When this week’s news cycle began nobody knew that a political storm would break over North Tyneside. In my last post, written on Friday, I explained that a new Coronavirus ‘variant of concern’ had been identified here in North Tyneside. At that point we had already arranged for local surge testing to be deployed, inContinue reading “The Lockdown That Wasn’t”
Monthly Archives: May 2021
Variant Of Concern
Just when we thought we were almost out of the Coronavirus woods, up pops a “variant of concern”. For the last year I’ve been tracking the Council’s response to Covid very closely as deputy chair of the Covid-19 Engagement Board. As I’ve said before, sterling work by our local Public Health team, NHS and otherContinue reading “Variant Of Concern”
Annual Council Meeting
The Council’s Annual Meeting was held tonight, but it was hardly back to business as usual. The annual meeting is the first time in the municipal year that the full council meets. It involves all elected members, from all parties. Some are newly elected, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Others are furrowed political faces, well-drilled in theContinue reading “Annual Council Meeting”
Future Energy Bills
I just had another fascinating meeting as part of my policy work on the Green Jobs Transition. The meeting was a bit of a scoping exercise involving the opportunity to talk with our new Deputy Mayor, Councillor Johnson, and with the economic growth director from the North of Tyne Combined Authority. I was keen toContinue reading “Future Energy Bills”
Beating Coronavirus Together
Today I attended the monthly Covid-19 Engagement Board, which is chaired by the Mayor. The engagement board was first formed a year ago as a response to the acceleration of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the recognition that a long-term coordinated response was required. To ensure that the board was established with democratic accountability baked-in theContinue reading “Beating Coronavirus Together”
Economic Prosperity
This evening saw the (informal) re-commencement of sub-committees, following a short break for the local elections. I currently sit on four sub-committees: Economic Prosperity, Children, Education & Skills, Housing, and the Health & Wellbeing Board (which technically isn’t a sub-committee, but…) Tonight was the Economic Prosperity sub-committee, which considers all aspects of the economic lifeContinue reading “Economic Prosperity”
Election Results In
Well, I can finally put my phone down after spending most of the day scrolling. Here in the Preston ward of North Shields where two seats were up for grabs the vote split one for us and one for the Conservatives. I’m really happy that my colleague Cathy Davis has been re-elected. She’s really partContinue reading “Election Results In”
The Morning After
Politics requires patience. It isn’t a recommended activity for anyone who is in a rush. Yesterday there were elections in our local area, as there were all around the nation, in different forms. The news this morning is full of opinion, sprinkled with a degree of analysis. But with the majority of results still tricklingContinue reading “The Morning After”
Transparency Matters
I believe that it’s important that we are straight with one another. Transparency is both a personal quality to be respected, and the building block of cohesive community. That’s why I’ve been so upset by the tactics used by the local Conservative candidates in this last election. Residents have been telling me how difficult itContinue reading “Transparency Matters”
Wilson’s Weekly 