Category: Politics

Fights and the sale of booze to a drunken underage boy put paid to the Old Dun Cow’s licence after less than six months. Stockton Council’s licensing sub-committee revoked it because of concerns the Stockton town centre nightspot was “not being managed appropriately nor overseen sufficiently well”, despite assurances it had got its act together….

The news comes as one Middlesbrough councillor has told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he is gathering signatures from his fellow Labour councillors across the Tees Valley, ahead of sending a letter to the Work and Pensions Secretary, calling on the Government to “pause” the proposed personal independence payment (PIP) changes and engage with…

Voters in Benfieldside, County Durham, will elect a new county councillor to represent the ward following the resignation of a Reform UK member.  The Durham County Council poll was called after Andrew Kilburn resigned for failing to declare that he was employed by the local authority. He was elected in May with 1,007 votes alongside…

The Cabinet minister said he wants to create the best opportunities for businesses to “put the ball into the net”. He made the comments a day after the Government published its 10-year Industrial Strategy aimed at creating jobs and prosperity in sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), offshore wind power and electric vehicle battery production….

It potentially represents the largest rebellion Sir Keir Starmer has had to face since becoming Prime Minister last July and would be enough to defeat the government if opposition MPs also voted in favour of the amendment. MPs argue that the government has not had a consultation with disabled people before pushing the bill through Parliament…

Concerns have been raised after the party pledged to set up a department of local government efficiency to audit the books after taking over control of Durham County Council in May.  Teams of software engineers, data analysts and forensic auditors will visit and analyse the local authority to “identify wasteful spending and recommend actionable solutions”,…

Councillor Darren Grimes, who represents Annfield Plain and Tanfield, took to social media on Sunday in the middle of a heatwave to say: “Hey it’s humid, mind. I’m sweating like a Labour-ran council in a rape gang inquiry.” The ‘joke’ has been described as ‘simply disgraceful’ by a Labour source and it is understood that…

The plans are to change the use of the first and second floors of Infinity House on Sorbonne Close, Thornaby for student accommodation. A former music room in a ground-floor building will also be converted into a one-bedroom flat for a site manager. The student flats were likened to bedsits in a council report, with…

The debate on Thursday evening was called as part of a plea for Darlington Borough Council to speed up and improve its support of local clubs and sports facilities.  A motion titled: “Supporting Sporting Clubs and Protecting Green Spaces for the Stars of Tomorrow” was tabled by opposition councillors in the hope of encouraging the…

Over the past 11 months I have had the pleasure of representing the towns and villages of North Durham in Westminster, I have raised Parliamentary questions on regeneration, defence, health and transport among other issues. I have spoken in the chamber or Westminster Hall 50 times so far – key topics have included bus services,…