Keep up to date with all the big politics stories in the North with the daily Northern Agenda newsletter.
You can receive the Northern Agenda newsletter direct to your inbox every week day by signing up right here.
Here is today's Northern Agenda:
By ROB PARSONS - July 21 2022
Looking around Northern politics it seems elected mayors are all the rage, with Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram elected in the North West and 2017 and four other 'metro mayors' aiming to be powerful figureheads for their regions following on behind.
And at a more local level, there are directly elected mayors for cities, towns and districts too, with areas like Middlebrough, Doncaster and Salford all preferring the mayoral system to having an indirectly-elected cabinet and leader making decisions about local services.
But while metro mayors are becoming central figures in the levelling up debate and a focus for efforts to devolve powers outside Westminster, are locals becoming disenchanted with the idea of city mayors?
In Bristol the mayoral model is being abandoned in 2024, and last night Liverpool councillors voted to remove the position of elected city mayor - a position currently held by Joanne Anderson - after 10 years. The decision will take effect from next May's elections.
As Liam Thorp of the Liverpool Echo reports there were angry rows at the full council meeting as the city's ruling Labour group voted successfully for the mayoralty to be replaced by a council leader and cabinet model that was in place up until 2012.
That's despite that particular option coming bottom of three potential governance systems in a recent public consultation costing £140,000.
Speaking against the Labour move and calling for a public vote on the matter, Liberal leader Steve Radford said Labour were 'taking the mickey' out of the people of the city. He added: "You are saying we are going to vote for the least popular option and after asking the people of the city, we don't give a damn what they think"
Opposition parties the Liberal Democrats and Greens then joined forces in the chamber to try and vote through a move to a committee system - like that now in place in Sheffield - but they were voted down by the majority Labour group.
Part of the difference in popularity between metro mayors and local authority mayors is that while the likes of Andy Burnham and Ben Houchen are responsible for big investment projects, local mayors have to worry about potholes and making sure bins are collected.
Little wonder then that last year Middlesbrough mayor Andy Preston said metro mayors are ‘Father Christmas leaders who hand out money’ and claimed his own role was ‘horrible’ by comparison.
Akash Paun, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government , told this newsletter: “Our research shows that mayors can make a positive difference to the places they lead – by providing clear accountability and a strong voice for their communities.
"In the end, cities like Liverpool and Bristol have the right to decide for themselves whether to keep or scrap the mayoral model of local government. But it’s important that such important changes are not made on a whim and are informed by proper consultation with voters and other stakeholders about what works best for the city.”
Sunak and Truss on 'home turf' as fight to be next PM moves north
With the Parliamentary shenanigans out of the way and Tory MPs opting for Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss as their choice to succeed Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, it's now time for the party faithful to have its say.
Members of the Conservative Party - those who sign up by paying up to £25 a year in order to participate in party politics - will this summer vote on their preferred candidate before the result is announced on September 5.
And Ms Truss and Mr Sunak will be on home turf, of sorts, at the first of 12 regional hustings where the pair will debate over the summer. The opening hustings will be on July 28 in Leeds, the city where Ms Truss was educated at Roundhay School, and in the Yorkshire region where the ex-Chancellor serves as an MP.
The busy schedule also includes hustings on August 19 in Manchester and on August 9 in Darlington, the base where Mr Sunak set up a Northern headquarters for the Treasury.
Amid mounting pressure for Boris Johnson to resign last month, Tory Don Valley MP Nick Fletcher issued a stark warning: "Lose Boris, lose levelling up".
And so just days after Mr Johnson announced that he would be stepping down, rumours started circulating that the plan could be quietly ditched. But Mr Fletcher was optimistic when he spoke to The Northern Agenda podcast (in an episode that airs tonight), saying he had faith the candidates vying to replace Mr Johnson would deliver.
"I've asked this question at the hustings and I'm confident that any new leader will help move the North and Doncaster forward", he told our Westminster Editor Dan O'Donoghue.
Asked how he would judge success, Mr Fletcher said: "There just needs to be a continuation on what has been started. We've had years and decades of neglect in the North and we're not going to turn that over in one term.
"What people need to see is that there's a genuine push to increase the aspirations and opportunity of people's lives in the North. We're seeing that with education investment areas, we're seeing that with the levelling up fund, it's not all about money, it's about other things too, but this is definitely a move to level up the North."
Neil O'Brien, the Yorkshire-born former Levelling Up MInister, tweeted this morning that it would be "nuts to drop" the agenda and that the next PM "should put rocket boosters under it".
Rishi Sunak was yesterday accused of viewing "everything outside of London as the same", after he cited investment in the North East during a discussion on Scotland.
In an attempt to burnish his Union credentials, the former Chancellor talked up his passion for Scotland but then pointed to the creation of a Treasury campus at Bishopsgate House in Darlington as an example.
The comments, during a hustings event organised by the Spectator, raised eyebrows and led former Darlington MP and Labour peer Jenny Chapman to say: "It is revealing that everything outside of London and north of Watford is viewed the same".
Asked if he would be spending much time in Scotland if he were to win the Tory leadership race, Mr Sunak said: "Yeah, I think people can already see that I take that seriously.
"I mean, I was the Chancellor who set up the economic campus for the Treasury in Darlington and not only did I set it up, I also spent a lot of time there myself personally, and ensured that all my ministers did."
Ms Chapman, who was formerly Sir Keir Starmer's political adviser, said the comment spoke more broadly to the Government's attitude towards levelling up. She told ChronicleLive: "Their approach to levelling up just isn't delivering and they point to the same projects again, and again and again, as examples of solutions when they're just inadequate."
Coming to your screens: A crime drama about the Duke of York
He's been inspired by classic English crime dramas such as the Agatha Christie adaptations, Midsomer Murders and Jonathan Creek. And film director Dave Thorp says a new TV detective drama set in York could bring in £75m to the local economy by tempting more international visitors to the city.
Mr Thorp, who works for Yorkshire-based Visualize Films, has named the drama The Duke of York Mysteries, as Local Democracy Reporter Joe Cooper writes .
The series will follow the adventures of Sebastian Duke – an English gentleman in the vein of Roger Moore – as he and his companions solve mysteries around the city, with York’s architecture and history centre stage.
“York is the star of the show,” Dave said. “Vikings, Romans, chocolate factories, railways, Guy Fawkes, ghosts and the supernatural. All the things that make York so fascinating, wonderful and unique are featured.”
Based on Oxford Economics research, Mr Thorp said the international exposure could boost York’s £750m annual tourism receipt by 10%. He appeared at a full council meeting to ask councillors for their backing, and said he had received a positive response.
The multi-award winning film maker and cameraman who has worked all over the world, said the team considered changing the name of the series due to sexual abuse allegations surrounding Prince Andrew – which he denies – but decided to keep it. “He doesn’t own that title and in fact it’s a chance for us to claim that title back and give it some decency and honour,” Mr Thorp said.
City watchdog 'failed British Steel pension savers'
MPs today accused the City watchdog of letting down British Steel pension savers who were ripped off by poor advice from companies they thought they could trust.
British Steel, which was bought by leading Chinese multi-industrial company Jingye Group in 2020 and produces 3 million tonnes of quality steel products every year, has its primary steel production site in Scunthorpe and rolling facilities at Skinningrove on Teesside .
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) did not protect the members of the British Steel pension scheme from “unscrupulous financial advisers”, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said.
The pension savers were asked to consider choosing a different arrangement after Tata Steel got into financial difficulty. They were only given a limited time to decide what to do. But by law anyone transferring more than £30,000 out of a scheme has to talk to a financial adviser, who is meant to have their best interests at heart.
But the cases from 2017 cast severe doubt on the intentions of the advisers, and the FCA later found that 46% of the advice had been unsuitable.
As a result, some savers lost thousands of pounds. They were an average of £82,600 worse off, with the biggest loss at £489,000. It was the FCA’s job to regulate these financial advisers but it failed, according to the PAC.
Tory MP blasts attack ads featuring his wife and children
It wasn't hard to notice the bad feeling between the opposition benches as Boris Johnson held his last Prime Minister's Question Time in the Commons yesterday. And the mutual hostility doesn't just cover party leaders, with Northern Tory MPs claiming their personal safety and families have been put at risk by Labour “attack” advertisements.
Alexander Stafford , Conservative MP for Rother Valley in South Yorkshire, told the Commons he has asked Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to formally investigate the party members responsible for them.
Conservative MP Sara Britcliffe also said there was a period of time where she “didn’t feel comfortable” going back to her Hyndburn constituency in Lancashire “for fear of my safety”. Deputy Speaker Dame Eleanor Laing pledged to examine the security matters.
Mr Stafford, raising a point of order, said: “The Rother Valley Labour Party this week has been running paid-for Facebook attack adverts featuring images of my wife and my two children, one of whom is seven-months-old and one of whom is 27-months-old. Images of my young family have also been circulated online in an attack post by a Rotherham Labour councillor.
“Like many MPs in this place, my family and I have faced death threats and threats of violence and the circulation of images on attack posts – including by Rother Valley Labour members, who I had to block previously for harassment – puts the lives of my family at further risk."
It's understood the adverts were not commissioned or approved by Labour HQ and local activists were asked to remove them as soon as party chiefs became aware.
Elsewhere in Parliament, a Yorkshire MP fought back tears as she warned miscarriages are considered taboo and put in the “too-hard-to-deal-with box”.
Labour’s Olivia Blake welcomed moves by the Government to allow parents who have had miscarriages before 24 weeks of pregnancy to record it and receive a certificate to provide recognition of their loss.
But Ms Blake insisted more needs to be done to provide the care required to “rapidly reduce” people having to repeatedly suffer the trauma. The MP for Sheffield Hallam has previously spoken in the Commons about her experience of miscarriage during the pandemic.
Speaking as the Commons considered the women’s health strategy for England , Ms Blake pressed the Government to introduce 24/7 care for everyone and to ensure medical records include details of miscarriage.
She recalled questioning why she had been asked to receive a flu jab and the nurse replying “because you’re pregnant”, with the MP saying the nurse looked down and added: “Oh well, you’re not are you.”
A North East MP yesterday used a Private Members’ Bill to urge the Government to lower the age for automatic pension enrolment and enable young workers to save around £25,000 for retirement.
Introducing his Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Bill to the Commons , Richard Holden said the proposed auto-enrolment changes would transform the lives of “millions of working people”.
The Tory MP for North West Durham explained that at the moment, three quarters of those over the age of 22 are automatically enrolled into a pension scheme and for every 50p, £1 is saved. However, he noted, under the age of 22, that is only 20%.
Sign up to The Northern Agenda
Has a friend forwarded you this edition of The Northern Agenda? You can sign up to receive the latest email newsletter direct to your inbox every weekday by clicking on this link .
Northern Stories
-
Football fans were gripped by England's quarter-final win over Spain last night, but in Rotherham a local councillor has praised the “fantastic number of fans” attending Women’s Euro 22 games in his town. More than 24,000 fans have watched games at the New York Stadium so far, with one quarter final yet to go. David Sheppard, cabinet member for social inclusion at Rotherham council, told a meeting that 8,541 fans attended the France versus Italy game with more than 3,000 people enjoying activities in the fan park on July 10.
-
The Northern Agenda is in the running to be crowned best newsletter at a new award ceremony celebrating the best in online news innovation. Your daily politics newsletter is on the shortlist in Press Gazette's first Future of Media Awards , which highlights great work that signals the way to a sustainable future for quality news content in the digital age. Winners will be announced at a reception directly after Press Gazette’s Future of Media Technology Conference on 21 September.
-
A campaign has been launched to save Bury 's Castle Armoury and keep the historic building open for future generations. Councillors of all parties are asking the Ministry of Defence to provide the money to save the town centre base, which is home to a number of local military units but was closed by its trustees last month due to safety concerns. The move was agreed unanimously last night at a full council meeting, which heard it would cost at least £2 million to carry out urgent repairs to the building and several million more to fully modernise it.
-
The number of Hull children in care is continuing to fall after recently reaching an all-time high, as Angus Young reports for HullLive . Twelve months ago there were 943 youngsters being looked after by Hull City Council after being taken into care. The latest figure for June this year is down to 839. The turnaround comes after a major drive by the council to improve the performance of its childrens' services department following a highly-critical Ofsted report published in 2019.
-
South Yorkshire ’s political leaders are expected to sign-off a bailout package in order to save school bus services across the region. Mayor Oliver Coppard and council leaders will discuss a plan to put aside £5.1 million over the next two-years in order to safeguard children getting to and from school. It comes as massive cuts to the bus network are being drawn up by private operators which begin on July 24 but will sweep across the region by October.
-
High streets in Wallsend, Ashington, and Newcastle’s East End are in line for a multi-million pound transformation . New details have emerged of the areas set to benefit from plans to re-energise struggling shopping areas that have been devastated by the Covid pandemic, the shift to online retail, and the cost of living crisis. The North of Tyne Combined Authority is giving £1.9m each to councils in Northumberland, Newcastle, and North Tyneside to boost towns in need of new investment.
