What has happened to South Tyneside Council?

Doing things we’ve yearned over for years!

I don’t know what’s going on, South Tyneside’s Labour Party must have had an injection of pragmatism, or they are riding on the crest of a popular wave, or something like that.

Councillors are to be threatened with legal non niceties and even fines for failing to declare pecuniary interests, there has been a reinforcing of older rules about seeking favours or influencing decisions, respect is the flavour of the month, and to really upset any opposition they’ve managed to underspend the budget and put money away for a rainy day!

My head is in a spin, I don’t quite know what to make of it, let’s just hope that they keep it up and manage to keep council taxes at the current level leaving us with some money to spend as consumers trying to reinvigorate our local economy. After all a low taxed borough must surely have a chance of winning over investors and job creators.

However, the biggest shock is this – council and committee meetings taking place on an evening when it is easier for members of the public to attend – this is an outrage! How dare they do what we’ve been wanting for years!

Before you know it they’ll be opening a Facebook page so we can “like” them, or even worse they’ll install a webcam in the council chamber of South Shields Town Hall so we can watch them in action.

This flourishing of populist policy will have to stop I tell you, after all we need something to complain about.

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How to encourage growth

Better cuts and more Keynesian spending programmes says Iain Malcolm

Following this post I posed the following questions to a number of our South Tyneside politicians of ALL parties, including the new “South Tyneside First” group of councillors, I also asked for opinions from some of our local businessmen and nationally recognised prominent bloggers and commentators:

If you were in a position to be advising the Chancellor and the Prime Minister, what would you be telling them about efforts to achieve deficit reduction and balance the budget?

How would you advise them to promote growth in the British economy to increase Treasury revenues?

What steps would you advise taking to help our local authority in South Tyneside promote the right conditions for job creation and improve consumer demand locally?

Sadly, some haven’t even bothered to engage or contribute to the discussion, one decided he could only contribute if I gave him space to openly criticise officers of South Tyneside Council (which was not within the remit of the discussion because officers do not decide upon policies), another said he would contribute but failed to do so. The ONLY local politician who took the time to send some carefully considered comments was Labour’s leader in South Tyneside Cllr. Iain Malcolm, who told me this:

The deficit, caused by the greed of the bankers not the last Labour Government’s spending on infrastructure,  needs to be reduced. However the Tory-led Government are using the deficit as an excuse for making deeply ideological cuts in public expenditure. The Government should be clawing back the unpaid tax by multi-national corporations and taking a leaf out of local government for ways of streamlining their civil service budgets. The Prime Minister has admitted that Councils are the most efficient part of the public sector, so send in the Local Government Association to review Whitehall expenditure with a aim to making drastic savings in their budgets.

But we also need growth in the economy and that means Government spending on economic infrastructure projects, I would rather pay people to work and receive their taxes than pay them for being unemployed. The Chancellor himself is starting to realise his austerity plans are not working and the deficit will need to be reduced over a longer period of time.

The greed of the banks nearly led to a total collapse of the economic system, if Gordon Brown had not stepped in (where other world leaders failed to lead) and reassured the public that their savings, pensions and homes were safe, we would have been in a far grave state than we are today. There would have been public panic (as witnessed over Northern  Rock) on an unprecedented scale with possible social disorder.  Whatever else one feels about our former Prime Minister remember it was his bold leadership that prevented a complete melt-down.

Finally, there needs to be greater regulation of the banking system – the light touch of the former Government (supported by the Conservatives at the time) clearly didn’t work.

It’s a fairly straight down the middle “follow the party line” sort of statement, but it does not show any real vision or initiatives to help the local economy in South Tyneside return to growth. there is no commitment. for example, to retain zero growth in Council Tax rises which would help maintain the little spending power that consumers have right now, and spending power is what lights the blue touch paper of economic growth.

However I’m very grateful and thank him for his participation.

In the table below are the combined thoughts and initiatives of the independents, Conservatives, UKIP, bloggers, and business people.

Not very encouraging is it?

Perhaps this is one part of the explanation as to why we have such a heavily Labour dominated council here.

Update 1

This is from UKIP Cllr. David Potts

It never fails to amaze me that Labour politicians have the sheer nerve to blame the financial sector for the global economic situation. Coun Malcolm states that the crisis has been “caused by the greed of the bankers”. This is a pathetic throw-away comment backed up with zero evidence, and Coun Malcolm is intelligent enough to know this. Gordon Brown sold UK Gold reserves in the $200-300/oz range. Today, it is trading at $1600/oz. The Labour Government spent money like a drunken sailor, and the mantra that they “didn’t fix the roof while the sun was shining” could not be more accurate.

It really annoys me when governments blame the financial sector for operating within the regulatory boundaries that THEY create in the first place.

However, we must move away from national and global issues and focus upon what matters to us as councillors; South Tyneside. The highly respected think tank, IPPR North has warned that the South Tyneside jobless rate is set to skyrocket, particularly among our young people. It is deeply concerning that Coun Malcolm and his £170’000PA Chief Exec, Martin Swales publically comment that it is nothing to do with them and it is ‘all the evil Tory Government’s fault’. That is nonsense. II speak to local business people regularly. I know one energy broker who offered to save the council hundreds of thousands of pounds by switching their suppliers. His exact words were “I tried, but it was pointless, it’s a closed shop”. There is an active movement among the business community in South Tyneside to push ahead an agenda of progress and growth through directly influencing Council policy via peaceful protest and diplomatic pressure.

Now would councillor Malcolm like to tell us how many local firms are involved in the building of our new swimming pool complex? Would he also like to explain why suppliers of materials to South Tyneside Homes were based hundreds of miles away down South?

Look after the people of your Borough first.

Coun Malcolm and Mr Swales take people for fools and playing on this nonsense assertion that they are socialists. If they are socialists, I’m a Dutchman.

Update 2

This from George Smith, President of South Shields Conservative Association.

I asked our Campaign Director (Dorothy) for a brief, but they “don’t do Blogs”.

Sorry about this, according to the Levenson inquiry they do Twitter, a bit too much for me.

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It’s party time!

What is beneath the gloss?

So now that the Diamond Jubilee parties are over and we bask a little longer in the glow, the next party is upon us from tomorrow in the shape of a footballing feast known as the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine. Another few weeks of supermarket prodding will have us overfilled with lager, beer, and frozen pizzas, our homes and cars will be draped with the flag of St. George, the “red tops” will exhort the England football team to glories well beyond their reach (they have only ONCE reached the semi final of this tournament), the new flatscreen TVs will be overheating, and when it all ends……….well there are the Olympics and Paralympics to look forward to in London, along with commercially sponsored torch bearers. One only hopes that South Tyneside Council is NOT tempted to mount the giant screen in the park again, I fear the demand will not be there to sit and watch in a South Shields park!

Of course our politicians will probably be a little more sanguine than myself, especially having invested so heavily in the London Olympics, and I confess most of the Olympian sports hold little interest for me even though there will be some football in Newcastle, but for others this will indeed be a veritable feast of summer sports with Wimbledon and Test Match cricket thrown into the mix. David Cameron and News International will be hoping to share the glory of English and British sportsmen and women as the medal count increases the “feel good” factor and the national index of good cheer. Parliament will be enjoying its long summer break with only the Leveson inquiry interrupting the good news, yet quietly gurgling away beneath the veneer of good cheer and “gloss” will be ……………………the economy.

Let’s not forget, that this is the main event!

After two years of a Conservative led coalition government the track record is not that impressive, the deficit continues to grow (albeit at a slower pace), the national debt is still woefully out of control, borrowing is still at record levels and getting higher, public expenditure is higher now than in the last years of Brown’s disastrous administration, so much for the cuts eh? The slight saving grace is that unemployment has not yet broken past levels which might lead to the sort of civil unrest witnessed in Greece. The Eurozone crisis refuses to go away, banks still appear to need recapitalisng (again) and none of the major European players seem willing to take the bull by the horns and dismantle the single currency. All the while the pan European policy appears to be one of further austerity, less public spending, and increasing taxation, as near every nation in the EU other than Germany slumbers along on virtually zero growth.

Growth? Did I mention growth?

Ah yes, who has the secret elixir which will put more money into the hands of consumers or savers? It is they alone who can provide the demand and stimulus that economies need, and any person in South Tyneside who tells you that they couldn’t use a few extra quid a month is madly deluded. Banks rely on savers to swell deposits, greater deposits create more capital, more capital creates greater liquidity which normally leads to easier lending and investment, yet the current economic cycle has brought us interest rates which creep closer to zero and discourage any saving at all. Similarly current personal and indirect taxation levels do nothing at all to inspire consumer confidence and help us to prioritise our spending on essentials such as mortgages and rents, fuel, and keeping our older cars on the road for even longer. It is almost a pan European deflationary cycle. Our own government is caught up in the very same frame of mind as Labour’s outgoing Chancellor Alistair Darling who was equally determined to reduce the deficit whilst raising taxes and sending out hopeful signals on government expenditure. Neither Labour nor the current coalition appears to have had a “plan B” that might have included some major initiatives to promote economic growth and rekindle consumer demand.

So, sadly, whilst we are in the summer party of love mood we have to remind the politicians that “it’s the economy stupid”, and with that in mind I’ve asked some of our prominent politicians in South Tyneside, along with some business people and other bloggers for their ideas on what we need to do to get our local and national economy on the move. Of course your own ideas are very welcome too.

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So what did the porn star say?

Cllr. Potts’ “personal friend” Mercedes Ashley didn’t seem very aware of who he is!

I was intrigued and curious, after all how many of our South Tyneside councillors count porn stars amongst their “personal friends?

From The Shields Gazette

“I have not encouraged former porn stars to contact my ward colleagues.

“I asked a personal friend, who is a former adult entertainment professional, to e-mail Coun Jeff Milburn congratulating him on his victory.

“I do not in any way judge people by what they do for a living.”

I thought it worthwhile having a little discussion of my own with Cllr. Potts “friend”,  it took a while to track down an email address, but here is the exchange:

Whats his twitter handle?

Love,
Mercedes Ashley
(your adult film star & friend)

WEBSITE & PICS: www.mercedesashley.com 
MY ONLINE PRESENCE: http://itsmyurls.com/mercedesashley
MY E-MAIL/BLACKBERRY: mercedes@mercedesashley.com 
TWITTER: www.twitter.com/mercedesashley 
PRIVATE SESSIONS/FEMM DOMM SESSIONS (L.A./VEGAS ONLY): 877-413-6085 
BACHELOR PARTIES (L.A./VEGAS ONLY): 714-448-8529 
LIVE TECH SUPPORT/PASSWORD HELP: 800-574-4757 
WEBSITE DESIGN: mercedesashleyfx@live.com
WEBSITE DESIGN WEBSITE: www.mercedesashleyfx.com

FYI: All emails are answered by Mercedes Ashley personally. I am my own webmaster.
I am the designer of my own site and I maintain it all myself.

-----Original Message-----
From: Curly <curly.ssh325@blueyonder.co.uk>
Date: Sun, 20 May 2012 09:57:48 
To: <mercedes@mercedesashley.com>
Reply-To: curly.ssh325@blueyonder.co.uk
Subject: David Potts

May I ask how well do you know UK/US foreign exchange dealer and UKIP 
politician David Potts?
He claims you are a personal friend
Have you met him?
Have you spoke with him?
Have you had any contact with him other than via Twitter as one of your 
followers?

Doesn’t look as though she knows him that well at all, cannot even think of his name on Twitter! Neither does it appear that Mercedes is a former porn star, her websites give the appearance of giving very current services and activities.

You have to feel a bit sorry for Conservative councillor Jeff Milburn getting his name dragged into this nonsense, I wonder if he actually received any congratulations from the American Adult Entertainment industry?

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Inflation busting pay rises are bad politics

20% rise for South Tyneside cabinet members described as “slight”

OK, so the full amount in the pot has not changed, but this comment by Cllr. Iain Malcolm the Leader of South Tyneside Council is simply flabbergasting:

Because cabinet members are now expected to attend more meetings, their allowance rises slightly.

Slightly?

In these days where the average lucky employed person has to settle for a rise of 2% or less, and shareholders are at last rebelling against corporate pay rises as large as 4.8%, this award seems designed to cause an uproar with news being revealed just days after a strong election victory.  This is simply bad politics, a faux pas on the level displayed by the coalition government on almost a daily basis.

How on earth Cllr. Malcolm believes this will sit comfortably with the people of South Shields and Jarrow is beyond me, the independent panel appears to have taken some money from the leader of the (heavily defeated) opposition and doled it out to Labour’s favourite sons, I guess they are hoping that this will all be forgotten about over the next two years – the next time any councillors face an election around here.

I will forgive these cabinet members for accepting this grotesque increase in special responsibility allowance only if they can maintain their financial stewardship and deliver NO council tax increases before the next local government election, that will be fair payment for results don’t you think?

 

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South Tyneside First

A new name to get used to.

Initial indications suggest that we ought to start getting used to the name “South Tyneside First” as tentative negotiations between three local opposition councillors proceed steadily towards becoming the “official” opposition to Labour.

Heaven knows how folks like Mr. Ahmed Khan will get along with folks like Jeff Milburn and David Potts. I cannot begin to imagine how they will begin to iron out the “creases” of recent piles of dirty washing! (Unless, of course,  someone is deliberately trying to have a joke at our expense and going to the extent of attempting to mask their identity).

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Post election movements and rumours

South Tyneside to get new opposition grouping?

Hearing some rumours this evening that a tentative deal may have been discussed between Independent Alliance Cllr. Jane Branley, Conservative Cllr. Jeff Milburn, and UKIP Cllr. David Potts to form a new opposition grouping on South Tyneside Council following Labours massive victory last Thursday. Possibly more news to follow after I try to seek confirmation tomorrow.

This could end up as the pottiest post I’ve ever penned, time will tell.

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Former Mayor seeks end to “negative” politics.

John Anglin looking for positive solutions in South Tyneside.

South Tyneside’s former Mayor Cllr. John Anglin won a handsome victory in South Shields last night when he ousted the Deputy Leader of the Independent Alliance Ahmed Khan in the Beacon and Bents ward of South Shields. Returning Labour  Cllr. Anglin gave this reaction to the Corner Shop:

As far as Beacon and Bents is concerned I am delighted that the residents have allowed me to represent them once more and promise that I will concentrate on positives and positive actions that are so necessary in these gloomy times. Enough of the continually negative attitudes. Lets see what can be done to improve our Ward and our town for the wonderful people who live in it.

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Live election blog – South Tyneside

Results as they come in

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Just keeping an eye on the local government elections here in South Tyneside as results are declared in South Shields and Jarrow.

• First off a wrong prediction in the early declarations,  Labour’s Melanie Cartwright has taken Monkton from the Independent Alliance with a majority of 391 (didn’t see that one coming).
• Labour holds Whitburn and Marsden as predicted, Tracey Dixon romped home with more than a thousand votes to spare.
• Labour holds Bede ward in Jarrow, as predicted, welcome to Margaret Peacock.
• Ann Walsh holds Biddick and All Saints with an 877 majority.
• Alan Smith (Labour) defeats the Independent Alliance councillor Geraldine White in Fellgate and Hedworth (another prediction comes right).
• Jim Perry holds Primrose for Labour with a majority of over 1000.
• John McCabe holds Hebburn South for Labour
• Gladys Hobson makes a return to South Tyneside Council as Labour wins in West Park (not looking good for the Progressives).
• Just after midnight and Labour has already picked up an extra three seats on South Tyneside Council.
• At 45.5% Cleadon Village and East Boldon has the highest turnout in the borough again.
• HUGE win for Labour in Beacon and Bents, Ahmed Khan the Independent Alliance defendant has been beaten by former Mayor John Anglin with a good workable majority of 203!
• Joanne Bell holds Boldon Colliery for Labour
• Pat Hay wins Harton for Labour, driving another nail into the Progressive’s coffin.
• Mark Walsh wins another seat for Labour, knocking out Gordin Finch (Independent Alliance) in Horsley Hill, if Westoe falls to Labour this could signal the end of the Alliance.
• Westoe has gone Labour again! They must be jubilant as Sheila Stephenson records a 300 odd majority as the Independent Alliance is reduced to a solitary member. (is that right, just Jane Branley left?)
• Former Conservatice Alex Donaldson (also a former Mayor) holds Cleadon Park for Labour.
• Labour hold both seats in Simonside and Rekendyke
• Just waiting for results in Whiteleas and Cleadon Village now, perhaps they are closer than expected?
• Doreen Purvis eventually wins a seat on the Council as Labour takes Whiteleas from Independent Terry Haram
• Jeff Milburn survives as the only Conservative councillor in South Tyneside holding his seat in Cleadon Village and East Boldon with a majority of only 249.
• Mary Butler has taken Hebburn North for Labour to complete the evening’s bruising for the opposition parties.

South Tyneside Council now comprises 48 Labour members (a huge increase of nine seats) and a paltry six seats for the opposition, the real opposition must now come from within the Labour Party. Looks like my predictions yesterday were not far off the mark.

Biggest sweat must have been on the brow of Alex Donaldson who saw his majority reduced to only 21 as June Elsom came very close to unseating him, in total the Labour Party has won 18 of the 19 seats contested, a pretty formidable victory by any standards!

Conservative Jeff Milburn was unable to attend the count after being badly bitten by a dog during election day, he spent the evening being treated at the hospital.
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South Tyneside goes to the polls today

Local Elections predictions

Along with hundreds of othesr in England and Wales many of our councillors in South Tyneside are facing the voters at the ballot box today. The results expected around midnight will be based largely on Labour’s stewardship of our local economy and its efforts to stay within government spending guidelines in order to keep council taxes frozen, they will also be coloured a little by national political trends which don’t auger well for the two constituent parties of the coalition government.

With only one Conservative councillor, and no Liberal Democratic councillors, after the decision of Joe Abbott to stand as an independent, we shouldn’t expect any miraculous results from the coalition partners around here, but I am predicting that Jeff Milburn will hold his seat in Cleadon Village and East Boldon for the Conservatives, unfortunately for Joe Abbott I’m going to stick my neck out and predict that he may well lose in Hebburn North. The rest of my predictions will not come as any major surprise, I see a victorious night for the Labour Party as the votes are counted in South Shields and Jarrow, the opposition is in for a tough old time! I’m predicting a battering, a hammering, with the Independent Alliance and Progressives almost wiped off the map.

• Beacon and Bents – All eyes will be on this result which could be very close to call, but I’m predicting a Labour win for former Mayor John Anglin .
• Bede – Labour hold
• Biddick and All Saints – Labour hold
• Boldon Colliery – Labour hold
• Cleadon and East Boldon – Conservative hold
• Cleadon Park – Labour hold
• Fellgate and Hedworth – Labour win from Independent Alliance
• Harton – Labour win from Progessive
• Hebburn North – Labour win from Lib/Dem
• Hebburn South – Labour hold.
• Horsley Hill – another one very close to call, Labour win from Independent Alliance
• Monkton – Independent Alliance hold
• Primrose – Labour hold
• Simonside and Rekendyke – Labour to hold two seats following the death of Joan Meeks
• West Park – Labour win from Progressive
• Westoe – Labour win from Independent Alliance (no Branley effect this year)
• Whitburn and Marsden – Labour hold
• Whiteleas – Independent hold, but it could be very tight.

Well, they are my predictions, which would see the Independent Alliance, the Progressives, Lib-Dems, UKIP, and Conservatives fighting to fill the area of an average park bench, if you disagree then please say why.

Remember, you have no right at all to complain about things if you do not take part and use your vote, a map of polling stations is available here, and the full list of candidates is available here.

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