley, which we argued for, Labour won the battle to ban Birtley from the name. Instead, it will be called Washington and Gateshead South. It was a similar story with Jarrow and Gateshead East. We argued that the Gateshead East area was effectively Felling town and this should be recognised in the name of the new constituency. Labour's anti-Felling campaign worked, and the initial name of Jarrow and Gateshead East remains in place.
Our current Focus for Whickham South and Sunniside is now delivered to 80% of the households in the ward. Yesterday I headed out to do a mopping up operation - finishing a couple of patches in Sunniside. Good weather for it - sunny but with a refreshing breeze. Not so today. Cooler and a bit of rain. Looks like delivery will be tomorrow instead.
My two ward colleagues - Councillors Jonathan Mohammed and Marilynn Ord - recently held two village surgeries in Byermoor and Marley Hill. This is an alternative to the usual surgeries normally held in a publicly accessible building. The aim is to had a series of village surgeries throughout the ward. So we set up in the circle in Byermoor (see above photo) and afterwards moved on to the bottom of Cuthberts Street in Marley Hill (see photo below).
The surgeries also gave us the opportunity to check out the state of the play equipment in Byermoor and Marley Hill parks. We are awaiting a final decision on the replacement equipment in Byermoor as all the equipment there is condemned.
At the last full council meeting in Gateshead, Labour submitted a motion for debate. Labour motions here tend to be wordy affairs but the nearly 600 words in the motion on 25th May is probably a new record even for them. A helpful summary is: ask the government to pay for the pay increase demands of those in local government. At Lib Dem group meeting a few days before full council, we discussed Labour's essay of a motion and I joked that because it was full of debating points, the person moving it simply had to read out the motion rather than write a speech!
So I was rather amused when the motion was moved at council and the mover of the motion, Cllr Dot Burnett, simply read out the motion but otherwise said nothing else!
Our amendment simply called on the council to write to the Shadow Chancellor as well as the actual Chancellor about the motion. The demands in the motion are, after all, not Labour policy nationally. Gateshead Labour rejected the amendment. Apparently, they are happy to ask a Tory Chancellor to support their calls on pay, but they aren't happy to bring their concerns to their own Shadow Chancellor. Perhaps Gateshead Labour have given up on their national leadership.
The wording of the motion was:
“This Council notes:
Local government has endured central government funding cuts of more than 50% since 2010. Between 2010 and 2020, councils lost 60p out of every £1 they have received from central government. Councils across England are now facing a collective funding gap of £2.4bn for the financial year 2023/24 and a cumulative funding gap of £4.08bn for 2024/25 according to UNISON research.
Councils led the way in efforts against the Covid-19 pandemic, providing a huge range of services and support for our communities. Local government has shown more than ever how indispensable it is. But Covid has led to a massive increase in expenditure and loss of income, and as we emerge from the pandemic, local authorities and schools need far more support from Westminster. Recent funding announcements from the Government relating to schools did nothing to help.
Council and school workers kept our communities safe through the pandemic, often putting themselves at considerable risk as they work to protect public health, provide quality housing, ensure our children continue to be educated, and look after older and vulnerable people.
Since 2010, the local government workforce has endured years of pay restraint with the majority of pay points losing at least 25 per cent of their value since 2009/10. Staff are now facing the worst cost of living crisis in a generation, with inflation hitting 10% and many having to make impossible choices between food, heating and other essentials. This is a terrible situation for anyone to find themselves in.
At the same time, workers have experienced ever-increasing workloads and persistent job insecurity. Across the UK, 900,000 jobs have been lost in local government since June 2010 – a reduction of more than 30 per cent. Local government has arguably been hit by more severe job losses than any other part of the public sector.
There has been a disproportionate impact on women, with women making up more than three-quarters of the local government workforce.
Recent research shows that if the Government were to fully fund the unions’ 2023 pay claim, around half of the money would be recouped thanks to increased tax revenue, reduced expenditure on benefits and tax credits, and increased consumer spending in the local economy.
This council believes:
Our workers are public service super-heroes. They keep our communities clean and safe, look after those in need and keep our towns and cities running.
Without the professionalism and dedication of our staff, the council services our residents rely on would not be deliverable.
Local government workers deserve a proper real-terms pay increase. The Government needs to take responsibility and fully fund this increase; it should not put the burden on local authorities whose funding has been cut to the bone and who were not offered adequate support through the Covid-19 pandemic.
This council resolves to:
Support the pay claim submitted by UNISON, GMB and Unite on behalf of council and school workers, for an increase of RPI + two per cent funded by central government
Call on the Local Government Association to make urgent representations to central government to fund the NJC pay claim
Write to the Chancellor and Secretary of State to call for a pay increase for local government workers to be funded with new money from central government
Meet with local NJC union representatives to discuss for the pay claim and consider practical ways in which the council can engage with the campaign
Encourage all local government workers to join a union.”
David and I were looking forward to a visit to the Hoppings on Newcastle's Town Moor on Friday evening. Given the dry weather we have ensured for the past few weeks, we felt it was tempting fate to take cagoules with us. Almost as soon as we left the house, the rain started. By the time we got to Newcastle, it was clear it was not a passing shower. We abandoned the Hoppings plan in favour of dinner at the nearest restautant to where we parked - Taste of Persia in Marlborough Crescent. More expensive than a trip to the Hoppings, but a dinner much better than the burgher and chips we would otherwise have consumed!
I joined Councillors Peter Maughan and Vicky Anderson today at the community fair in Dunston Park. Peter brought along his enormous Newfoundland dog Ziva, an animal so big that it is bigger than some of my sheep! (And as much fur on her as my sheep have wool!) Ziva proved quite a hit with children and adults alike!
The couple dancing in the Tory "Jingle and Mingle" video are probably not enjoying watching the news. Yesterday, they were on every news broadcast. They are probably dreading showing themselves in public. Still, think of the positives. Perhaps a guest appearance on Come Dancing will be offered. Or how about an appearance in Dancing on Ice? On a more serious note, what is it about some people who think they are above everyone else and therefore feel they don't have to follow the rules under which everyone else lives? Those who lost loved ones during the Pandemic can rightly feel aggrieved. Their hospital visits were curtailed and funerals were limited in the number of people allowed to attend. Even those who did not lose loved ones lost the ability to meet family members and friends while some in the Tory Party just kept on partying. I suspect the Tories are heading for a mauling at the forthcoming by-elections. Quite right too.
Gateshead Lib Dems held a thank you party at the Gateshead Legion Club in Saltwell on Friday. And we had lots of celebrate following the two gains from Labour in the local elections last month. There was a buffet, quiz and raffle. A great time was had by all.
We are often asked to bring some of our livestock from our farm to local fairs. On Thursday, 15th June we headed to Cloverhill School fair with two of our lambs - Lady Ba Ba and Britney Shears. Both were a hit with children and parents alike.
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