Is this a case of cash for contracts? That’s what it looks like. It may be that Houchen’s enthusiasm for hiring local firms may be based on something other than local pride. If there is an alternative explanation for the award of these contracts, then Houchen needs to provide it.
Highlights Rural Touring Company puts on a programme of music, theatre and dance in Northumberland, County Durham and Cumbria. How will this change and develop as a result of Covid-19?
In a similar vein displaying political art, music or poetry can grab people’s attention in real life and on social media. Likewise, a lockdown does not prevent us from wearing political messages on our clothes or masks to get the message out. If you are sharing such images or lyrics on social media be sure to tag in your local politicians.
The region is famous for its 1936 Jarrow to London march against unemployment and poverty. Although initially perceived as a failure, in subsequent years, this march was acknowledged by historians as a defining event of that decade.
If you rely on friends and family to look after your children whilst you are at work, you are stuck. If, however, you can afford to pay for a nanny or registered childminder, they may continue looking after your children like they did before.
Billingham Forum plans to go ahead with its panto this year…Cause, you may think, for celebration. A little bit of good news amid the theatrical gloom. ..
Now, perhaps, there are just two classes – the public school, wealthy, grouse shooting, hunting, power-hungry class and their wannabes – and the rest of us, the shopkeepers and civil servants, barristers and baristas, blue-collar workers and teachers, doctors and lawyers et al.
“I come from quite a musical family, I started learning piano aged four and have sung for as long as I can remember. My parents were into a mixed bag of music, so I grew up listening to everything from the Beatles to Grieg. I started off studying classical music, both for piano and voice and then moved towards folk and jazz. I was gigging from the age of 15 and have worked as a professional musician since then. Music has always been an integral part of my life.”
The leader of Newcastle City Council, Nick Forbes said: “The evidence we’ve found from local testing is that it’s spreading in three main areas: in pubs, in people’s homes and in grassroots sports…[council leaders] have put together a series of requests to government for additional restrictions around these areas for a fixed period of time to try to prevent a damaging full lockdown.”
South Tyneside is the local authority in the North East with the highest number of Coronavirus infection cases (per 100,000 population) according to the latest PHE weekly report issued on 11th September
As we pick up the pieces in the wake of coronavirus, it is imperative that we begin a serious conversation about devolving real power and resources to the English regions.
For the time being, however, the concern is more about how the STDC has organised itself, rather than what it is trying to achieve.
What would be the criteria for awarding state aid to a tech firm or a project? Would there be viable tests and assessments? Could more government money be thrown away and wasted? Will we see a mushrooming of dodgy algorithms and apps which do not function properly. Will they invest in the wrong companies again and waste yet more of government funds? Will the state aid land once more in the hands of companies and individuals who are associates of government staff, advisors and donors?
Does Johnson actually speak for ordinary Tories? Does Johnson represent your views? Johnson was elected on the basis of having personally negotiated a ‘fantastic’, ‘oven-ready’ deal with Europe, what happened to it? Is the government so incompetent and negligent it doesn’t read the small print of the international agreements it negotiates? How will you vote tomorrow?
Those were the days when the only heating in the house was the fire – and someone had to clean out the previous day’s ashes before laying and lighting it. And if the only hot water in the house came from the boiler behind the fire, then some poor soul – usually the mother – had to get up before everyone else to get that fire started.
This is the Haymarket, Newcastle. Nowadays it is a metro station at the end of a busy shopping street. As the name suggests this area was for many years the scene of a market selling hay and straw, a reminder of our agricultural past. Long ago but still remembered and timely to do so in […]
If you live in America, to turn the lights on you flick the light-switch up; if you live in England, you push it down. One of the first principles of ergonomics is that is you design things so that they work in the way you expect them to. This is a basic psychological, or cognitive, principle but to achieve it you first have to know what is expected. Detractors say that ergonomics is just applied common sense, and while that is a good description, it also belittles a practice that aims to provide people with what they want, need, and expect.
The great British teenager swap has started: lots of excited young people moving to start their adult lives at university. How do they fit in with the local community?
It was always intended that the community orchard should become an educational resource, both for adults to learn the skills of fruit cultivation, and for school children to experience nature and growth, and for it to be a community resource, for people to share the produce, to enjoy the environment and to have a space for local events
“You are not alone” How do you feel about going back to school? That’s a question mainly for children but also for parents, teachers, carers. It’s been around five months since many of us were at school. You may feel excited, nervous, anxious and a whole range of emotions. Last week the Customs House set […]
Local residents from the North East held a socially distanced protest in Hexham Market Place on Saturday morning. This was joining the other 3.5% events taking place across the country. The 3.5% represents the number of people it takes for peaceful protest to succeed and has quickly taken off as a movement primarily against the […]
In the last week coronavius cases have risen in parts of the North East, putting them into the government’s ‘red zone’ and causing fears over possible new local lockdowns.
“How do you deal with writer’s block?” This question is often asked of authors, screenwriters and playwrights but what exactly is writer’s block? According to Wikipedia. writer’s block is: “a condition… in which an author loses the ability to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown.” I am an author of a published novel, […]
A more questionable donation comes from a company called GBMW Ltd, whose sole director is former Stockton South MP, James Wharton. The issue around Wharton is the prominent place he holds in the recently published report on Russian interference in British politics.
It is a place of contrasts: walking from the 19th century hall towards the medieval castle and 17th century mansion house you will see formal and not so formal gardens, exotic plants, a croquet lawn and a quarry garden, where much of the stone for the hall was quarried. It is truly impressive.
One thing that I’ve found is that the wildlife, birdwatching, and photography communities are all incredibly friendly, willing to talk about what they’ve seen and to give tips; or to leave you be, if you just want some peace and quiet. The North-East really is a spectacular region, and I’m so happy to have made it my home after years down south.
There is that excited buzz that you always get in a theatre before a show. La vie en Rose plays on the sound system which seems strangely appropriate and people settle into their seats to enjoy the show. The difference tonight is that the seating is very spread out: one or two people and then […]
Many of us have had events postponed or cancelled because of the coronavirus. Many more events have been moved online. Now one organisation based in Hexham, Northumberland has come up with a different approach to hosting online events. North East Bylines mentioned this venture as part of an earlier article, and I wanted to know […]
Do you know the story of the man who jumped off the top of the Empire State Building? As he passed open windows on his way down the people in the rooms heard him saying ‘so far, so good’. That story came to mind when I drove along the A69 and came across the ‘Give […]
Democracy is not democracy if the electorate does not have a chance to change its mind. I and many others were denied the opportunity to vote in the 2016 referendum simply because of our age.