Tees Valley Monitor

08/01/2025

Tees Valley Mayor in Pitch to Become Elon Musk's British Best Friend

Houchen has been on social media to make his feelings known about the debate on grooming gangs in parliament today.

07/01/2025

FT today reports mounting pressure on Angela Rayner to launch NAO Teesworks Inquiry

Meanwhile Ray Casey details just how inventive Houchen and others have been about the site, and busts some of the false claims made about it:

Teesworks, Europe's "largest" brownfield site at 4,500 acres, has dominated headlines for five years with promises of 20,000 jobs. But is it all hype?

26/12/2024

Teesside Airport Finds a Good Day to Bury Bad News

Christmas Eve saw the publication of Teesside Airport’s Annual Statement of Accounts …

Teesside Airport publishes annual statement of accounts on Christmas Eve. Losses in 2024 are greater than for the previous year.

23/12/2024

Winter Solstice is Over for Another Year ...

Not much in the papers ...

A good time for the serious reader to consider a major constitutional issue:

English Devolution (and why the Tees Valley mayor is a spanner in the works):

Summary of plans for English devolution and discussion of how it fails to address issues raised by the controversy around the Tees Valley Combined Authority.

10/12/2024

Government Dithering over Houchen

Will they or won't they investigate the Tees Valley mayor? While we wait for the government to make its mind up, Houchen propaganda machine continues to post misinformation about the site.

Tees Valley Monitor has catalogued some of the recent ones:

Government indecision about investigation into Teesworks continues. Misinformation about the site continues to be published by the mayor

12/11/2024

PD Ports announces clean-up at South Gare
South Gare used to be one Teesside's hidden gems, enormous sandy beaches looked after by an army of volunteers, and now also by PD Ports, which is taking action against anti-social behaviour there.

We eagerly await a corresponding statement from Teesworks, which controls about half of the Gare.

Statement from PD Ports:

"Action is being taken by PD Ports to clean up the iconic South Gare and tackle a sharp rise in anti-social behaviour at the site.

"This summer saw the gare overwhelmed with campervans and other vehicles, often staying for extended periods and leaving behind litter and other waste, which escalated due to the site being incorrectly highlighted as a free or ‘wild’ camping site on social media.

"The large number of vehicles in the area also blocked emergency vehicle access and is compromising PD Ports’ own operational activities in the area and that of the licenced tenants on the site, including fishermen and conservation groups.

"A height restriction barrier and other infrastructure is now being installed on South Gare Road, at the boundary of PD Ports’ private land, to manage and safeguard the operational and environmental needs of the area.

"PD Ports chief executive officer Frans Calje said: “The South Gare is a local landmark and a place of outstanding natural beauty and wildlife.

“Unfortunately, the site has become a free-for-all for those who mistakenly believe a number of ‘wild’ camping apps and social media groups that it is a suitable place to camp.

“We’ve received a number of complaints from local residents and licenced tenants of the various facilities on the gare about anti-social behaviour and inconsiderate parking – after monitoring the situation it has become clear that it is not sustainable.

“If there was an emergency on the gare itself, or out on the water or the beach, the current situation would make it very difficult for emergency vehicles to access the area.

“We have not taken this decision lightly but the sharp rise in the number of people behaving inappropriately in this area means we have no choice. As the responsible authority for South Gare, we must ensure it is protected – both operationally and environmentally.

“We trust this action will restore the South Gare to a peaceful, well-managed state.”

09/11/2024

Jobs at Risk at Teesside British Steel Plants

Financial Times is reporting this morning that government is holding talks with British Steel owner Jingye to avert the closure of all of its UK plants and abandon all plans to build electric arc furnaces.

Jingye failed to reach agreement on a support package with the last government, but had agreed to delay closure of the Scunthorpe blast furnace until EAFs were built. That agreement has now been withdrawn, putting investment on Teesside at risk as well as existing jobs at Lackenby and Skinningrove.

The FT reports that Jonathan Reynolds is holding talks offering an improved support package. That package is considerably more generous that anything offered previously, but so far Jingye appears to remain indifferent.

Reynolds is currently blaming the last government for failing to invest in carbon capture technology at the Scunthorpe plant which would have made it more viable. (we note that the last government’s indifference to the strategic importance of this industry manifested itself in other ways as well, such as blocking moves by the EU to protect its steel producers from cheap imports of Chinese steel, while the issue of underinvestment in the industry goes back much further than the last administration).

There has, as yet, been no breakthrough in talks.

05/11/2024

Badenoch-Houchen

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Hard times for Badenoch as she tries to make cabinet appointments given that the available talent pool is little more than a puddle these days. So, what are we to make of this report in Politico yesterday morning?

"Hold your horses: Two people tell Playbook a report that Badenoch had offered the job of deputy to Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen was premature."

Either: Badenoch never asked him, and it’s just fevered speculation by journalists/Tory activists
Or: She asked, and Houchen more or less politely declined the offer

Given that Houchen is now the only Tory in power, it would be a surprise if Badenoch hadn’t at least given the idea of bringing him into the shadow cabinet some consideration. If she hasn’t, then Houchen has been snubbed (which may turn out to be a missed opportunity for her).
So, we have to look at the other option, that Houchen was asked and refused. Why would he do that?

In the first place there is the matter of policy, net zero for example. Badenoch is against, while Houchen has staked at least 50% of his reputation on rebuilding Teesside’s economy on the back of it.
Also, Houchen keeps well away from political controversy (except where it’s of his own making) while Badenoch does not. Join her cabinet, and automatically you become her apologist. That could be a tough call for any aspiring monarch-maker.
But whether or not maintaining a distance from Badenoch is a smart move possibly depends less on her than it does on the outcome of the US election. If Trump loses, she remains a belligerent voice in the background of British politics, hot under the collar on issues that are fairly low on most other people’s agenda, a voice that will lead her party to resounding defeat in the 2029 GE.
A Trump victory, on the other hand, shifts the whole landscape, lending credibility (and support, and probably funding) to right wing figures everywhere. Without lifting a finger, she may become a force to be reckoned with, and those who have kept her at arm’s length will be left out in the cold.
In one respect, however, Houchen’s absence from the Tory cabinet (if that is what transpires) is a failure of leadership on Badenoch’s part. The government is procrastinating over the proper investigation into his conduct at the TVCA. She could easily have turned their indecision to her own advantage by presenting Houchen as an asset to her party. Once in the shadow cabinet, any investigation into Houchen and the TVCA commissioned by the government just starts to look vindictive and partisan.
Two days in the job for Badenoch and a significant opportunity may have been missed already. Perhaps Wednesday will bring her better news.

25/10/2024

Teesworks Magical Mystery Tour

Houchen loyalists clamouring for (free) tickets, but they're 'sold out', claims the latest FB announcement.

The announcement is accompanied by a photo, now with no view of Teesworks at all, only PD Ports' land at Tees Dock:

25/10/2024

Less Mess Without Eton
The people happiest about the recent announcement that plans for Eton College in Middlesbrough must be the heads of the regions' private schools, whose 6th forms would be emptied out were an elite school to enter the mix on their patch.

24/10/2024

Teesworks Tours for the Faithful

Tickets for the Teesworks tours in November have sold out. Tickets that were advertised by Houchen on his social media sites, the ones from which so many TVM readers tell us they have been blocked.

Effectively, these events are being staged only for members of the mayor's fan base, as only they have access to his social media. And are then entertained at public expense.

As for us at TVM, we would very much like to go on a guided tour of the Teesworks site. But we're not expecting that to happen any time soon.

24/10/2024

Eton Mess?
Eton college in Middlesbrough may not go ahead
reports that plans for Eton-sponsored colleges have been put on hold, as Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has stated that they may be poor value for money.
Lamentation from Sir Simon Clarke over it

23/10/2024

Roll up for the Teesworks Tour!
(photo ID and suspension of disbelief essential)
Teesworks is today offering guided tours.

Mayor Houchen is promoting them. But check out the image on the ad. It's Tees Dock. Owned by PD Ports, but not part of Teesworks. Oops!

23/10/2024

Block Shock

Middlesbrough mayor, Chris Cooke, blocks Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen, on social media.
What responsible politician would do a thing like that?

Would any other politician in this region behave in this way?
Would that person go even further and block 1000s of people from even seeing his social media posts?
Would that person then use his social media to make public service announcements?
Who would do such a thing?

The Tees Valley mayor only blocks his constituents in the most extreme of circumstances, as, for example, when someone fails his mayoral adulation test.

22/10/2024

Middlesbrough Cycle Lane. The Plot Thickens
Middlesbrough mayor, Chris Cooke, has, in fact already made a statement on social media in which he accuses Ben Houchen of being obstructive over the removal of the offending cycle lane:

22/10/2024

Update on Middlesbrough Cycle Lane

Within the past few hours mayor Houchen has posted the following on social media. We have now contacted Middlesbrough mayor, Chris Cooke, to request a statement on the matter.

22/10/2024

Whatever happened to 'Active Travel'?

The last government's active travel initiative was nowhere more ludicrous than in Middlesbrough. A TVM reader, Callum Bowler, recently presented the facts behind the chaos. We think his comments deserve a wider audience.

17/10/2024

Who's still talking about the North East crustacean die-off?

If you thought this was yesterday's news, the members of the Crustacean Mortality Expert Panel don't agree.

3 of those members, who produced the notorious panel report in January 2023 that claimed it was likely that the die-off was the work of an 'unknown pathogen' have been complaining that media coverage at the time was 'inaccurate' and politicised an issue that really just needed input from impartial scientists.

Except that all they achieve is to defend Defra all over again.

As Tees Valley Monitor was among the media involved at the time, we have prepared a response, present all the awkward bits of evidence that the panel members prefer to avoid:

The panel that considered mass crustacean die-off in North East waters in 2021 have been complaining about poor media coverage. We explain why it was justified