Is the North East the Uk's Detroit?

[DRiddle]

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/may/10/north-east-avoid-becoming-britains-detroit

Interesting article here from a real journalist...

[SRMoore]

Yet another lazy journalist trying to make a name for himself by slagging off the North East and only giving one side of the story.

I agreed not with this rebuttal.
http://www.nelep.co.uk/news/2014/05/response-to-the-guardian-may-2014/

[SRMoore]

I agree more* with this rebuttal.

[steveL]

Well to paraphrase Ms Rice-Davis, "You would say that, wouldn't you."

[norfolkngoode]

Tony Blair used this room when he was prime minister. His constituency, Sedgefield in County Durham, was a short drive away. When he needed to get to London, 260 miles south, he and his entourage would often catch the fast Darlington train, which can take less than two and a half hours. More usefully still, many other key New Labour figures took the same line, among them Peter Mandelson, Alan Milburn and David Miliband. Altogether, the north-east of England, which contains about a 25th of the UK population, was represented by "a third of Blair's first cabinet", noted the veteran anatomist of British power networks, Anthony Sampson, in 2004. (Sampson was himself born in County Durham.) Rarely before had our remotest and often poorest region been such a hub of political influence.


Read the above paragraph, and that was enough for me....

The article should be retitled..... Why, when the North East had this much influence in Government, with senior government ministers and  indeed the Prime Minister residing there,
did they still do nowt for the area?

[marky]

Spot on...

[fred c]

I think it was pretty much on the mark.... Shane is intoxicated with the facts & figures spewed out by Tory central office, the number of apprenticeships they have created for instance, I was in Aldi yesterday & although they are currently riding high & opening lots of new stores with employment opportunities for people, I do not accept that you can be an apprentice shop assistant / till operator as one young girls name tag suggested.

Maybe he could approach the driver of the Tory Spaceship & get him to propose that councilors ward allowances be stopped & the £165,000  year saved put into a "proper" apprenticeship training  program.

If Shane really has ambitions to change Hartlepool for the better, he should be trying to convince the Captain of the Tory Spaceship & his 1 woman 1 man crew, to stop voting with "TheMob"

He could as a starter for 10 ask Raymond to propose that council tax payers "Stop Funding" a full time "Union Official" that would save us the thick end of £100,000...... that could then go into the pot with the other £165,000 to give a whopping £265,000 per year...... How many apprenticeships would that fund ?

That's about as likely to happen as "The Dear Leaders" Visionary Delusions.

[SRMoore]

Fred, for a long time you and I got on well as we share many of the same views (including the full time union officials paid for the taxpayer - I stood up and demanded the money be put to better use in full council remember where NO councillor did up and sided with me, so that included all of the PHF councillors).

Unfortunately, however, you are one of the reasons I seldom post on here these days as whenever I do you reply with the same off topic cr*p each and every time.

So getting back on topic - If you had taken the time to read the article I linked you will see that it had nothing to do with the national Conservative party nor had my opinion.

I would much rather talk up the real positive drivers that are moving this region forward rather than kick, scream and cry about industries long gone and constantly talk the place down; because the latter attitude is one of the reasons why Hartlepool has been left behind whilst Stockton & Middlesbrough move on and reap the rewards.

[mk1]

one of the reasons why Hartlepool has been left behind whilst Stockton & Middlesbrough move on and reap the rewards.

'Boro is  more deprived that Hartlepool.

I admire your tenacity Shane but as  long as  the local Tory party is a vehicle for Wells to peddle influence then you are sunk.

I compare your situation to Cameron and Barlow.
Clearly Cameron knows Barlow is a toe-rag who tried to avoid paying the correct amount of tax  but given how he earlier heaped praise on him  he can not  now admit his error. Rather than  face reality he  has decided to tough it out and  hope  no one remembers how two-faced he was.

You lie with fleas................

[grim reaper]

Quite apart from the people mentioned in the Guardian article, don't forget the other useless North-east MPs that have preferred to sit by the trough of plenty, sniping at the Tories;
Iain Wright, Nick Brown, Mo Mowlem, Jack Cunningham, Stephen Byers, Hilary Armstrong etc.
A Labour Prime Minister, senior ministers and all of those MPs. 

In all of that time, with all of those people living and representing the North-east, just WHAT did they achieve?
How many companies did they encourage to the North-east?
How many jobs did they create?       A big fat zero. 

All Labour ever does for the North-east is to foster tension and ill-feeling with regard to the closure of the mines and shipyards.
Totally ignoring the fact that whenever there is a choice of where to buy coal, ships, cars, clothes, food etc. etc. people will look for value for their money.

Cheap coal- Poland.    Cheap ships- Korea.     Cheap cars- Japan/Poland/Czech  Cheap clothes- Bangladesh.     Cheap food- Germany (Aldi/Lidl.
I bet most people reading this are wearing nothing made in the UK.
Likewise, no doubt a foreign car is on the drive.
And yet people insist on blaming a government for all of our ills.

In all the years of Labour rule and local MPs what did Labour create for the North-east...nothing! 
They are quite happy at the status quo, as disgruntled voters keep voting Labour. 

There again, the party mostly despised in the North-east (Tories) have created tens of thousands of jobs to replace a percentage of those lost.
Think Catapillar, Nissan, Hitachi Trains, OGN Offshore (Wallsend)--over 2000 employees, JDR Offshore Cables and the list goes on and on.

The Tory initiative 'NDC' rejuvenated both Middlesbrough and Hartlepool docks area, which are now home to many businesses, shops, restaurants, apartments and halls of residence.
(Yes, I know there was a lot of 'waste', but our area is better for the NDC, as opposed to the docks etc. as they were).

Sadly, local Labour councils are allowing the initiative to flounder through lack of drive/interest (because it was a Tory initiative and they want it to die?).

You may think I'm a Tory voter. I was, once upon a time but Cameron has turned me right off.
However, I can still applaud them for the jobs they brought to the North-east and the interest they still appear to show, despite the fact we keep returning Labour MPs!!! 

[fred c]

I don`t know why you think my comments wandered off topic Shane, they were pertinent to Hartlepool & it also encompassed the propaganda in Mr Twiddy`s article, there have been some successes in the North, but if the bloke seriously thinks we are living the high life he needs to stop eating mushrooms from his back lawn.

I have always said that i believe your heart is in the right place, but i have also said you need to get out of the shadow of RMW, you cannot keep defending "His" version of Toryism & expect any credibility from people who take an interest in local affairs that use this forum.

[clav 73]

I agree with Fred. Shane you need to be an independent as you have no hope while Wells is in a unofficial coalition with the SCABS. It's a shame as you talk sense a lot of the time ( claiming it was the Tory plan to agree with the Scabs over the gypsy site while planning behind the scenes to get rid of it wasn't one of them ) and you would have got my vote if you where anyone but the labour-Tory coalition

[SRMoore]

Fred, please highlight where in this entire thread I have defended RMW or any other councillor.

Thanks for the kind words Clav. I'm not sure what you mean about the gypsy sites. I made it clear from day one that I opposed all of the sites and would fight to stop it going ahead - as I did. I made no claim about a deal with the Scabs.

I'll be honest, it does disappoint me that knowing what you do about me you would still judge me by the actions of others and not lend me your support. It is, of course, your choice and I respect your views.

I am a Conservative though and I would rather stand as a conservative and be truthful to people than pretend to be an 'Independent'. We have far too many of those in Hartlepool.

[clav 73]

Shane it's not that it's a vote against you I just don't believe you can win as a Tory so would rather vote for some one with a chance of getting rid of the unless incumbent and to stop SCAB mum from winning it's a case of not splitting the vote

[steveL]

So what do you know about the deal between the Tories in the council chamber and the SCABS about the local plan, Shane?