Thursday May 4th 2017 (Election Day, as if you didn’t know) May the Fourth be with you - Chris as Obi-Wan Kenobi @chris4teesmayor
Wednesday May 3rd 2017 “There are now THREE Brexit parties!” (Con, Lab, Ukip) says Independent Redcar & Cleveland councillor Steve Kay. So, if you are concerned about the TERMS under which we will leave the EU in two years’ time, the ONLY party pledged to give the people of the UK a say are the Liberal Democrats. Hard Brexit regardless or the best possible terms? You choose. @chris4teesmayor
Wednesday May 3rd 2017 On the eve of Mayoral and local elections in England, the Liberal Democrats now have their biggest membership ever, beating the record of 101,768 set in 1994. The announcement of a snap general election two weeks ago prompted more than 14,000 people to join the party, including 1,000 new members who signed up within an hour of Theresa May’s shock announcement. More than 50,000 members have joined since last year’s European referendum, and nearly 70,000 since the 2015 general election @chris4teesmayor
Tuesday May 2nd 2017 Shome mishtake shurely? Tyne Tees television is unsure about gender - or party? @chris4teesmayor
Tuesday May 2nd 2017 This is the real me! @chris4teesmayor
Tuesday May 2nd 2017 Tyne Tees television tries a new format for Mayoral Question Time - one on one! @chris4teesmayor
Tuesday May 2nd 2017 The vital air pollution report the government tried to delay will be published on May 9th. Last week the High Court rejected the government’s case that issuing the report would breach ‘purdah’ rules which bar public bodies from making politically-sensitive statements in the lead-up to an election. The court ruled that purdah was only a convention and did not override legal objections to clean up the air. In any case, the impact ion public health - urgent action being needed - exempt it from purdah rules. The report outlines draft guidelines to tackle illegal levels of poisonous nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution, mainly caused by road traffic. Around 40,000 people a year are estimated to die prematurely because of poor air quality. This is one of the jobs I will tackle if elected Tees Valley Mayor on Thursday. Tees Valley has a ‘poor’ ranking both for air quality and water quality. @chris4teesmayor
Tuesday May 2nd 2017 Being interviewed by Ellie Kumar of Middlesbrough-based TFM Radio (I worked for this station for many years as a freelance, news and sport, when it was Radio Tees). Listen out for me on TFM tomorrow (Wed) in one of their news bulletins on the hour. See me on Tyne Tees TV TONIGHT (Tues) 6pm. @chris4teesmayor
Tuesday May 2nd 2017 No doubt my political opponents will make fun of me walking “blind” but this is a serious issue that I wanted to get across @chris4teesmayor
Monday May 1st 2017 Ignorance or arrogance? Tory Mayoral candidate Ben Houchen claims in his latest missive that “only by voting for Ben Houchen can we secure the future of our airport by bringing it back into public ownership”. Buying the airport (and its £2m a year losses) is NOT the “only” solution: my preferred route is a public-private partnership. My five-point plan: 1. Rescind planning permission for 350 houses next to main terminal. 2. Set up Mayoral Development Agency to develop the Airport in partnership with private enterprise. 3. Tell owners Peel Airports to choose between putting money into airport expansion or selling to a public/private partnership. 4. Experienced professionals to run the Airport, not civil servants or council officers. 5. Increase numbers of trains calling at the Airport and move the station closer to the main terminal. @chris4teesmayor
Monday May 1st 2017 Labour members not voting for Jeffrey (FIVE comments on Facebook today): “I won't be voting for Sue Jeffrey and I'm a Labour Party member”; “She's also lost my vote over the underhanded way she has treated Teesside Airport”; “It chokes me to say it but I’m in the same boat” “Ditto”; “(Chris Foote Wood) will be getting my vote”. @chris4teesmayor
Sunday April 30th 2017 Amazingly similar letters have appeared in the local press over the weekend, claiming that Tory Mayoral candidate Ben Houchen is “the only candidate” interested in saving Durham Tees Valley Airport, a central part of my campaign from the start. I have put forward a five-point plan which I will implement if elected as our first Metro Mayor on May 4th: 1. Rescind planning permission for 350 houses next to main terminal. 2. Set up Mayoral Development Agency to develop the Airport in partnership with private enterprise. 3. Tell owners Peel Airports to choose between putting money into airport expansion or selling to a public/private partnership. 4. Experienced professionals to run the Airport, not civil servants or council officers. 5. Increase numbers of trains calling at the Airport and move the station closer to the main terminal. To simply “buy back” the airport as it stands, as Houchen proposes, would mean taking on its £2m a year losses which would have to be met by local council tax payers. And who would run it - local council officials? I have already made a formal application to the Secretary of State to rescind the planning permission for 350 houses which would prevent future expansion of the airport. I was the only mayoral candidate to attend the Save Our Airport committee meeting in Darlington last month. Houchen and Labour candidate Sue Jeffrey refused to join. Ukip’s John Tennant didn’t turn up. Only one candidate interested? @chris4teesmayor
Sunday April 30th 2017 Screen shots from this morning’s BBC1 Sunday Politics. @chris4teesmayor
Sunday April 30th 2017 Screen shot from this morning’s BBC1 Sunday Politics. Ukip’s John Tait says he’s all in favour of a METRO but is totally against a BRIDGE!!! Without the bridge, there can be no Metro which is a RAIL LOOP - clearly a concept too difficult for Tait to understand. @chris4teesmayor
Sunday April 30th 2017 Screen shot from this morning’s BBC1 Sunday Politics. No progress on SSI steelworks site, a dereliction of duty by Labour’s Sue Jeffrey who has achieved nothing as Council Leader but promises to “sort it” if elected as Mayor! @chris4teesmayor
Sunday April 30th 2017 Screen shot from this morning’s BBC1 Sunday Politics. Labour’s Sue Jeffrey still in denial about her role in the planning application for 350 houses next to the terminal (passed by Labour-controlled Darlington Council) which will ruin the chances of Durham Tees Valley Airport expanding, something she claims to want! Jeffrey is on the Airport Board and on the board of the Combined Authority, a clear conflict of interest. She should resign from one or the other. @chris4teesmayor
Friday April 28th 2017 After trying the blind walk test, I am more convinced than ever that much more could be done to make our streets and pavements user-friendly for blind and party-sighted people. I am fortunate to enjoy good eyesight, but there are many people who do not. They are entitled to the same opportunities to walk freely and to travel on buses, trains and taxis as anyone else. I have a bus pass and I often travel on buses and trains. Especially for older people, it is a great boon to be able travel on public transport and it is hugely beneficial to health and wellbeing. But if you find it difficult or impossible to get on and off a bus, train or taxi, you miss out. That’s why I am fully behind the Guide Dogs Campaign for better and easier access, including improvements to roads and pavements. If elected Mayor I will give a very high priority to ensuring that all new developments are designed to allow access for anyone with poor eyesight or none or who has mobility and access issues. Assisted by three members of Guide Dogs North East & Cumbria, for a brief time I experienced just what it is like to be a blind or partially sighted person, first with a blindfold and then with glasses limiting me to tunnel vision. When I did the blindfold walk on my own with a white stick, it was scary and challenging, but also very interesting. My son Nick was in a wheelchair for ten years after suffering a devastating stroke before he sadly died aged 48. Having a family member with restricted mobility brought it home to me just how difficult life can be for wheelchair users. Blind and partially-sighted people have similar problems, yet so much can be done by simple improvements. We should design and build for all our citizens: no-one should be left out because they lack the mobility most of us take for granted. I learned a lot on the day, and it was lovely to meet guide dog Zoe. The main issues of the Guide Dogs Campaign, which I fully support, are: Talking Buses: Every bus should be equipped with audio-visual announcements to allow blind and partially sighted people to use public transport independently and with confidence. Access All Areas: Taxi drivers should be required to take disability equality training to stop discrimination against assistance dog owners. Streets Ahead: Local councils should be given additional powers to tackle unsafe pavement parking and ensure streets are accessible for people with sight loss! @chris4teesmayor
Friday April 28th 2017 Some 13,500 postal votes received so far for Tees Valley Mayor, 40% of those registered. Maybe the overall vote on May 4th will be more than the anticipated 20%. We shall see! @chris4teesmayor
Wednesday April 26th 2017 Darlington’s Labour MP wants to turn our much-loved library into an Arts Centre(!) Excuse me, but didn’t the (Labour controlled) council close our much-loved and well-used Arts Centre? Something wrong here, methinks? @chris4teesmayor
Wednesday April 26th 2017 Westminster councillor (yes, the one who lives and works in London) adopted as Tory candidate for Darlington. Makes a change from local Tories going south to find a safe seat. @chris4teesmayor
Wednesday April 26th 2017 It’s my ambition to lead the Tees Valley Combined Authority as an ALL-PARTY body. With five of the six members already Labour, electing a Labour Mayor would make Tees Valley a ONE-PARTY STATE. WATCH my 1min 48sec video my vision as Tees Valley Mayor https://youtu.be/uuI624QyLPI @chris4teesmayor
Wednesday April 26th 2017 LibDem mayor odds tumble - it’s a three-horse race! The odds on LibDem candidate Chris Foote Wood being elected the first Tees Valley Mayor have tumbled. After starting out as a 33/1 outsider, the odds on Chris Foote Wood winning are now 6/1. The odds on Labour’s Sue Jeffrey have shortened from 10/1 on to 5/4 on, with Tory Ben Houchen at 5/4 against. Ukip’s John Tennant is now the outsider at 25/1 against. Tennant has said that if he is elected mayor he will hold a referendum and will resign if there is a ‘No’ vote. Tennant has put himself out of the running. ‘Vote for me and I’ll resign’ is the worst election slogan I have ever come across. He is simply not a credible candidate. I used to bet on the horses and I also know something about politics, and I am not surprised my odds have fallen dramatically. Ladbrokes at first made the mistake of basing their odds on what happened in 2015 when our party took a hammering. No bookie or punter would calculate odds on form two years old. Since then we have made a remarkable recovery, rising steadily in the opinion polls. In the last 15 months, the LIbDems have made more gains in local council by-elections than all the other parties put together. Since the general election was called last week, we have gained over 10,000 new members including many in the Tees Valley. With Labour in disarray and Ukip in decline, I believe I have every chance of becoming mayor. All voters have two votes, first and second preference. I am sure that none of the four candidates will get 50% of the first preference votes, so second preferences will be counted. If I can come second on the first count, as I did in Middlesbrough in 2010, then with the second votes added I can win. The majority of Tees Valley voters do not want a Labour mayor. @chris4teesmayor
Tuesday April 25th 2017 Ukip’s North East chairman Steve Turner, a Redcar councillor, has defected to the Tories. He said that Ukip had “lost its way”, had failed to attract new people and has “little to offer”. Ukip’s only MP Douglas Carswell has quit. Former Ukip MP Mark Reckless also resigned from the party this month to join the Tory group on the Welsh Assembly as an “independent”. John Tennant, Ukip’s candidate for Mayor of Tees Valley says that if he is elected he will resign if the (very expensive) referendum he want votes “No”. But what is the point of Ukip anyway? It has achieved its one and only objective, to get Britain out of the EU and has nothing more to offer.
Monday April 24th 2017 10,000 new members have signed up to join the LibDems since PM Theresa May announced she was going for a snap general election last week. We are now approaching the 100,000 mark and will soon have our BIGGEST MEMBERSHIP EVER! @chris4teesmayor
Monday April 24th 2017 My shame revealed! I scored only three and a half on BBC TV’s Mayoral Mastermind tonight (passed on eight!). Some of the answers I did know but couldn’t think of them fast enough. Richard Moss the interlocutor. @chris4teesmayor
Monday April 24th 2017 Shown round the 4,000 acres of Teesport by PD Ports CEO Frans Caljé - a great privilege and a real eye-opener. @chris4teesmayor
Sunday April 23rd 2017 A North East Labour MP has admitted that Labour will not win the general election. In an interview on ITV, when asked if Jeremy Corbyn was “a prime minister”, Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman (I came 2nd to her in 2005) said: “I don’t think that this election is about changing the government. I think this election is about preventing the Tories from getting such an overwhelming majority that there is no possibility of dissent in this country.” Goodman’s concession that Labour will not win on June 8 came as Corbyn made the first major speech of the campaign.
Saturday April 22nd 2017 Great performance by Louis Spence Acklam Park OM “They are killing off our Airport and no-one seems to care” (although some of us do!) @chris4teesmayor WATCH VIDEO https://youtu.be/xWI0gVoHQQ0
Saturday April 22nd 2017 Tees Valley body should be “All Party” not a “One Party State”. Speaking at a rally of LibDem members in Middlesbrough last night to formally launch my campaign, I said: “The Mayor will not be and must not be a one-man band. The job of the Mayor is to chair the Combined Authority on an impartial and non-partisan basis. There’s an important point here. Five of the six members of the Combined Authority are the five Labour council leaders. If the Mayor is also Labour, Tees Valley will be a one-party state. It’s my ambition to lead the Combined Authority as an all-party body. As Leader of Wear Valley Council, when I led a delegation to Westminster I always included members of the opposition. It is far more effective to represent yourselves to government, to business and to the world as an all-party body, representing the whole of the Tees Valley and not just in the narrow interests of one political party. With co-operation and partnership with other bodies such as Tees Valley Unlimited, as Mayor I will see to it that everything government promised in the Tees Valley Devolution Agreement is implemented in full and in timely fashion. And that, I promise you, will mean prosperity, thousands of new jobs and a better future for our children and grandchildren.” @chris4teesmayor WATCH VDEO: https://youtu.be/uuI624QyLPI
Friday April 21st 2017 Verdict: “You won the debate, Chris” Mayoral Question Time BBC1 last night. Well, I enjoyed it anyway. Kept in order (just) by Richard Moss, a first class chairman. LibDem members in the audience played a big part, asking pointed questions and giving me great support - many thanks! Now we have our Campaign Launch tonight, then on the victory on May 4th! @chris4teesmayor
Thursday April 20th 2017 Advert: “All Bills Included Furnished Room Good Condition Seven Sisters Victoria Wood Green Piccadilly Lines Tottenham, London £120.00pw” “All Bills Included” sounds like a sketch by my late sister Victoria who died a year ago today. And she’s had a Green named after her, apparently? @chris4teesmayor
Thursday April 20th 2017 We have lift off! “The Liberal Democrats gained 8,000 new members in the two days since Theresa May called a snap election. This increase in members is the fastest rise of new membership in the party’s history. The party now has over 95,000 members, more than double what it was at the time of the last general election”. I don’t usually repeat a press release from Party HQ, but I could not have put it better myself. @chris4teesmayor
Thursday April 20th 2017 Watch me on TV tonight (Thurs) 10.45 BBC1 MAYORAL DEBATE recorded this afternoon. Slight butterflies here, folks, so many people decide how to vote through what they see on the telly. Note: John Tait (North East Party) has dropped out. @chris4teesmayor
Thursday April 20th 2017 Here we go again with FAKE NEWS from the Tories. It worked for them in 2015, so why not try it again? @chris4teesmayor
Wednesday April 19th 2017 Sue overshadowed by Chris. My Northern Echo on-line ad not only towers above my Labour opponent Sue Jeffrey, it surrounds her on both sides as well! Her story about City of Culture is TWO YEARS OLD! Sue and the other four Labour Tees Valley leaders proposed this in 2015, but have done and said NOTHING since then. Less than three weeks before polling day, Sue suddenly thought this up. Has she forgotten? @chris4teesmayor
Wednesday April 19th 2017 Here’s my Postal Vote. Yes, I AM going to add my 2nd preference. NO, I’m not going to tell you who it is, @chris4teesmayor
See my great on-line ad on the Northern Echo website @chris4teesmayor
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/local/teesvalley/
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/local/teesvalley/
Wednesday April 19th 2017 Genuine email for a new LibDem voter: Hello, thank you for your reply I am very interested in your plans and although I have never voted any Liberal Democrats in the past I can inform you that you have my vote. Until reading what you hope to do I was not going to vote in this election. The Hyperloop sounds amazing and very ambitious. It is really refreshing to hear about ideas like yours and I hope you win this election. I have also decided that in the general election I will be voting the Liberal Democrats, I feel that the country needs a fresh approach from people with new and initiative ideas. @chris4teesmayor
Wednesday April 19th 2017 Labour is misleading voters over new voting system for Tees Valley Mayor. The latest Labour leaflet, supposedly telling people how to vote, shows two ‘x’es next to Sue Jeffrey’s name. This is grossly misleading in that it implies that you can vote twice for the same candidate - you can’t. Every voter has two votes, first and second preference, but to count they must be for two different candidates. Anyone who gives two votes to the same candidate is wasting their second vote. The first will count, but not the second. This is a deliberate attempt by Labour to confuse the electorate and prevent them using their second preference votes which would almost certainly result in a Labour defeat. If no candidate gets 50% of the first preference votes, the bottom two candidates will be eliminated and their second preference votes added to the top two remaining candidates to produce a winner. I am absolutely certain that this is what will happen. There is no way Labour will get half the first preference votes. In the last election for Middlesbrough mayor, the Labour candidate got only a third of first preference votes. Therefore there will be a run-off which Labour will lose - provided people use their second preference votes correctly. Labour is reacting to what I say in my leaflets: ‘to defeat Labour, give your first and second preference votes to two of the other three candidates. Labour is misleading people by deliberately confusing them. @chris4teesmayor
Tuesday April 18th 2017 “WHAT? Another election? ALREADY?” reaction of a typical voter on TV when told of the impending general election, TWO YEARS after the last one. Apparently, voting once in two years is far too much for the average citizen - much too tiring. @chris4teesmayor
Tuesday April 18th 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May has “bottled it” for refusing to take part in a TV debate prior to the general election on June 8th and should be “empty chaired”, says LibDem leader Tim Farron. @chris4teesmayor
Tuesday April 18th 2017 I welcome the early general election. Within an hour of prime minister Theresa May calling for a snap general election on June 8, we gained over 1,000 new members. I agree with LibDem Leader Tim Farron who said that we are the only party who can prevent the Tories gaining a majority in parliament. We need a strong, coherent and effective opposition, and the Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn is incapable of providing that. The majority of people in this country do not want a hard Brexit, they want the UK to stay in the single market and we will be campaigning for that. My late wife Frances and I helped Tim, then aged 21, stand in his first parliamentary election in North West Durham in 1992, with Theresa May as the Conservative candidate. We always thought he would he would lead our party one day. Tim has proved an outstanding leader and I am absolutely certain he will head a much bigger parliamentary party after June 8. And we have every hope of winning the Manchester Gorton by-election on May 4, as well as the Mayoral election here in the Tees Valley the same day. @chris4teesmayor
Monday April 17th 2017 SEE ME ON TV TONIGHT (Mon April 17th) BBC1 6.30pm, interview and Mayoral Mastermind with Richard Moss. Also, see Mayoral TV debate this Thursday April 20th BBC1 10.45pm @chris4teesmayor
Monday April 17th 2017 Airport can fly: my letter to the Northern Echo. Paul McGee seems to contradict himself over the future of Durham Tees Valley Airport (HAS April 17). On the one hand he says that DTVA ‘will never fly’ while at the same time promoting a Tees Valley Aerotroplis which includes an airport. However, his idea of a multi- intermodal free trade zone with sea, road, rail and air access is a good one. Any good idea is worth considering, but right now urgent action is needed to stop 350 houses being built next to the DTVA terminal which would prevent future expansion of our airport. That’s why, when Darlington council stupidly gave planning permission for these houses, I immediately made a formal request to Secretary of State Sajid Javid to rescind (ie cancel) this idiotic plan ‘in the wider public interest’. He alone has the power to do that. Chris Foote Wood Lib Dem candidate for Tees Valley Mayor Darlington @chris4teesmayor
Monday April 17th 2017 The LibDem surge continues ever upwards! Respected pollsters Thresher & Rawlings predict we will poll 22% across the UK on May 4th, with over 100 gains. Labour is predicted to lose 100+ councillors and Ukip 50+. LibDem Jackie Pearcey (a good friend of mine) is set fair to score a sensational by-election win in the previously safe Labour seat of Manchester Gorton. And, yes, we CAN win the Tees Valley Mayoral election thanks to voters having TWO VOTES, 1st and 2nd preference. In the 2015 election for Mayor of Middlesbrough, Labour polled only 33% of 1st preference votes. I was second to Labour in Middlesbrough in 2010. Repeat those results, and I will win! @chris4teesmayor Pic: me and Jackie at York conference last month
Saturday April 15th 2017 Anonymous Troll wrote: “The idea of building an ‘Iconic Superbridge’ is not only idiotic and wasteful of funds, it beggers belief when you are not able to correctly spell Sydney.” Anonymous Troll was correct about the bridge in Australia: it should be “Sydney” not “Sidney”. My mistake, I failed to spot a typo. But Anonymous Troll should know the phrase is “beggars belief” not “beggers belief”. Pot, kettle perhaps or Matthew 7:5 & Luke 6:42 “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye”. @chris4teesmayor
Saturday April 15th 2017) It takes a lot for the “Tory Times” to admit that there is a LIB-DEM SURGE, and it’s true! Up to 20% in the opinion polls and now set fair to WIN the Manchester Gorton by-election. My very good friend Jackie Pearcey will make a TERRIFIC MP I promise you. And I will be a GREAT Mayor of Tees Valley, I also promise you. (I’m not a modest man, but I know my own worth). “If you dern’t blow yer owwen trumpet, me laad, nobbody else’ll blow it for ye” (Grandad Wood, born Oldham 1888) @chris4teesmayor
Saturday April 15th 2017 Prime minister Theresa May sets a good example to her wobbling, high-heel wearing female ministers with a stout pair of hiking boots (not trainers, you stupid journos - PM loves walking) while marshalling at the Maidenhead annual ten mile road race on Good Friday. “Marshal May” - that sounds good, think of Marshal Stalin, otherwise known as Uncle Joe. Time to ditch those ridiculous “kitten heels” methinks! @chris4teesmayor
Saturday April 15th 2017 Official booklet has just landed on my doormat. My 2 pages are first of the four candidates’, after coming FIRST in the ballot (is this an omen or what?). Most important Page Five “Voting”. You have TWO VOTES 1st & 2nd preference. Labour might get 40% 1st prefs, so 2nd prefs WILL BE ADDED to the top two. To beat Labour, vote for TWO OF THE THREE other candidates (CFW 1st of course) and WE WILL WIN! Spread the word! @chris4teesmayor
Saturday April 15th 2017 “Corbyn lost us election” says Labour MP. Labour’s defeat in Coulby Newham is their first ever loss to the Tories in this ward. “We lost due to Jeremy Corbyn’s name being mentioned on the doorstep as the reason why residents were not voting Labour” said Tom Blenkinsop, Labour MP for Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland. And THAT’S why we will win the election for Tees Valley Mayor on May 4th (Tories won’t win this one) @chris4teesmayor
Saturday April 15th 2017 Great news that Communities Secretary Sajid David will ensure that our wonderful Saturday morning 5k PARK RUNS remain free. This will stop local councils charging for these events with their huge health and social benefits. Park Runs encourage people to run regularly. Everyone gets their time, giving great competition in your age group (if you want it) and an incentive to improve. Visit your local park at 9am on a Saturday and you will see hundreds of people of all ages enjoying themselves in pleasant, safe surroundings. Park Runs are superbly organised and run (sorry about the pun) by volunteers. Umbrella organisation Parkrun UK is a not-for-profit company. Living in Middlesbrough, I was a regular Albert Park runner and usually topped my age group. Now unable to run due to my dodgy knees, how I miss it! (me in my GB top) @chris4teesmayor
Friday April 14th 2017 “Running extends live by three years” Times today) What, only three years? After running numerous marathons and half marathons (including the Great North Run 25 times) and lots of other races, plus all the training, I reckon I’m due at least an extra ten years. Doing a relatively modest 40 miles a week, I’d run about three times around the Earth when I had to give up at 70 due to wear and tear on the knees. Thing is, when do my extra years start? Not just yet, please! @chris4teesmayor
Friday April 14th 2017 Birds clean their beaks on my garden wall, producing these lovely flowers growing over the pavement.
- Thursday April 13th 2017 There’s good news and bad news for Tees Valley on a new green index. Among the six City Regions electing a “Metro Mayor” on May 4th, we are BEST for ELECTRIC VEHICLE charging points and second best for CLEAN ENERGY (21% - very good!) but WORST for WATER QUALITY (44% ‘bad’ or ‘poor’) and AIR QUALITY, breaching limits for the toxic gas NO2 (nitrogen dioxide, mainly from road traffic). I welcome this report by the Green Alliance - it shows how far we still have to go - and as Mayor I will work with them and use my powers to take practical steps to improve all our green indices @chris4teesmayor
Thursday April 13th 2017 I’ve signed the School Cuts Petition: “We call on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to: 1. Commit to the additional funding needed to implement a national funding formula which increases funding for schools and academies in comparatively poorly funded areas of England without cutting funding per pupil for other schools Including by: 2. Funding schools for the higher National Insurance and employers pension contributions which are costing almost £1 billion per year. 3. Protecting funding per pupil overall in real terms for the remainder of this Parliament. 4. Reversing the 75% cut to the Education Services Grant. We also call on the Government to take action to ensure fair funding for SEN/high needs and early years pupils; restore post 16 funding to previous levels; and address the funding gap between England and Wales”. @chris4teesmayor
Thursday April 13th 2017 UKIP CONTRADICTIONS Ukip’s Redcar chairman Chris Gallagher (Mail April 11) criticises all four candidates for Tees Valley Mayor as “sadly,,,are all politicians” - including his own candidate, Hartlepool councillor John Tennant! While the other three candidates are councillors, I am not. I was a councillor for 40 years and six years as council leader, but even as leader my top “pay” was £2,400 a year - less than £50 a week - scarcely a full-time wage. I can assure Mr Gallagher that I do have the “drive and vision” he requires of our new Mayor. And, contrary to Mr Tennant’s jibes (Mail April 11) I am not a professional politician, nor a bureaucrat, nor is it a “career move” for me. It will be my last full-time job. Unlike Mr Tennant who will resign if elected, I am keen to take on this new role. I have the experience, the drive and determination to make sure all the opportunities open to us under the “Devo Deal” are used to the full, improving our transport infrastructure and creating thousands of new jobs as well as improving education and training. If elected, I will give up all my current work and do the Mayor’s job 100%. I will give back half the £35,000 salary to the people of the Tees Valley via a local charity or trust.
Wednesday April 12th 2017 Save Our Airport. All four candidates for Tees Valley Mayor were invited to a meeting in Darlington yesterday to discuss the future of Durham Tees Valley Airport. Only one turned up: LibDems 1, Labour 0 Tory 0 Ukip 0. And the meeting was called by Darlington Ukip secretary Kevin Brack! @chris4teesmayor
Tuesday April 11th 2017 “Candidate voices airport concerns” (Northern Echo today). Ukip candidate John Tennant - the man who doesn’t want the job and will resign if he is elected - has outlined his plan to save Durham Tees Valley Airport from closure. He says (and I quote) “he intends to DISCUSS THE PLANS with Darlington Borough Council” (!) This despite the fact that the council has ALREADY PASSED plans to build 350 homes next to the airport terminal, thus preventing the future expansion necessary to save the airport from its impending closure. Sorry, John, you are trying to close the gate long after the horse has bolted. And talking with councillors who have already made their decision is a waste of time, will not save our airport and scarcely amounts to the action needed from a Metro Mayor with considerable powers. As LibDem candidate for Tees Valley Mayor, I have already taken action over this ridiculous and damaging decision by Darlington council. I immediately sent a formal request to Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, asking him to use his powers under Section 100 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to revoke the planning permission given by the council. He needs to do this before work starts and so prevents his intervention. I am absolutely confident that this case falls within the very narrow limits of his powers, on the grounds that (as it states in the Act) ‘damage is likely to be done to the wider public interest’. It is clearly ‘in the wider public interest’ for the Tees Valley, which includes the Borough of Darlington, that the airport should be expanded. Under the Tees Valley Devolution Agreement, substantial new powers and additional money will come to the Tees Valley. The resulting increased economic activity and improved road and rail links will undoubtedly mean increased traffic for the airport. This new housing will inhibit expansion and will damage the overall plans we all have for the Tees Valley. As Mayor I will set up a Development Agency to take over the airport and run it as a public/private partnership. @chris4teesmayor
Monday April 10th 2017 On going round my local supermarket this morning, I heard a succession of violent, racking sneezes, about 30 seconds apart. The source was a manager of some sort, going round with his machine, checking the shelves. “Use a hankie” I told him, to which he replied “I’m doing it in my hand, sir”. “Oh yes, and what are you touching?” I asked, but he had no reply. “Coughs and sneezes spread diseases” they say - true.
Sunday April 9th 2017 Use both your two votes to defeat Labour! East Cleveland Independent councillor Steve Kay says “The Tory government has handed local control, together with local cash, to the disciples of Jeremy Corbyn” (Gazette April 8). With five Labour members of the Tees Valley Combined Authority already in place, why should anybody want a sixth Labour councillor as Mayor? All that is needed to avoid a Labour monopoly and a “Corbyn takeover” is for people to use their first and second preference votes for two of the three other candidates, including myself of course! @chris4teesmayor
Friday April 7th 2017 Tory Ben might vote for me! Yesterday I received this most extraordinary email message from Tory Mayoral candidate Ben Houchen: “Dear Chris Foote Wood, Thank you for supporting #Space4Cycling! Over the next ten years, the Tees Valley Combined Authority plans to create 25,000 new jobs and build 22,000 new homes. Such bold ambitions require a modern and efficient transport system. Cycling should be at the centre of any improvements, which is why Cycling UK and local residents are calling on you to devise a strategic Tees Valley-wide network of cycle routes to make cycling the easy, natural choice for short journeys or for parts of a longer journey. I am pleased to hear I can count on your support for this initiative. I will consider your views when I head to the polls on 4 May. Kind regards, Ben Houchen 48 Canon Grove TS159XE”. While it is pleasing to have the Conservative candidate’s assurance that he will consider my views when he heads to the polls, it seems to me that he has got hold of a private email list and he is using it for his own party political advantage. If so, I object very strongly to this practice, and I would like to know if he has been given permission to do this which appears to be in breach of the Data Protection Act 1998. I have contacting space4cycling and I am waiting for a reply. I am a keen cyclise and I support space4cycling and other initiatives to encourage people to cycle more, but it cannot be right for Ben Houchen to obtain and use this information for his own political advantage. At the very least he should declare his position as a candidate for Tees Valley Mayor. @chris4teesmayor
Friday April 7th 2017 Support for WEA (Workers’ Educational Association) I have signed up to the WEA Page “Adult Learning Counts” and their Adult Learning Pledge as they coincide exactly with my own long-held beliefs. In my dealings with WEA lecturers over the years, I have always found them sincere and committed, and I have a great respect for your organisation. We should never stop learning! Of course lifelong learning can and does help raise productivity and employment: equally important to me is the benefit to the individual, improving their quality of life and enhancing self-worth. If elected as Mayor I will be responsible for heading a comprehensive review of education, skills and employment in the Tees Valley. Clearly this will require input from all interested parties. Likewise, implementing any proposed changes will need co-operation and decisions by government, local authorities and education providers. If I am elected, I would immediately start this review and would very much welcome your input. Let’s be clear, the Mayor will NOT control or run education. There is the possibility of additional funding for education, but that would have to be balanced with available funding and other requirements such as infrastructure and so on. @chris4teesmayor
Friday April 7th 2017 Standing for a job he doesn’t want. Ukip mayoral candidate John Tennant has lost all credibility by saying he wants to abolish the job he is standing for (“Give me the job I want to axe” Northern Echo today). If elected, Tennant would immediately call for a referendum which would cost just as much again as the election for Tees Valley Mayor on May 4, plus the cost of large numbers of Combined Authority staff sitting round doing nothing for at least two months. And if Tennant gets his way and there is a ‘No’ vote, the whole exercise will have to be abandoned, wasting yet more public money on what the Combined Authority has done since being set up a year ago. We would also lose the chance to run our own affairs by refusing the additional powers and money on offer from the government. When Hartlepool council had a vote on having a Tees Valley Mayor, Tennant and his Ukip pals abstained, afraid to commit themselves either way. But what is now the point of Ukip anyway? Formed with the sole objective of getting the UK to quit the EU, they have achieved their one and only aim. Unlike Labour, Tories and Ukip, we LibDems have always supported devolution of powers and money from central government to locally elected representatives. Now I ask for the chance to put into practice something I genuinely believe in. @chris4teesmayor
Thursday April 6th 2017 What is the point of Ukip? Ukip’s candidate for Tees Valley Mayor says that if elected he will hold a referendum, and if the public vote “No” he will quit and the whole exercise will be abandoned. If so, we would lose a great opportunity for the whole of the Tees Valley to forge ahead with new powers and additional money offered by the government under the “Devo Deal”. We would get nothing and fall further behind Manchester, Liverpool and the West Midlands who are taking full advantage of having a Metro Mayor. The question is, why on earth is Ukip contesting this election? And what is the point of Ukip anyway? Ukip was formed to have a referendum and get us out of the EU. Congratulations to them, they have succeeded. As to the ultimate consequences of Brexit, we have yet to see. But why fight an election for something you don’t believe in? @chris4teesmayor
Thursday April 6th 2017 Amazingly, two of the four candidates for Tees Valley Mayor missed Tuesday night’s Hustings organised by the Redcar Older Women’s Lobby. I was there, along with Labour’s Sue Jeffrey and John Tait of the North East Party, even though he’s no longer a candidate! John Tennant of Ukip and Conservative Ben Houchen were absent: Tory Houchen couldn’t even be bothered to acknowledge the invitation!
Tuesday April 4th 2017 “A Legend of the ballot box” says today’s Northern Echo. Who could possibly disagree?
Monday April 3rd 2017 Official letter to say I have been “validly nominated” as LibDem candidate for Tees Valley Mayor. I am bona fide (or “fide bono” as Vic would say). One less thing to worry about…
Monday April 3rd 2017 I SAY REVOKE AIRPORT HOUSING PLAN I have today written to the Rt Hon Sajid David MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, asking him to use his powers under Section 100 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to revoke the planning permission given by Darlington Borough Council for 350 houses to be built at Durham Tees Valley Airport. He needs to do this before work starts and so prevents his intervention. I am absolutely confident that this case falls within the very narrow limits of his powers, on the grounds that (as it states in the Act) ‘damage is likely to be done to the wider public interest’. It is clearly ‘in the wider public interest’ for the Tees Valley, which includes the Borough of Darlington, that the airport should be expanded. Under the Tees Valley Devolution Agreement, substantial new powers and additional money will come to the Tees Valley. The resulting increased economic activity and improved road and rail links will undoubtedly mean increased traffic for the airport. This new housing will inhibit expansion and will damage the overall plans we all have for the Tees Valley.
Friday March 31st 2017 As it says, great drone footage of Teesside views, courtesy of the Evening Gazette @chris4teesmayor
http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/video-created-prove-teesside-is-12807803?ptnr_rid=142359&icid=EM_GazetteLive_Nletter_News_Home_largeteaser_Text_Story1
http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/video-created-prove-teesside-is-12807803?ptnr_rid=142359&icid=EM_GazetteLive_Nletter_News_Home_largeteaser_Text_Story1
Friday March 31st 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn visited the Tees Valley yesterday to support Sue Jeffrey as his candidate for Mayor, but sadly she couldn’t make it. “Buses are a priority” said Corbyn on her behalf. Yes, buses are important and more bus services are needed. Road improvements and better co-ordination of services can improve matters to an extent, but they should both know that there is now NO SUBSIDY for bus services and expansion is limited. One thing that will most definitely improve our local public transport is my idea of a combined road/rail SUPERBRIDGE near South Bank that will create a METRO LOOP all around the Tees Valley for quick and easy travel on both sides of the Tees - and across! @chris4teesmayor
Friday March 31st 2017 “the first principled Labour leader for decades” (David Carter @Manxstar tweet) Doesn’t say much for the others! Yes, David, Jeremy Corbyn is principled. He has perhaps half a million followers (excluding of course the majority of Labour MPs) but the other 50+ million UK citizens do not share his vision of a Socialist utopia. Corbyn reminds me very much of Michael Foote, a man I much admired and knew moderately well. Sincere and well-meaning, Foote led the Labour party to its biggest ever defeat in 1984. ALL the pundits are predicting Corbyn will do much the same in 2020.
Thursday March 30th 2017 I support Cycling UK. I am a lifelong cyclist, previous competed at triathlon and in time-trials, road and track races on my bike. Now unable to run/compete due to dodgy knees. I fully support your campaign, and if elected Tees Valley Mayor I will (a) support your campaign as Mayor (b) seek the required funding (c) take a strong lead on these issue. Getting more people to walk and cycle benefits health and well-being, reduces road traffic and reduces air pollution. It's a win-win-win situation! Cycling UK’s questions: Will you plan a strategic Tees Valley-wide network of safe cycle routes? To significantly boost cycle use in the Tees Valley region, we ask the mayor to produce a costed plan for a strategic and integrated network of safe cycle routes, linking residential areas, business areas and key educational facilities. Will you ensure developers cater for the needs of cyclists? Major developments are planned across the Tees Valley, including upgrades to Middlesbrough and Darlington railway stations and large-scale housing projects in Wynard, South Stockton, South Middlesbrough and Hartlepool. Will you work with developers and the planned new Tees Valley Development Corporation to make sure that cycling is considered from the outset and planned for appropriately? Will you actively seek funding to build your network? To create a network requires funding. We ask you to create a dedicated budget for cycling and to actively seek enough funding to build the network to a high standard, with a view to spending at least £10 per person annually on cycling. My answers: YES to all of the above
SEE MY 38sec VIDEO https://youtu.be/0IUgea3yp3c
SEE MY 38sec VIDEO https://youtu.be/0IUgea3yp3c
Thursday March 30th 2017 Don’t vote for a Labour monopoly! Independent councillor Steve Kay from Redcar has said on record ‘if the Labour candidate (for Mayor) wins, there will be absolutely no opposition on the Combined Authority. Tees Valley will, in effect, become a one-party state’. And former Redcar Labour leader George Dunning, now an Independent, likewise has said ‘more of the same is not good for local democracy’. The Tees Valley Combined Authority has six members, the five council leaders (all Labour) plus the Mayor. A Labour Mayor would indeed make the Tees Valley a ‘one-party state’. Voting on May 4 is by AV (Alternative Vote) with voters having both a first and second choice. To defeat Labour, choose two of the other three candidates including myself of course! @chris4teesmayor
Thursday March 30th 2017 “Our Friends in the South” My Tory opponent Ben Houchen has refused to say whether or not his ultimate aim is to be a southern MP. At last week’s Hustings in Middlesbrough, I twice challenged Houchen to deny that he intends to apply to be an MP in the south of England, but on both occasions he refused to reply. I have seen this happen so many times with Tory hopefuls in the North East. They realise that their only realistic hope of becoming an MP is to find a safe seat in the south of England, and off they go. In my opinion, Houchen regards being Mayor as a stepping stone to his future political career. During the debate, Houchen spoke warmly of his and his wife’s ‘friends in the south’. I challenge Houchen to say that he has never applied for or expressed an interest in applying for a safe Tory seat in the south of England. @chris4teesmayor
Wednesday March 29th 2017 See my fantastic 90sec CAMPAIGN VIDEO! Jonathan Wallace, LibDem Leader on Gateshead Council, has done a great job filming and editing: just one of his many talents! https://youtu.be/K1TjXgXtAjw
Monday March 27th 2017 Northern Powerhouse - hasn’t George Osborne got enough to do? With his various jobs as an MP, fund manager and editor of the Evening Standard, you would think that George Osborne has enough to do. But on top of all that, he is also Chair of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership. I have a letter from George addressed to ‘Dear Chris’, offering me ‘a structured programme of support’ should I be elected as Tees Valley Mayor on May 4th. Osborne is simply touting for business for his bank Bloombergs, who pay him £650,000 a year for working one day a week. I firmly believe that MPs should not take other jobs. If £75,000 a year as MP is not enough, they should not stand for election. No employer would allow his or her staff to take on other work, why should we, the public? But the email address Mr Osborne gives in his letter for more information does not work. I also tried to contact the Northern Powerhouse Partnership direct, but got no reply. The Northern Powerhouse would be a wonderful thing, if it works. So far I have seen no evidence of it. @chris4teesmayor Pic shows me with the letter from George Osborne
Saturday March 25th 2017 RAT SET TO REJOIN SINKING SHIP Douglas Carswell quits Ukip, supposedly to be Independent MP for Clacton. Only a matter of time before he returns to the Tories. Why does ANYBODY vote for cynical, calculating bastards like Carswell who think only of their own self-preservation and don’t give a toss for party or people? One good thing - Ukip, still milking the EU gravy train for every penny, will lose its £650,000 a year “Short money” - cash from us for having an MP @chris4teesmayor
Saturday March 25th 2017 Congratulations to LibDem Cllr Jonathan Wallace from Gateshead after a good day’s filming a video for my Mayoral campaign. Jonathan makes great videos as you will see very soon. @chris4teesmayor
Friday March 24th 2017 Candidate quits - Mayor deposit too high I sympathise with John Tait (North East Party) who has quit the race after being unable to raise the deposit. I agree that the deposit of £5,000 is far too high, making it much harder for smaller parties and independents to stand. I have a lot of respect for John Tait as he and I are the only candidates genuinely committed to devolution to the English regions. We have both worked to achieve this for many years. The Tories were always opposed to it, Labour’s support has been half-hearted, and Ukip can’t make up their minds. If elected as Tees Valley Mayor, I am determined to make the most of this opportunity to bring jobs and prosperity to the area with the extra money and powers on offer, and to make sure that the government delivers all the promises it made in the Devolution Agreement.
Picture: me and John Tait (right) at a Hustings event in Wynyard Hall. Next day, Tait dropped out.
Thursday March 23rd 2017 I am giving my full support to the campaign for a LIVING WAGE. Recent KPMG research has highlighted that 23% of workers still earn below the Living Wage in the North East so there is a real opportunity to encourage more employers who can afford it, to sign up. There is also a growing body of evidence that points to the business benefits of paying a Living Wage including better recruitment, retention and productivity; the real Living Wage is good for business and good for society. If elected as Tees Valley Mayor I will support the Living Wage movement by becoming an accredited Living Wage Employer. I would seek to use the combined procurement power of our five local authorities to grow the real Living Wage in the North East, promote the Living Wage to businesses; and celebrate accredited Living Wage employers during Living Wage Week in November each year. This is a great opportunity to lead in this important area.
Wednesday March 22nd 2017 My first hustings meeting with the other four candidates for Tees Valley Mayor, run by the Institution of Civil Engineers (I was AMICE once over) at Teesside Uni last night. Good attendance, good questions, audience were very sparing with their applause (for all of us) but at least I got a few laughs and good applause at the end.
Tuesday March 21st 2017 North East England Chamber of Commerce: “The Secretary of State for Brexit David Davis has signalled elected mayors will be consulted during negotiations, giving the Tees Valley Mayor a significant role representing not just Teesside but the North East as a whole. The Mayor should seek an early dialogue with other mayors across the Northern Powerhouse to ensure there is co-ordinated and strong representation from the North of England on issues such as investment, trade and a replacement for EU structural funds”. YES I WILL!
Monday 20th March 2017 LA LA LAND LABOUR Commenting on the speech by shadow chancellor John McDonnell to the Labour New Economics Conference in Newcastle at the weekend, Chris Foote Wood, LibDem candidate for Tees Valley mayor, said: “As usual, John McDonnell paints a picture of how wonderful life would be under Labour. Unfortunately, with Jeremy Corbyn as leader, there is no prospect whatsoever of Labour returning to power in 2020. McDonnell neglects to say what could be done right now, rather than waiting for the mirage of a Labour government. That is the opportunity for the Tees Valley to forge ahead with new powers and new money under our new ‘Metro Mayor’ to be elected on May 4. This is devolution for the first time to six English regions including Manchester, Liverpool and the Tees Valley. McDonnell mentions two possible developments: CCS (carbon capture and storage) and a Metals Catapult Centre, both of which I support and which I will promote if elected as Mayor. But it is essential that the new devolved system for the Tees Valley works on an all-party basis. If it becomes a Labour party monopoly, as McDonnell portrays it, it will not work.”
Sunday 19th March 2017 Trains will run direct between Middlesbrough and London in 2020, a year earlier than originally planned, it was announced last week. Last year Virgin Trains East Coast and FirstGroup were given permission by the Office of Road and Rail (ORR) to run the service. Now there will be seven trains a day to King’s Cross in 2020, cutting journey times by up to an hour. Meantime, work on improving Middlesbrough station will start within three months.
Saturday 17th March 2017 Met up with my Leader Tim Farron at the LibDem Conference in York Today. My late wife Frances and I gave Tim his first start as a parliamentary candidate, signing him up to stand against Hilary Armstrong MP and Theresa May (!) in the Labour stronghold of North West Durham in 1992.
Friday 17th March 2017 Me and my mate Alan on BBC1 TV’s “Bargain Hunt” today. Although we lost, we made profit on two of our three items and had a huge amount of fun. Congrats to the Red team! Bargain Hunt is the UK’s most popular daytime programme with more than two million viewers.
Friday March 17th 2017 Good guy Mbro chairman Steve Gibson appoints Karanka, ultimately a failure as Boro boss. Gibson backs Jeffrey as Tees Valley Mayor…hmmmm…
Wednesday March 15th 2017
S’no joke!
Will £30m Middlesbrough Snow Centre really work? In Wear Valley, Labour council promoted a huge artificial ski slope - cost a fortune, never happened. Even a more modest ski slope had to be scrapped when they couldn’t make it pay. Middlehaven has been largely derelict for years, promises made forgotten. Can “Cool Runnings” really create 350 jobs? We’ll believe it when we see it.
S’no joke!
Will £30m Middlesbrough Snow Centre really work? In Wear Valley, Labour council promoted a huge artificial ski slope - cost a fortune, never happened. Even a more modest ski slope had to be scrapped when they couldn’t make it pay. Middlehaven has been largely derelict for years, promises made forgotten. Can “Cool Runnings” really create 350 jobs? We’ll believe it when we see it.
Tuesday March 14th 2017 Two of my Letters to the Editor have been published: The Hartlepool Mail (Mar 11) re Mayor’s salary “Public service should be a calling”, and Evening Gazette (Mar 13) “We need to tackle Tees Valley Poverty”
Tuesday March 14th 2017 It is pleasing to see that the Tees Valley Combined Authority is supporting a second crossing of the River Tees, downstream of the Transporter Bridge. I came to the same conclusion some time ago, although the site I propose is further downriver, at Tees View Point near South Bank where there is clear space between various works along the river. The TVCA appears to favour a continuation of Cargo Fleet Lane, which would involve substantial demolition of property and consequent additional compensation. The “Devo Deal” for the Tees Valley only refers to one new crossing. While the proposed Central Tees Crossing at Middlesbrough will ease traffic congestion, in my view an additional downstream crossing is essential. If elected as Mayor, I will work with the TVCA and other partners to ensure we get two new Tees crossings, not just one. Let’s be bold and make the new Eastern bridge a combined road/rail crossing. As well as creating a direct link between Hartlepool and Redcar, it will enable a Metro loop around the Tees Valley and quick and easy transport for all Tees Valley residents. A modern, iconic road/rail bridge of individual and striking design could become a potent symbol of the regeneration of the Tees Valley. It could attract as many visitors as the Angel of the North and be of much greater practical value.
Monday March 13th 2017 In Gorton, East Manchester, supporting Jackie Pearcey’s by-election campaign. Jackie and I have been friends for years - she and I went to China together as members of an official LibDem delegation at the invitation of the Chinese government to discuss economic development. My Mam Nellie Mape was born & brought up nearby: she left school at 14 to work in a steelworks! Jackie tells me she has family connections with Hartlepool.
Sunday March 12th 2017 Darlington 2025 has many potential snags. The line between Eaglescliffe and Northallerton is marked for ‘upgrade’, but there is no mention of electrification which is essential as part of an improved rail service in and out of Teesport. Stillington branch is also marked for ‘upgrade’, but will this include passenger services? “There is no mention of much-needed improvements for residents of Stockton, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Redcar. At present it takes anything from an hour to 80 minutes to get to Tyneside, either by changing at Darlington or by the circuitous route along the Durham coast. The improvements to Darlington station are very much to be welcomed, but the rest of the Tees Valley also needs better rail connections. @chris4teesmayor
Sunday March 12th 2017 Proposed upgrade of Darlington station very welcome, but to get the best value for the whole of the Tees Valley it needs to be linked to my plan for a downstream road and rail bridge across the Tees to complete a rail loop and a Metro system to provide quick, easy, affordable and above all frequent travel around the Tees Valley. Here’s my choice for a new road/rail crossing of the Tees near South Bank @chris4teesmayor
Sunday March 12th 2017 Will HS2 ever reach North East? Not scheduled until 2033, this hugely expensive scheme could so easily be postponed. Governments are always short of cash, and it would be all too easy for a decision to be made to stop it at Leeds. Whoever is elected as Tees Valley mayor in May must seek the strongest possible assurances that HS2 will reach Darlington as soon as possible, ideally well before 2033. @chris4teesmayor
Saturday March 11th 2017 A solar farm at Eaglescliffe will provide renewable energy for 700 homes for the next 20 years. The 16,000-panel IndyGen development on an 11-hectare site off Durham Lane, started in January, will soon be complete, compared with three years to build a coal-fired power station.
Saturday March 11th 2017 GREAT FUTURE FOR DARLINGTON STATION I was hugely impressed with the Darlington 2025 presentation at the National Biologics Centre in Darlo yesterday. 2025 is of course the 200th anniversary of our pioneering S&DR Railway when the world’s eyes will be on the Tees Valley. By then, Darlington Bank Top Station will have been transformed with a £150m makeover. New platforms will be added with a much-needed revamp for the whole station. Track improvements will mean reduced journey times eg 70 minutes to Manchester, 45min less than now. Linked with my idea of a new dual road/rail crossing of the Tees to link Hartlepool and Redcar, thus creating a Metro system around the Tees Valley, our local economy would be transformed. HS2 is due to reach Darlington by 2033: governments are notorious for cutting back, so it will take constant lobbying to ensure we eventually get it. @chris4teesmayor
Saturday March 11th 2017 As candidate for Tees Valley Mayor, I totally support the call by the charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation for concerted action to tackle poverty in the Tees Valley. JRF rightly points out that more than 140,000 people in the area are “income deprived”, more than one in four children live in poverty, unemployment is above average and the average weekly wage of £496 is well behind the English average of £545. I fully support the call by JRF to set up training and employment packages to enable local people to get jobs as part of a city-region wide strategy. On election, the Mayor will agree cabinet positions with the other five members of the Combined Authority. It makes sense to have one responsible for employment and economic growth. Under the Devolution Agreement (the “Devo Deal”) the Mayor has personal responsibility for leadership of a comprehensive review of education, skills and employment in the Tees Valley. I have said from the start that the success of the new mayoral system depends on all the various partners working together, and if elected I will do everything possible to achieve just that. I have written to JRF offering my support for their ideas. @chris4teesmayor
Friday March 10th 2017
Great coverage in today’s Northern Echo of my plans for a new dual road and rail crossing of the River Tees near South Bank. We could then have a Metro loop around the Tees Valley, with an Oyster card, to make it quicker, cheaper and easier to travel around the area. @chris4teesmayor ANYBODY BUT LABOUR!
Wednesday March 8th 2017 “Anybody but Labour” Writing in today’s Evening Gazette, Paul Kelleher of Stockton says he will “vote for the candidate best placed to beat Labour in all elections while Corbyn is leader”. There you have it, folks! For Tees Valley Mayor, I am that person. I came second in Middlesbrough in the 2010 general election, much reducing Labour’s majority. If I can at least repeat that, I can win. In the election for Mayor on May 4, every voter has two votes, first and second preference. If no-one gets 50% of the first preferences, second preferences are added to the top two candidates from all the other candidates who are eliminated at that stage. @chris4teesmayor Monday March 6th 2017 A campaign is urging people to vote in a "game-changing" election for a newly created regional mayor. The Tees Valley mayor will have responsibility for Hartlepool, Stockton, Redcar and Cleveland, Middlesbrough and Darlington. Combined Authority managing director Andrew Lewis said the public needed to be more aware of the new role's responsibilities. It was "important everyone's voice is heard", he said. The five councils had been working closely together for about 20 years, he said. But now extra powers, responsibility and money had been devolved from central government it was "really important that those new powers are democratically accountable". The new mayor will make decisions in areas such as transport, education, jobs, housing and investment. Voters are being encouraged to make sure they are registered to vote on 4 May. @chris4teesmayor
A NEW TEES BRIDGE HERE?
|
SALTBURN "ONE OF BEST PLACES TO LIVE IN UK" - Sunday Times
MAYOR - WHO HAS THE EXPERIENCE? Wednesday March 8th 2017 Middlesbrough FC boss Steve Gibson says that Labour’s mayoral candidate Sue Jeffrey is “the woman with the experience” to do the job as Mayor. Sue Jeffrey has had two years as leader of Redcar & Cleveland council, and has been a councillor for six years. I was leader of Wear Valley council for six years and a councillor for 40 years. In addition, I was Vice Chair of the North East Assembly (all party) and I have held several other senior all-party positions at regional and national level. So if you want experience, I’m your man. As a Boro supporter myself I have the highest opinion of Gibson who saved our club and sticks by his managers who however have had varied success. Perhaps the same will happen with his choice of Tees Valley Mayor? @chris4teesmayor METRO and OYSTER
Monday March 6th 2017 Metro system and Oyster card Whether you’re a young person or an older person, wouldn’t it be great if you could travel around the Tees Valley quickly, easily and above all cheaply? If I’m elected as Tees Valley mayor on May 4th, there’s two things I would do to help you do just that. First, we need a new crossing of the River Tees, downstream from the Transporter Bridge. This needs to be a double crossing, road and rail. Road to relieve traffic congestion crossing the Tees, and rail so that we could have a loop linking both sides of the Tees. I want to see a Metro system, with an Oyster card with concession for students and pensioners. That means that everybody would find it much easier to get to school, to work, to hospital, to shops, to sports and leisure facilities. Think about it. We need a Metro system and Oyster card. Vote me in as Tees Valley Mayor on May 4th and I will make it happen! #chris4teesmayor #teesvalleymayor @chris4teesmayor
|
Friday March 10th 2017 Saltburn has been named one of the BEST PLACES TO LIVE in the UK. This weekend’s Sunday Times lists our Victorian seaside resort as OUTSTANDING for its “elegant” pier, its restaurants, schools and transport links. Saltburn’s water-powered cliff lift and its miniature railway are praised, as are the weekly farmers’ market and the town’s annual Food Fair. The Times also praises Saltburn’s “lively town centre, full of art galleries, antiques shops and jewellery stores. There are trains to Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Darlington. If that wasn’t enough, Saltburn has a surprise up its sleeve: a 'secret knitting society', the Yarnbombers, emerge under cover of darkness to decorate the pier with huge displays of woolly toys and sculptures." Chris says: “While we always strive to make things better, let’s be PROUD of what we’ve got!” @chris4teesmayor
Thursday March 9th Brand new trains will boost Middlesbrough’s rail connections with Liverpool, Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds, York and Scarborough. TransPennine Express will provide 20,000 extra seats at peak times from next year with a new fleet of rail carriages built in Newton Aycliffe and in Spain. @chris4teesmayor
|
Former bridge engineer Chris Foote Wood at Tees View Point, his proposed site for a new double road and raid crossing of the River Tees, at the 1934 Newport Lift Bridge, and at the iconic Transporter Bridge, opened in 1911
Sunday March 5th 2017 “NEW DOUBLE CROSSING FOR THE TEES” If elected as Tees Valley Mayor in May, I will promote a new double road and rail crossing of the River Tees to improve transport links and boost economic regeneration. The Tees Valley Devolution Agreement merely calls for ‘an additional Tees River Crossing’, but I believe we much be much, much bolder and go for a double road and rail crossing, This would not only boost transport and jobs over the next ten years, it would continue to underpin the local economy for decades ahead, even for the rest of this century.Everyone agrees that an additional road crossing is needed right now to relieve traffic congestion, but I firmly believe that we also need a new downstream rail crossing to complete a loop Metro system, similar to that on Tyneside.
I would also introduce an Oyster card with concessions to greatly enhance the ability of all our people to travel quickly and easily to work, to school, to hospitals and for shopping, sport and leisure. The whole of the Tees Valley is in effect a single journey-to-work area and should be planned and developed as such. Many people live in one district and work in another. Creating better transport links will enhance people’s education and job opportunities and enable everybody to use more facilities.
While some people support a second crossing close to the existing A19 across the Tees near Middlesbrough - a job I worked on, by the way - that would do little or nothing for Redcar and Hartlepool who need to be much more closely connected. I will press for the second crossing to be downstream of the Transporter Bridge, in the South Bank area somewhere near Tees View Point. I have walked the whole length of the Tees from the source to the mouth, and this seems the logical place for a new downstream crossing.
A new, double crossing would not only boost Hartlepool and Redcar, it would help the Tees Valley as a whole and would encourage new industrial development on both sides of the river on brownfield sites and other unused land.
As Tees Valley mayor I would make full use of my powers to set up one or more Mayoral Development Corporations to speed progress and make full use of public and private finance which will be made available to us under the ‘Devo Deal’. These could benefit from the new Tees Valley Investment Fund, which will include the additional £15m a year for the next 30 years promised by the government. @chris4teesmayor (former civil and bridge engineer)
Pics show LibDem mayoral candidate Chris Foote Wood by the Transporter Bridge, the Newport Lift Bridge and at a possible site for a new crossing of the Tees near South Bank (Tees View Point)
I would also introduce an Oyster card with concessions to greatly enhance the ability of all our people to travel quickly and easily to work, to school, to hospitals and for shopping, sport and leisure. The whole of the Tees Valley is in effect a single journey-to-work area and should be planned and developed as such. Many people live in one district and work in another. Creating better transport links will enhance people’s education and job opportunities and enable everybody to use more facilities.
While some people support a second crossing close to the existing A19 across the Tees near Middlesbrough - a job I worked on, by the way - that would do little or nothing for Redcar and Hartlepool who need to be much more closely connected. I will press for the second crossing to be downstream of the Transporter Bridge, in the South Bank area somewhere near Tees View Point. I have walked the whole length of the Tees from the source to the mouth, and this seems the logical place for a new downstream crossing.
A new, double crossing would not only boost Hartlepool and Redcar, it would help the Tees Valley as a whole and would encourage new industrial development on both sides of the river on brownfield sites and other unused land.
As Tees Valley mayor I would make full use of my powers to set up one or more Mayoral Development Corporations to speed progress and make full use of public and private finance which will be made available to us under the ‘Devo Deal’. These could benefit from the new Tees Valley Investment Fund, which will include the additional £15m a year for the next 30 years promised by the government. @chris4teesmayor (former civil and bridge engineer)
Pics show LibDem mayoral candidate Chris Foote Wood by the Transporter Bridge, the Newport Lift Bridge and at a possible site for a new crossing of the Tees near South Bank (Tees View Point)
Saturday March 4th 2017 As well as Laura Benson’s great win in Redcar’s Newcomen ward this week, another LibDem did well in a by-election. LibDem Graeme Kidd came a strong second in the safe Tory seat of Hutton, Guisborough, well ahead of Labour and Ukip and increasing his vote by 4.5% from two years ago. Laura of course won the Newcomen Ward vacancy with a massive 45% of the vote in a field of six candidates - Tories sixth and last with a mere 3% of the vote!
Friday March 3rd 2017 Fantastic result! LibDem candidate Laura Benson swept to victory in a Redcar & Cleveland council by-election yesterday with not far short of 50% of the vote. This was to fill the vacancy in the Newcomen ward caused by the untimely death of LibDem stalwart Chris Abbott. In a field of six candidates (Tories BOTTOM OF THE POLL with a meagre 3%) Laura secured 45% of the total vote. She will make an excellent councillor. Turnout was 29%, quite high for a local council by-election. The winning formula, as always: good candidate + good organisation + hard work = SUCCESS! Now let’s go on and win the election for Tees Valley mayor on May 4th. Result: Laura Benson (LibDem) 426, Labour 259, Ukip 153, Ind 52, Ind 36, Conservative 29. @chris4teesmayor
Thursday March 2nd 2017 My Letter to the Hartlepool Mail on Mayor’s pay: "Paul McGee (Mail March 1) thinks the new Tees Valley Mayor should be paid a lot more than the proposed £35,000 a year, apparently on the grounds that a much bigger salary would attract a better class of candidate. There is no evidence whatsoever that paying more attracts better people in this context. On the contrary, public service should be a calling, not a chance to get rich at public expense. Paying the Cleveland Police Commissioner £70,000 a year and the Middlesbrough Mayor £62,000 merely handed wads of public cash to Labour councillors who were previously quite happy to give their services for far less. Does the extra cash make them do a better job? I don’t think so. So far I am the only mayoral candidate to pledge that if elected I will hand back half my salary to the people of the Tees Valley by donating £17,500 a year to a local charity or trust for the benefit of the area and its inhabitants. But I will still do the job full-time!" Chris Foote Wood @chris4teesmayor
Thursday March 2nd 2017 A proposed £70m mineral processing plant at Wilton will provide up to 400 construction jobs and 140 full-time jobs if it goes ahead. Australian firm Peak Resources hope to start production by the end of 2019 on a site that has been empty since 2012. In another development, Sirius UK plan to process and ship minerals mined locally from a new facility, also at Wilton. And if the proposed Teesside Combined Cycle Power Plant goes ahead on the site of the old Enron power station, hundreds more jobs will be created (Evening Gazette 01.03.17). @chris4teesmayor
Wednesday March 1st 2017 World mile record holder (1957) Derek Ibbotson, another of my heroes, has died aged 84. He also ran the first 4-minute mile on grass. I ran against him in a mile handicap: he won two races that day, collecting prizes such as a suite of furniture (in fact just taking the cash) as athletics was strictly amateur then. A gritty Yorkshireman, Ibbotson was big pals with Herb Elliott, also a mile world record holder (1958) and 1960 Olympic 1500m champion. I also ran against Elliott in a university cross-country match Oxford & Cambridge v Durham, By then Elliott was somewhat overweight, but I was again an “also ran”. It was a privilege to run against great men such as these. On another occasion, I did in fact win a tea set for coming second in a mile handicap at Eccles. I sold it to my Nana for £1. @chris4teesmayor
Wednesday March 1st 2017 Good fun today with the Stockton Fairtrade Borough Partnership in the High Street on Market Day. Got to see the Stockton Flyer Automaton! This fantastic machine, based on Stephenson’s S&DR loco Locomotion No. 1, “performs” at 1pm every day, clanking, steaming, whistling, hooting. Worth the trip just for that! @chris4teesmayor
Wednesday March 1st 2017 Mention of Broadstairs: in today’s Times, a report that 100 years ago a Mrs Morgan and her baby daughter Phyllis Frances were killed there by shells from a German destroyer just off the Kent coast. As a baby, my Frances survived an air raid on St Helier hospital when a nurse grabbed her and dived under the bed. Days earlier, F’s Mum was about to give birth and was walking to the hospital when a V1 rocket bomb exploded close by. F “refused to come out” for several days (see my biog of F “Memories of Frances”. @rog @chris4teesmayor Caption: “Dammit, Göering, I send my secret V1 weapon, I send the Luftwaffe, but Frances Foote still lives!”
Tuesday February 28th 2017 Good news that planning permission has been given for 45 beach huts on Saltburn’s lower promenade, close to the town’s iconic pier. Almost all successful seaside resorts have beach huts, and there are nearly 250 names on the waiting list at Saltburn. My late wife Frances always had a beach hut on family holidays as a girl. When we married in 1977, she organised our honeymoon, not telling me where we were going (typical F!) When we arrived at her chosen destination of Broadstairs (where Charles Dickens holidayed and wrote David Copperfield) she had a beach hut already booked. No, we didn’t sleep in the hut (against the rules), we slept in a tent on a camp site, being poor at the time. So I have a lot of affection for beach huts! @chris4teesmayor
Monday February 27th 2017 Listen in at 9.45am today (Mon Feb 27) I am on BBC Radio Tees 95fm telling the world that the latest idiotic statement by Tory candidate Ben Houchen that if elected Mayor of Tees Valley be would ‘buy back’ our local airport - throwing good money after bad. Houchen has already call the closure of Redcar steelworks in 2015 as a ‘success’, and he wants to abolish Cleveland Police (without saying what he would put in its place) even though the mayor has no responsibility for policing. @chris4teesmayor
Monday February 27th 2017 In his latest headline-grabbing stunt, Tory mayoral candidate Ben Houchen says he will ‘buy back’ Durham Tees Valley airport, with our money of course. That would be throwing good money after bad. Our airport needs investment, private as well as public. Civil servants and council officers are not the best people to run a commercial enterprise. It is all too easy for losses to be met from the public purse. As mayor I will set up a Mayoral Development Corporation which could invest in Durham Tees Valley airport, but only in conjunction with private investment to share the risk. Ben Houchen has already made two idiotic statements, declaring the closure of SSI in 2015 to be a ‘success’. He says he will abolish Cleveland Police, without saying what he would put in its place, even though the mayor has no responsibility for the police. There is no way a Tory win this mayoral election. I have twice beaten the Tories in Middlesbrough, and am the man to beat Labour. On May 4 every voter has two votes, first and second preferences, giving me a great chance of winning. @chris4teesmayor
Sunday February 26th 2017 Yesterday’s Hartlepool Mail announcing my adoption as LibDem candidate for Tees Valley mayor. First local paper to mention my famous sister, the much loved and hugely talented comedian/actor/writer/producer Victoria Wood who sadly died last year aged 62. @chris4teesmayor
Saturday February 25th 2017 Elections in the 3rd century? Wonderful typo - made my day! Reporting my adoption as LibDem candidate to stand for Mayor of Tees Valley, the on-line edition of the Hartlepool Mail reports: “He (Chris Foote Wood) has contested eight parliamentary elections including twice in Middlesbrough where he came second in 201”. I know I’ve stood in lots of elections (42 at the last count) but that is only since 1963. And the Mail should know that in the year 201 Middlesbrough did not exist. In fact, there were no parliamentary constituencies and no parliament - the Romans ruled. Actually, it was 2010 when I came second in Middlesbrough, reducing the Labour majority by 4,000 with the third biggest swing from Lab to LibDem in the North East. @chris4teesmayor
Saturday February 25th 2017 A new mine near Whitby will bring jobs to Teesside. The newly-named Woodsmith mine will produce up to 10 million tonnes annually of the mineral polyhalite, used in fertilisers, which will be sent through a 23-mile tunnel to a handling facility at Teesside. The £2.3bn project by Sirius Minerals will create up to 2,500 jobs, generating up to £2bn of exports. Experts have hailed it as the biggest, thickest and highest grade polyhalite deposit in the world. Sirius expects the underground fertiliser mine to produce its first polyhalite by 2021.
Friday February 24th 2017 Teesside University is opening an office in India. The new base in the city of Gurgaon near New Delhi in the north of the country will help create new business partnerships and aid student recruitment. The university already has offices in China and Malaysia. Chris says “I applaud the continuing enterprise of Teesside University. Foreign students coming to study in the UK not only help finance our universities, they create goodwill and form lasting relationships which benefit both countries and help foster international understanding and peace.” @chris4teesmayor
Friday February 24th 2017 It just had to happen, folks! Headline in the Hartlepool Mail Friday February 24th 2017 National
Brother of comedian Victoria Wood set to stand for Teesside Mayor
Liberal Democrat Tees Valley Mayor candidate Chris Foote Wood from Darlington The brother of the much-loved late comedian and actress Victoria Wood is to stand for election to be first Tees Valley elected mayor.... Read more at: http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/politics/brother-of-comedian-victoria-wood-set-to-stand-for-teesside-mayor-1-8408596
Brother of comedian Victoria Wood set to stand for Teesside Mayor
Liberal Democrat Tees Valley Mayor candidate Chris Foote Wood from Darlington The brother of the much-loved late comedian and actress Victoria Wood is to stand for election to be first Tees Valley elected mayor.... Read more at: http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/politics/brother-of-comedian-victoria-wood-set-to-stand-for-teesside-mayor-1-8408596
Friday February 24th 2017 More than half the spending on transport infrastructure in the UK goes to London. Research by think-tank IPPR North shows that an average of £1,943 per person is spent in London, compared with £427 in the North. London and the South East is already congested. New road building there only adds to the congestion, resulting in traffic delays, increased pollution, more ill health and cost on the NHS, increased house prices, longer travel to work times. The south enjoys low unemployment, leading to competition for staff and higher wages, drawing yet more people into an already overcrowded region. In the North, all these factors are reversed. Relatively small amounts of spending result in proportionately greater benefits. In recent decades our region has suffered a huge amount of depopulation. We have room to grow, and the more we can develop here, the less pressure there is on the over-heated south east. @chris4teesmayor
Friday February 24th 2017 Another GOOD NEWS chemical jobs story for the Tees Valley. Fine Industries (previously Fine Organics) at Seal Sands has been bought by Chinese life sciences company Lianhetech who are to make it their European base. 200 jobs have been secured, and there is the possibility of “massive” growth. If elected as Tees Valley Mayor, I intend to lead a trade delegation to China and India which are two of the fastest-growing economies in the world. I have previously been on an official delegation to China, discussing joint economic ventures with senior government officials. @chris4teesmayor
Friday February 24th 2017 Not such a good spread in today’s Evening Gazette as in yesterday’s Northern Echo, but at least it’s in. The Gazette has decided to show a pic of me in costume as Charles Dickens, in this case reading the Yorkshire Declaration in front of Redcar Town Clock on Yorkshire Day (August 1st) as I have done for the past five years on behalf of the Yorkshire Ridings Society. I adopt a different character each year, in case you were wondering. And yes, we did send the Gazette pics of me in my normal garb. @chris4teesmayor
Thursday February 23rd 2017 “A lifeline for Teesside” - the multi-million pound upgrade of a chemical plant - has been completed. The two-year upgrade of SABIC’s 37-year old Olefins 6 plant at Wilton near Redcar now allows it to process US-imported ethane gas. The 223-acre plant will continue to process propane, buthane, naptha and other products, making it the most flexible feed cracker in Europe, says the Evening Gazette. It will help maintain 1,000 on-site jobs and thousands more in the supply chain for a generation. @chris4teesmayor
Thursday February 23rd 2017 Up and running! Today’s Northern Echo announces my selection as LibDem candidate for Tees Valley Mayor, page lead on “regional news”. Could not have been better - story is my press release almost word for word (I am a journalist after all) with pic taken by my “twin brother” Rev Alan Powers. Onward and upward! @chris4teesmayor
Wednesday February 22nd 2017 First day of my campaign to be LibDem Mayor of Tees Valley: my first radio interview early evening (5.20pm today) on BBC Radio Tees 95FM with Gary Philipson. Do listen in! @chris4teesmayor
Tuesday February 21st 2017 I won! After a lively meeting and a very tense count at the Members’ Hustings in Middlesbrough, I was declared the winner and I am now the official LibDem candidate to be elected Mayor of Tees Valley on May 4th. Commiserations to my very worthy opponent Anne-Marie Curry, LibDem Leader on Darlington Council, who made a very strong case and who was gracious enough to congratulate me even before the official result was declared. Ian Swales, former LibDem MP for Redcar, was in the chair. @chris4teesmayor
Tuesday February 21st 2017 A tv documentary on Gertrude Bell (1868-1926) archaeologist, mapmaker and spy, is to be voiced by Tilda Swinton, one of my favourite actors. Born in Sunderland and brought up in Redcar, Bell travelled widely in Arabia before WW1 and drew up the borders of Iraq. Fellow archaeologist DG Hogarth said of her: “No woman in recent time has combined her qualities – her taste for arduous and dangerous adventure with her scientific interest and knowledge, her competence in archaeology and art, her distinguished literary gift, her sympathy for all sorts and condition of men, her political insight and appreciation of human values, her masculine vigour, hard common sense and practical efficiency – all tempered by feminine charm and a most romantic spirit” (Wiki)
Tuesday February 21st 2017 “Slag plant reopens” - good news, eh? Jobs are jobs, and the re-opening of the Hanson slag grinding plant at Teesport, mothballed in 2009, has created 20 jobs. Besides, slag can be used as a substitute for cement up to 90% in ready-mixed concrete, something I saw a lot of in my time as a civil engineer helping build the A1(M) motorway and the A19 Teeside trunk road diversion. Replacing one tonne of cement with slag granules reduces CO2 by 900kg and increases its durability. Only one snag - with the closure of Redcar steelworks, the blast furnace slag now has to be imported.
Monday February 20th 2017 BIG, big day tomorrow (Tues) when local LibDem members vote for their candidate to contest the election for Tees Valley Mayor on May 4th. Member Hustings is at St Mary’s Centre 82-90 Corporation Road Middlesbrough TS1 2RW 7pm. I hope to be the one! But if I am not selected AS ALWAYS I will loyally support the chosen candidate. But if I am selected, I will campaign FULL TIME from tomorrow to WIN. If I do win, I will put everything into this new, tremendously important job of elected Mayor of Tees Valley (Hartlepool Darlington, Stockton, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland).
Saturday February 18th 2017 NURDLES are damaging our environment. “What the heck are “nurdles?” I hear you ask. Well, nurdles are tiny pellets of plastic fond in their millions on our beaches and in their billions in seas around the globe - yet another example of how we are polluting our planet. Nurdles soak up chemical pollutants from their surroundings and release the toxins into the birds, fish and other creatures that eat them. Then we eat the fish…
Saturday February 18th 2017 A second secondary free school including a sixth form and specialising in mathematics is planned for Teesside, to be somewhere in central Middlesbrough with a “state of the art” new building at a site yet to be decided. It will be called Outwood Academy James Cook. It will be built and run by Outwood Grange Academies Trust already runs Outwood academies at Acklam, Ormesby and Bydales in Marske and sponsors Bishopsgarth School in Stockton.
Friday February 17th 2017 Congratulations to Hartlepool firm JDR for landing a major contract to supply more than 32 miles of specialist cable to India. Winning international contracts is never easy - it requires a great deal of knowledge, expertise and application. Add to that a quality product, track record and the right price! JDR employs more than 200 workers. It is the current holder of the Hartlepool Business of the Year title and earlier this month won a Global Export award.
Friday February 17th 2017 “Elections are not as predictable as they once were” - former Redcar & Cleveland Labour leader George Dunning is right. Turnout in the election for Tees Valley Mayor on May 4th will be low. With all five current members of the TV Board being Labour, adding a Labour mayor will just be “more of the same”. But who can beat Labour? Certainly not a cheerleader for the Tory government. Not the Greens, not the North East Party (who they?) nor UKIP who are in decline. Only one party is on the up: the LibDems, who have gained more council seats in the last 12 months than all the other parties put together! We recently had a great win in Sunderland, defeating Labour with a massive swing. This is a “two vote” (1st & 2nd choice) election. If I can repeat the second place I gained in Middlesbrough in 2010, I can win! But first I have to get my party nomination…
Thursday February 16th 2017 Tory mayoral candidate Ben Houchen has put his foot in it (again) saying that the closure of the SSI steel business has been turned into “a success”. What a plonker! The closure of SSI’s Redcar plant in 2015 cost over 2,000 jobs. We still have a long way to go to replace them: “Redcar struggles to recover”” - recent report. Houchen previously said as Tees Valley Mayor he would seek to abolish Cleveland Police (the mayor has no powers over the police!) without saying what he would put in its place.
Thursday February 16th 2017 The new Tees Valley Mayor will be paid £35,800 a year, funded by government, not local council tax payers. An independent panel set the rate as the average currently paid to the Leaders of the area’s five local authorities, which range from £61,300 for Middlesbrough Mayor Dave Budd to £12,890 for Redcar & Cleveland Leader Sue Jeffrey. I would take the job whatever the pay! As I have already promised to DONATE HALF MY SALARY as Elected Mayor to a charity or trust for the benefit of the people of the Tees Valley, if elected I will get £17,900pa less tax on the full amount.
Thursday February 16th 2017 Building a green power station at Teesport will be all the better done thanks to a ground-breaking deal struck between unions and construction firms. When the £650m Tees Renewable Energy Plant was first mooted, there were fears that building work would be done mainly by foreign workers and others on temporary and/or zero hours contracts. All those fears have been set aside thanks to an agreement involving the Unite and GMB unions and the contractors, including Whessoe Engineering of Darlington, to be brought in by site operator MGT Teesside. 600 construction workers and later 100 full-time staff will have full employment rights. The plant will be fuelled by wood chip and pellets to generate electricity equivalent of 600,000 homes. Green energy and new jobs with full employment rights - it’s a win-win situation for the Tees Valley.
Thursday February 16th 2017 HOSPITAL A&E CLOSURES: Either Darlington Memorial Hospital or North Tees Hospital in Stockton (the nearest to Hartlepool) will lose its A&E (Accident & Emergency) department under new NHS proposals. Hiding behind the acronym STP (Sustainability & Transformation Plans) this is all about saving money - but at what cost to patients? Right now, A&E departments cannot cope with the demand. Ambulances have to queue up at hospital entrances, and even when admitted, patients may wait for hours on a trolley before being treated. Last month (January 2017) 780 people had to wait more than TWELVE HOURS for a bed in A&E, compared to 158 in January 2015. In 2013, 144 A&E departments were full. Of these, only 40-70 will be left after their STPs.
Thursday February 16th 2007 Teesside air pollution among worst in UK - EU court action threatened. The Teesside Urban Area is one of 16 in the UK facing legal action for “repeated breaches of legal limits” on air pollution. The EU has sent the UK a “final warning” over persistent breaches of levels of nitrogen dioxide, 80% of which comes from car exhausts. Action is required within two months. Air pollution is linked to the early deaths of about 40,000 people a year in the UK. It can cause asthma, heart and lung disease and can affect children’s development.
Wednesday February 15th 2017 Lively meeting of Redcar LibDems in Coatham Road Club to support Laura Benson as our candidate in the by-election on March 2nd caused by the death of the much loved Chris Abbott, my colleague and friend for over 30 years. CFW pressed into service as photographer: Laura front centre.
|
Tuesday February 14th 2017 Five new Grade A office blocks are to be built in the centre of Middlesbrough, creating 2,000 jobs and boosting trade in the town. Yes, we will lose open space in the centre, but there are plenty of other green spaces in Mbro and the River Tees is not far away with great riverside walks. Hard decisions have to be made, but for me jobs come first. As for other offices currently empty, you can’t wait for them all to be filled before you start building new ones. http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/centre-square-offices-first-look-12599696
Monday February 13th 2017 Medical blunders: seven so-called “never events” in nine months happened at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, six instances of “wrong site surgery” and one of a wrong implant/prosthesis. These “never events” were found by NHS Improvement between April 16 and December 31 last year. In other hospitals in the Tees Valley in the same period, there were two instances at South Tees Hospitals NHS, and one each at North Tees & Hartlepool NHS, the Tees Valley Treatment Centre in Middlesbrough and the Nuffield Health Tees private hospital in Stockton.
Sunday February 12th 2017 Anchor Cheddar to cease production? Sad. Contrary to supermarket claims, we do like choice. Surely this is not fake news? You can’t trust anything nowadays.
Saturday February 11th 2017 Missed it! As a former bridge engineer, I so much wanted to see the massive A-frame at the centre of the new bridge over the Wear being lifted. This was the biggest lift of its kind since the London Eye in 1999. Now, how about a new crossing for the River Tees?
Saturday February 11th 2017 BRITISH STEEL INVESTMENT in Skinningrove in East Cleveland. British Steel is spending £1.8m on its plant making parts for forklift truck and excavator buckets. The company, founded last year from Tata Steel’s loss making Long Products Division, is now in profit. The business includes Teesside Beam Mill near Redcar and a Darlington steel finishing site. British Steel is owned by investor Greybull Capital which paid Tata £1 for Long Products.
Friday February 10th 2017 No end to “Marton Crawl”. Bellway Homes have started work at Rosebery Manor, a 19-acre housing site at Swans Corner, Nunthorpe. This is the final nail in the coffin of the East Middlesbrough By-Pass, first proposed in the 1966 Teesplan. The decision by the National Trust in 2009 not to sell land at Ormesby Hall, and planning permission given for 164 homes at Low Gill off Gypsy Lane in 2014 also hindered plans for a by-pass and link roads. Yes, we need homes and new development is to be welcomed, but it’s “back to the drawing board” for a much-needed by-pass. @chris4teesvalleymayor
(Evening Gazette 10.02.17)
Thursday February 9th 2017 Good news for Teesport - a major gas terminal is to re-open. Swiss company Trafigura is to invest £24m in the port to reopen a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal that closed two years ago. Trafigura has agree a long-term lease with PD Ports. Operations. Operations are expected to start next year.
Wednesday February 8th 2017 WALK, CYCLE, BUS The Tees Valley Combined Authority has been given a £3.23m Sustainable Travel Access Fund grant to get more people to walk, cycle and take public transport. This is in addition to £8m for improvements to the transport network across the Tees Valley
Wednesday February 8th 2017 SHOPPING CENTRE EXPANSION DELAY Parkway Centre in Coulby Newham was to expand by 54,000 sq ft but developers Ellandi say it has been delayed due to Brexit(!)
Tuesday February 7th 2017 The Quiet Room recently opened at Middlesbrough bus station has proved a boon to dementia sufferers. Last year Middlesbrough was awarded “Dementia Friendly Town” status by the Alzheimers’s Society.
Monday February 6th 2017 BED BLOCKING: heard on radio this am: “cost of stay in hospital £2,000 a day; cost of stay at home with social care, £400 a day.” No brainer, isn’t it? So why can’t the powers-that-be get together and SORT IT?
Monday February 6th 2017 Ingleby Barwick a new leisure centre is to be built on land currently part of All Saints Academy. The scheme, supported by Sport England. Includes a swimming pool and gym.
Sunday February 5th 2017 Npower putting up electricity prices 15%.
DON’T COMPLAIN - JUST SWITCH!!!
DON’T COMPLAIN - JUST SWITCH!!!
Saturday February 4th 2017 “Pay me by results” says Andy Street, Tory candidate for West Midlands Mayor. Street, paid £1m a year as boss of John Lewis, is likely to be paid £100,000pa if elected (Mayor of London Sadiq Khan gets £145,350). Street says he’ll take a pay cut if he fails to deliver his pledges. I have already said I will PAY BACK HALF MY SALARY if elected Tees Valley Mayor on May 4th. This idea you must pay “top dollar” for elected positions is WRONG. Far from attracting the “right calibre” of people, big salaries attract people interested in money, not in serving the people. “But I can make so much more in the private sector” they say. Fine, then go and work in the private sector and leave those of us DEDICATED TO PUBLIC SERVICE to stand for election. Yes, MPs, MEPs etc should be paid a decent salary, but does it HAVE to be so much?
Saturday February 4th 2017 “Labour to spend more in North” Oh yes, so why didn’t they do it when they were in government? Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell says HS2 will benefit the North (he means Liverpool and Leeds). But what about the North East and the Tees Valley? Seems it’s always “jam tomorrow”. McDonnell quotes the National Infrastructure Commission which says projected capital spending per head of population in the North of England will increase by just £1,491 per head by 2020-2021, compared with by £3,114 per head in London. Crossrail's £14.5bn price tag is four times the entire public investment budget for Yorkshire and six times that of the North East.
Friday February 3rd 2017 Just paid £6.57 for a private prescription. Fair enough, last week I had my teeth fixed (big job) privately - didn’t think it justified to charge the NHS - and this is part of the aftermath. But (I think) it’s the first time EVER I have actually paid for a prescription. I read that the standard prescription charge is now £8.40 per item (£16.40 per pair of elastic hosiery). When the NHS was set up in 1948 all prescriptions were free. In 1951 the Labour government brought in charges for teeth and spectacles, causing Aneurin Bevan (founder of the NHS) to resign from the government (I remember it well). A charge of one shilling (5p) per item was introduced by the following Tory government in 1952. Under-16s and over-60s still get them free, along with lots of others with particular medical needs.
Friday February 3rd 2017 Broadcaster Desmond Carrington has died aged 90, only a few weeks after presenting his final programme. His Friday evening BBC Radio 2 show “The Music Goes Round” is one of a handful for which I have a reminder pinned up on my kitchen wall. Yes, folks, old rock’n’roll guy CFW does enjoy some “easy listening” - as well as rock, jazz, blues etc. But I liked Desmond for his easy-going personality as much as his music - an antidote to the brainless, time-filling braying all too often found elsewhere on the airwaves. Carrington starred in ITV’s “Emergency Ward Ten” in the late 1950s - not that I ever watched it. He got his first radio job by claiming he was “a fully experienced broadcaster” (he listened to radio a lot). Full marks for cheek!
Thursday February 2nd 2017 The death of LibDem stalwart (and my great friend) Chris Abbott last month was not only a devastating blow to his family and friends, it robbed the people of Redcar & Cleveland of a tireless campaigner who gave his all for the people he represented. In his 33 years as a dedicated local councillor, Chris help produce no fewer than 324 Focus newsletters for the Newcomen ward - truly “all the year round” service all LibDems aspire to. Now we can CONTINUE CHRIS’S WORK by electing local campaigner LAURA BENSON in the By-Election on Thursday 2nd March. Let’s do it for Chris!
Thursday February 2nd 2017 NO LOCAL ELECTIONS ON MAY 4th in any of the five Tees Valley Boroughs (Hartlepool, Darlington, Stockton, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland) so the Mayoral Election will be on its own. That means a LOW TURNOUT which in turn is an OPPORTUNITY for us - every single LibDem vote will count even more! Four of the five Tees boroughs have had their “all out elections” ie every four years. Hartlepool alone has local elections three years out of four, with a third of the seats up each time: 2017 is a “fallow” year. So let’s make the most of this opportunity!
Thursday February 2nd 2017 My “pal”, supermarket boss Sir Ken Morrison, has died aged 85. I say “my pal” on the strength of two extended interviews I had with the great man at his Bradford HQ as research for a book I was writing. We also discussed at some length the possibility of me “ghosting” his autobiography. He planned to give me office space and secretarial help. This never came off, Sir Ken apologising profusely. Ken Morrison was blunt, down-to-earth, honest, hard-working - everything a Yorkshireman should be (I have Yorkshire blood). I occasionally walked past his home in North Yorkshire (classic, restrained) but never got to visit him there. My favourite Sir Ken saying: “Don’t make ‘presidential’ visits (to stores), just go as an ordinary member of the public”.
Thursday February 2nd 2017 The expansion of Heathrow airport will be a boost to Durham Tees Valley Airport as a regional “hub” with extra flights to and from the capital. The government has issued plans for Heathrow’s long-awaited THIRD RUNWAY for public consultation over the next four months
Wednesday February 1st 2017 RIP OFF RAIL FARES SCRAPPED - and not before time! Blinking obvious, innit?
Wednesday February 1st 2017 My campaign now up and running! Today (Tues) started on the mammoth task of visiting as many LibDem members as possible to seek their support as our candidate for Tees Valley Mayor on May 4th. Naturally, some members do not want to commit themselves - I fully understand - but quite a few have expressed their support: most encouraging! To choose our Mayoral candidate, vote by POSTAL BALLOT (from Returning Officer Nigel Martin) OR in person at the MEMBERS HUSTINGS in Middlesbrough on Tues Feb 21st when the result will be declared and the real campaign begins!
Wednesday February 1st 2017 LIKE MY NEW FB PAGE! (I need all the encouragement I can get!) @chris4teesmayor has been created for Chris Foote Wood for Tees Valley Mayor. It's now easier for people to find your Page in search. People can also visit your Page at fb.me/chris4teesmayor and send messages to your Page at m.me/chris4teesmayor.
Wednesday February 1st 2017 UNLAWFUL SNOOPING BY CLEVELAND POLICE “The Investigatory Powers Tribunal ruled that Cleveland Police acted unlawfully when it used legislation normally used for serious crime and terrorism to track down the source of leaks” (Northern Echo 01.02.17) Cleveland Police spied on the phone records of Northern Echo journalists to find the source of a leak, even though criminal prosecutions had been ruled out. Judges ruled that “there was no lawful basis” for obtaining applications to sieze telephone records under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) in 2012. In total, more than a million minutes’ worth of phone records were checked. RIPA powers should only be used where the police are confident that a crime had been committed and that there is a “reasonable chance” of a prosecution. The judges ruled that the Cleveland Police had acted without proper legal advice. The force made 60 RIPA applications over a six-year period.
Wednesday February 1st 2017 No sacrifice to great! I was looking forward to being at the third annual Renown Film Festival at Rickmansworth on Sunday Feb 12th (had a great time there last year) but have had to cancel due to clashing with the LibDem Mayoral Policy Forum(*) at Stockport that day. Must get priorities right! I was going with my mate Rev Alan Powers, but now he will take his wife Sheila instead. I want to hear all about it, Alan, and bring me back some old film souvenirs! (*) organised by ALDC (Association of LibDem Councillors).
Wednesday February 1st 2017 Once more into the breach, dear friends. Now it can be told, as from 12.01am this Wednesday morning Feb 1st I am allowed to tell you that I am on the short list to be selected as the LibDem candidate for the Tees Valley Mayor on May 4th. This is a BIG JOB and I think I’m just the man to do it! (Never lacked confidence, our Chris). Local LibDem members will decide on our candidate by voting at the Members Hustings in Middlesbrough(*) on Tues Feb 21st or by postal ballot. (*) St Mary’s Centre 82-90 Corporation Road TS1 2 RW 7pm. If you want to know anything about it, or ask me anything about what the new Tees Valley “Metro” Mayor will do, get in touch. If selected, this will be the 43rd time I have been an election candidate
Tuesday January 31st 2017 49,000 gay men cleared of sexual “crimes” no longer against the law. Alan Turing wasn’t the only one! But how much human misery has been caused over the years against men whose only “crime” was to be gay? It’s natural for people to be different from one another: it’s the hatred and prejudice that is unnatural.
Tuesday January 31st 2017 At last! HBOS bankers face jail. Maybe some bankers will go to jail over stealing millions from us. But where were the so-called “Regulators”? In my opinion all these highly-paid “regulators” should be made to pay back ALL the salaries and expenses they got for NOT doing their job, and barred from similar jobs in future.
Monday January 30th 2017 Dementia explosion (the law of unintended consequences). Thanks to better health care, we are living longer. More and more people are suffering dementia - by 2025 over a million in the UK. This terrible disease wreaks havoc for families as loved ones deteriorate. WE MUST WAKE UP TO THIS REALITY! Dementia kills more people than cancer, yet there are six times more scientists working on cancer than on dementia. And then there’s the ever-increasing cost of treatment. The NHS and Social Services are overstretched as it is. What we need is an HONEST DEBATE and a long-term plan to tackle this growing threat.
Saturday January 28th 2017 The death of actor Sir John Hurt aged 77 reminds us of the great width and depth of talent we have in the UK, for which we must be eternally grateful. I’m glad some critics agree with me that, among many, many terrific performances, his stand-out part, for which he won a Bafta as best actor, was as the “outrageous” homosexual Quentin Crisp in the 1975 tv drama “The Naked Civil Servant” (dir Jack Gould) which I believe did much to help reduce prejudice against gays and other “different” people like transgender and no-gender individuals (but there’s still a lot of it out there, folks!)