It’s the first Wednesday of the month, so it’s the Amy Oakden and Ben Houchen show on BBC Tees. This is the Tees Valley Mayor’s monthly opportunity to defend his record to the public. The Amy and Ben show is a throwback to the great days of the music hall, where Amy is the straight feed, setting up Showman Ben with his quickfire one-liners. Amy starts off by quipping “It’s your slot now, Ben!”. Well, duh. I wouldn’t have opened with it. David Macmillan, BBC North East’s Political reporter, is also on hand to provide research.
Yobs?
Malcolm is on the line from Darlington. He’s fed up with the breakdown in law and order in the town, drug dealers, people on e-bikes, and shoplifting. They’re all getting away with it.
Tough on the causes of crime
The Labour Government is considering abolishing the £300 limit under which shoplifting isn’t prosecuted. Conservative Party member Ben thinks that it’s a good idea but it probably won’t work because the police haven’t got enough resources under a Labour government. He’s never one to miss a trick, and he knows that his keenest supporters have already memory-holed what happened to the police under 14 years of Conservative Party austerity. Ben believes in the “broken windows theory.” Crack down on crime at every level. Mayors don’t have the powers to tackle crime now, but from May 2028 onwards Metro mayors will be handed the powers currently residing with Police and Crime Commissioners. Ben will then be able to tackle this head on. Unless he’s involved in a battle for the leadership of the Conservative Party.
It couldn’t be clearer
Ben tells Amy that there are two types of people. Those who obey the laws, and those that don’t. This is safe territory for rabble-rousing populists such as Ben Houchen; red meat to the Mail Online boomer base. A simple concept, black and white. Us and them. It’s corrosive and ultimately damaging to the country but Houchen doesn’t care. But we know where we stand. And we know exactly the type of ruffians that Ben Houchen is talking about.
Or do we?
Ben’s fans are cheering at the radio. Lock these people up and throw away the key. But what about the people who smoke weed, do the occasional cheeky line, drive while under the influence, regularly break the speed limit, check Instagram while sat at the wheel, pay contractors in cash to dodge VAT, and use dodgy sticks to watch films and Premier League matches for next to nowt. Hang on a second. That’s you and me. We’re the ruffians. We’d better have a re-think.
1984 and all that
.George Orwell had a word for Ben’s cynical caper, doublethink. It’s a brilliant trick get your most gullible fans to think two diametrically opposed things at once and be convinced that both viewpoints are entirely correct. And Ben Houhen has been exploiting it for nearly a decade.
Brother can you spare a dime?
Katrina, another Darlington caller, is worried about drunken people on Duke Street. That’s niche, but Ben knows what’s causing it. The Labour Government has abolished the Vagrancy Act, and it’s causing an increase in homelessness. I’d better fact check this. The law change only came into effect on 29 June 2026. It’s actually sensible legislation to remove a 200-year-old law that wasn’t fit for purpose. The change in the law has been drafted specifically to reduce homelessness, and will probably succeed over the long term. However, it’s way too early to reliably judge the effect one way or the other. But not too early to score political points. Those who know Houchen well, know that he’s a relentless political point scorer who, in the same breath, will accuse his opponents of political point scoring. George Orwell had nothing on Ben Houchen
Train of thought
John from Grosmont wants to know when the sparse level of service on the Esk Valley Railway Line will improve. There are only four trains a day in each direction. Ben says that he’s going to give a typical politician’s answer. What’s new under the sun? He says that the service runs from Darlington to Whitby. Straight away, John begins to doubt Ben’s grasp of transport issues. Trains don’t run from Darlington to Whitby. They run from Darlington to Saltburn. Whitby trains begin their journeys in Middlesbrough.
On the wrong line
For some reason, Ben starts talking about plans to reopen the freight-only Saltburn to Boulby line to passengers. The TVCA has had conversations with the Boulby Mine, which actually owns the line. The company is amenable to fitting passenger trains in between the freight ones. Feasibility studies can be done.
It’s all about priorities
But the cost of reopening the line is an “eye-watering” one, according to Ben. He’s not wrong, it’ll cost about £329mn. There’s no magic money tree in the Tees Valley, except when it comes to running up £155mn public debt on an airport that nobody uses, sinking South Tees Development Corporation £421mn into the red, while its private sector equivalent, Teesworks, pays fat profits to four wealthy property developers, and blowing £250mn to build an estate road through a garden village in Darlington.
Speaking of which
Amy says that Leanne has emailed from Darlington. Ben says that Leanne emails him a lot. Leanne confirmed to North East Bylines that she has NEVER emailed Ben Houchen. Leanne wants to know why Ben didn’t publicise the start of the consultation period for the Darlington Northern Link Road at the end of July. It’s almost as if he’s discouraging Darlington residents from participating in the democratic process. Ben moved swiftly on and said that the TVCA had received hundreds of responses to the consultation. That’s probably because a small band of residents known as ROOTS Darlington did a media blitz, which forced the TVCA to extend the consultation deadline from 25 September to 5 October
Losing count
Ben says that the DNLR has been a top priority for the past five or six years. In fact, nine is the correct number. Houchen launched the first consultation for the DNLR in 2017. He reminded Leanne that the five leaders of the constituent councils of the TVCA had signed off on the project, and they’re all Labour. I tell you what, he hates political point scoring. He reminded Leanne that he’s never said that the road was going to go through Skerningham.
Goldfish memory fail
It’s possible that Ben Houchen forgot what he said to Amy Oakden on this same radio programme in August 2025; “Darlington Council has adopted a masterplan which includes many houses in north Darlington. It actually shows the DNLR running through that development (Skerningham Garden Village), but not through Skerningham Woods”. Phew, not through Skerningham Woods. But through Skerningham itself? That’s a YES. Leanne messaged Amy Oakden to ask her to raise this discrepancy with Ben Houchen. But Amy was enjoying herself too much,
Up the Junction
The options report on the DNLR assessed a number of routes, but some of these were removed in July. These routes included the only one that would actually bypass Darlington, known as Route 1. David Macmillan asked why this was. Houchen replied that Highways England had told the TVCA that the roundabout at Junction 59 of the A1(M), which the DNLR would connect to at the northern end, was problematic. It couldn’t be adapted to fit in another entrance/exit. Building the DNLR to here would be ridiculous, like putting in railway line, but not being able to install a station at the end of it.
Branch line
Who started talking about trains? There’s no such thing as Highways England by the way, Ben; it’s been called National Highways since 2021. But there is a solution to this so-called intractable problem. You can just split Junction 59 into two parts, and the DNLR can fit neatly into place. Civil engineers have already worked on a solution and mapped it out. Here’s a map based on their work.
An inelegant solution
It’s not the most aesthetically pleasing structure, but it works. But according to Ben Houchen “Cost envelope, something, something, something”. The TVCA has belatedly tried to address this issue by asking people to add Route 1 back into the survey by writing it in their comments. Good luck with that. Campaigners against the DNLR have challenged the TVCA, the Department for Transport and National Highways to provide the data supporting the assertion that Junction 59 can’t be realigned.
Boys from the Black Stuff
Eric is on the line from Acklam. “We know each other, Ben”. Fair enough. “What’s happening to our Transporter Bridge?” Middlesbrough’s favourite icon has been rusting away for seven years while politicians haggle over how to repair it. “We’ve allocated £30mn to restore it” crows Ben. That’s odd. He told Any Oakden in September 2025 that it would cost £10mn to £20mn. The budget for a full repair, restoring the bridge to traffic is £67mn. But Ben has got some good news for Eric.
Fiscal devolution
There’ll soon be a magical solution called “fiscal devolution”. From now on, Whitehall will give Ben Houchen’s TVCA a big pot of cash every year, without stipulating how it is spent. So, when it comes to the Transporter Bridge, Ben will be able to spend his £30mn (or £10mn, or £20mn, or whatever), on turning the bridge into a cultural icon, instead of having to actually repair it for traffic use. Cultural icon, you say? I’ve got a bad feeling about this. The last time Houchen was put in charge of a cultural icon was when he commissioned a fake survey on the Dorman Long Tower, removed its Grade II Listed status, and dynamited it out of existence, all in the space of a week.
One born every minute
Amy: “Does this answer your question, Eric”. Eric “Explicitly. Well put.” What? Houchen has literally just sold Eric a bridge, and he doesn’t know it. Anyway, only ten minutes to go; time for some quickfire questions:
Trouble shooter
Margaret from Middlesbrough: “Can we stop vaping in Middlesbrough Bus Station?” Ben has the solution “I’ll get one of my staff to write to the council about it”. Houchen is known as Winston Wolf at the TVCA.
On The Buses
Amy has a message from an unnamed caller worried about the Number 10 buses not showing up on time. Amy then mentions services between Darlington and Northallerton. Someone at the BBC must have transcribed the phone call incorrectly because the Number 10 bus runs from the town centre to the suburb of Whinfield, entirely within Darlington, and has nothing to do with Northallerton. Ben says that the Number 10 isn’t his responsibility because it’s a Stagecoach service. That’s incorrect; the TVCA is responsible for Stagecoach services. But the Number 10 isn’t a Stagecoach service anyway; it’s an Arriva service. The TVCA is responsible for Arriva services too. Top work all around, there.
Meltdown
Ben Houchen is familiar with Arriva issues in the Tees Valley, because these services are currently in meltdown due to lots of drivers quitting when the company abruptly closed its Redcar depot and tried to transfer the drivers to Stockton, way over on the other side of Teesside. But Ben Houchen has probably written to Arriva by now, so everything is fine.
Final caller
Okay, last caller up: Middlesbrough Railway Station is a mess. The platform roofs are falling apart. Load of empty retail units. You can read my report on the state of the station here. Ben explained that the TVCA is about to spend £125mn building a third platform at the station. There’s no point in “tarting it up” if construction contractors are going to make a mess again. Ben Houchen should have told Ben Houchen about this when he spent £35mn on tarting Middlesbrough station up only two years ago. He’ll probably be able to gold-plate the platform roofs this time around.
