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Wealth and health
We hear a lot about ‘child poverty’ and ‘food inequality’. Those phrases came to life for me this week in a stark report from a public health expert.
The richest fifth of households only need to spend 11% of their income on food. The poorest fifth spend 45% - a figure that jumps to a shocking 70% when you only include families with children.
The figures were contained in a report by Professor Alice Wiseman to Newcastle City Council where she warned that food inequality is driving “unmanageable healthcare demands on the NHS,” leaving people with problems ranging from chronic stress and isolation to malnutrition, tooth decay and heart disease.
The numbers don’t get any better, with nearly a quarter of North East households unable to afford adequate food, meaning meals are being missed and an over-reliance on cheaper, unhealthier products.
Professor Wiseman, director of public health for Newcastle and Gateshead, called for urgent action to create a fairer system where everyone has the right to affordable and nutritious food.
‘As poor as I’ve seen’
A six-month road trip using public transport, visiting 312 towns and cities and staying overnight in budget hotels. Not my idea of fun.
Travel blogger Matt Hughes did it to test the reality behind the headlines about ‘worst towns’ and he recorded his journey around the UK on his YouTube channel The Absolute Ranker. He was shocked by the level of deprivation he saw in the North East - in Horden and Peterlee in particular.
He said the County Durham towns were among the poorest places he had seen. “Until you go there you don’t realise how bad it is,” he said. “I’ve been to places like Guatemala which are third world and Horden is on the same level.”
The worst areas were not confined to the North: “You think of Cornwall as this really beautiful place with beaches but there are some really run-down places, like Penzance. Torquay was as bad as Blackpool and Blackpool has the reputation. Torquay doesn’t. That was an eye opener.”
Matt had praise for Worcester, Lincoln, Dundee, Aberdeen and Swansea. He said Liverpool and Newcastle were the two friendliest cities he visited, but believes southerners can be just as sociable as northerners.
Controversial. But he is from Kent.
Mayor on leave
North East Mayor Kim McGuinness is off work after undergoing what was described as routine surgery. She was absent from Tuesday’s North East Combined Authority cabinet meeting in Blyth and will not attend any other mayoral commitments while she recovers at home.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service said she is expected to be off for several weeks and make a full recovery from the operation.
Gateshead council leader Martin Gannon deputised for her in chairing the cabinet meeting, where a new Metro fares structure and a rise in the Tyne Tunnel tolls were agreed. Councillor Gannon said: “I am sure she will be back as quick as she possibly can be. I will be highly surprised if she isn’t actually watching online now to make sure I’m doing things correctly.”
Investment pipeline
The Great North, a partnership formed last year with the seven Northern mayors at its core, could attract more public and private investment by offering a co-ordinated pipeline of investable schemes, according to IPPR North.
The think tank recommends the establishment of a Northern investment board and an investment prospectus with an emphasis on the areas of clean energy, transport, digital technologies and advanced manufacturing.
It called on the Government to work with the partnership and said “regional catch-up in the UK is taking too long and sustained public and private underinvestment is still holding the North back.”
The Great North is chaired by Mayor Kim McGuinness who said: “We welcome IPPR North’s recommendations on pan-Northern investment and developing a strong pipeline of investible propositions: that’s exactly what we will do, bringing these forward at the Great North Investment Summit to showcase our region on the global stage.”
That summit will be held in Leeds in May, just before the annual Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF).
Energy Reform
Clean energy was mentioned as a key sector in the IPPR report above. And it was only last month that Mayor Kim McGuinness hosted an innovation summit in Newcastle where it was said the region has the “biggest opportunity in the country in green energy” (Eyes & Ears 16.01.26).
Then there was the signing of the Hamburg Declaration last week (Eyes & Ears 30.01.26), a pact with our neighbours to turn the North Sea into a shared clean energy powerhouse - with the region again in prime position to play a leading role.
You can forgive some people for thinking then that the clocks had been turned back several decades when they read reports of Durham County Council’s latest meeting.
The Reform-led administration pledged to “reverse Durham’s decline” and improve access to economic opportunities across the county by positioning the region as the industrial heartland of the country.
Council leader Andrew Husband later posted on social media that they had voted to “reindustrialise County Durham, and pragmatically bring Industry Back to our region and the UK. No more Net Stupid Zero!”
Irrespective of whether a local authority can do that or not, the green energy sector in the region employs 25,000 people with hopes to double that number by 2035. The next North East Combined Authority cabinet meeting could be interesting - no matter who is chairing.
Farage in Bigg trouble
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage attended a fundraising lunch in Newcastle last Friday and received a hostile reception on the Bigg Market as he made his way into the Hibou Blanc restaurant.
Protestors began throwing things - I don’t think milkshakes were involved this time - and staff had to close the shutters. Partner Stevie Pattinson, 56, said he was shocked at the level of vitriol and the online abuse directed at him and his staff.
“We are just a neutral space, we are not politically aligned. These young kids are trying to earn a living. They do not deserve this.”
Tees Valley puzzle
Economist JP Spencer has continued his look at individual parts of the North to see what is driving their economies - and found Tees Valley a bit of a puzzle.
He has already said the North East can feel positive about its future economy (Eyes & Ears 23.01.26). His Northern Tour continued on to the land of Ben Houchen where he found two things that stood out from his look at the top ten sectors by Gross Value Added.
“Firstly, the Information and Communication sector, including subsectors like digital and tech, has apparently seen remarkable growth. And secondly that every other sector has seen below average or around average growth compared to the UK.
“Having had a consistent mayor and a politically aligned government for nearly a decade, I expected to see more positive data when I looked at this area. The strange case of Tees Valley is one I want to keep an eye on.”
‘Save my glass centre’
The architect behind the National Glass Centre, which is due to close in July over “unaffordable” repair costs, visited the Sunderland venue last week and said the building should be saved.
Andy Gollifer said the NGC needed “attention”, but said the structure was robust and made to last. He rejected suggestions it could cost up to £45m to repair the building he designed, telling the BBC it would cost less than that to build a brand new site.
A spokesperson for Sunderland University said: “Whilst we appreciate the strength of feeling in some quarters about protecting and preserving the NGC, it must be said that, to date, no individual or organisation has come forward to offer any feasible plan of financial support towards refurbishing or saving the building on the scale that would be necessary.”
A quick word
Campaigners have reacted angrily to plans by Newcastle City Council to scrap cycle lanes on the busy Gosforth High Street in an effort to speed up bus journeys. The trial of Newcastle councillor Thom Campion, who has been charged with sexual assault, has been delayed until June 9. Footballer Andy Carroll has pleaded not guilty to breaching a non-molestation order by repeatedly calling his ex wife in March last year. He attended Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court in crutches after having surgery on a fracture and ligaments at the weekend. Plans for a hotel have been dropped from redevelopment of the Prince Bishops Place shopping centre in Durham. Durham council’s cabinet will have to decide on Wednesday whether to proceed with the long-awaited Toft Hill bypass on the A68. The signs are not good - the cost has tripled to more than £30m. Josh Daniel, head of independent record label Interval Records and chief commercial officer at music development agency Generator, has been appointed to the British Phonographic Industry’s (BPI) Equity and Justice Advisory Group. A Freedom of Information request from the BBC has discovered that South Tyneside is the only one of the 12 North East councils to allow members to have first-class train travel. The Shields Ferry will be out of service for the rest of the month because the storm-damaged landing at North Shields is in a worse condition than first thought. Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi has added a second Newcastle date. His show at Exhibition Park on July 8 was a quick-fire sell-out. He will now perform on Thursday the 9th as well. This year’s Newcastle Puppetry Festival has been cancelled after organisers Moving Parts Arts said it had been unable to get funding. TV chef Phil Vickery is the top name at this year’s Bishop Auckland Food Festival, a free event on April 18 and 19. The Michelin-listed SIX restaurant, with its panoramic views from the top of the Baltic in Gateshead, closed with immediate effect on Sunday after operators the Pneuma Group decided it was no longer viable.
Hope for cafes
Newcastle City Council is now looking for independent operators to take over two park cafes just a week after announcing their closure. The Paddy Freeman’s cafe was closed with immediate effect on January 27 and the one at Exhibition Park is due to close soon.
The fact that the council received expressions of interest may have had something to do with the quick change of mind.
We’ll double it
The fundraising efforts of the biennual Sunday for Sammy concert, which takes place this year at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle on February 15, has received a significant boost.
The Sunday for Sammy Trust helps young people pursue a career in the creative industries and the The Community Foundation’s North East Roots Fund has committed to matchfund what is raised this year to a maximum of £50,000.
Producer Ray Laidlaw said: “Match funding like this gives our audiences and supporters real confidence that every ticket bought and every pound raised will have an even greater impact.”
Glasgow - or go?
Tesco Bank, which was acquired by Barclays in November 2024, is to close it’s office at Quorum Business Park in North Tyneside. The 160 staff are being consulted on a move to Glasgow. Tesco Insurance and Money Services, which is located at the same building, are not affected.
Creative engine
A new £3.8m cultural programme, The Engine Room, is being launched to support creative talent, grow production and raise Tees Valley’s profile on the national stage.
It is funded by the Tees Valley Combined Authority, Arts Council England and Creative Factory and will be delivered by organisations such as MIMA, New Writing North and ARC Stockton.
Business bites
Hexham-based botanical brewery and fizzy drinks brand Fentimans has been bought by the makers of Irn-Bru in a £38m deal. With alcohol sales falling and a growth in upmarket non-alcoholic alternatives, Scottish company AG Barr also paid out £13m to buy Devon-based juice business Frobishers. Middlesbrough Development Corporation board members have been presented with six options for the delayed Gresham regeneration project that is now called Crown Square. Energy giant Equinor has confirmed it will continue to be a platinum business sponsor of the Energy Central Campus in Blyth for another year. Two former council leaders have formed a consultancy business. Building Bridges has been founded by Graeme Miller, ex Sunderland, and Nick Kemp, ex Newcastle, to “bridge the gap between political ambition and real-world delivery.” Bosses are “optimistic about the ongoing and sustained development of Ryder” following a year in which the Newcastle-based architecture practice increased revenues, grew its overseas work and became an Employee Owned Trust.
2001 ad break
I chanced upon this ad for Newcastle Brown Ale featuring the comic genius that is Stephen Merchant. Turns out though, it isn’t a real ad at all - it’s a spoof sketch he filmed for a comedy show and was later shared as a genuine ad.
It’s easy to see why. It’s shot and styled like a beer commercial, aiming the ale formerly brewed in Newcastle at an American audience. Merchant plays it straight - although he does use a naughty word near the end.
I say that to warn any of you who may be offended from clicking on the link. I also realise that this may tempt some of you who weren’t going to click on the link to click on the link.
I’d click on the link if I were you.
THE WIDER VIEW
When Harry met Peter
Harry Pearson is a gifted writer who can look at life through a comic novelist’s eye. His words have graced the pages (screens?) of both The QT and Eyes & Ears and I’m delighted to announce his latest contribution will come to you on Sunday - when he has some good news to impart in his own witty, insightful way.
Peter Mandelson has dominated the news this week and many journalists have spoken about being threatened by the former Hartlepool MP. You can add Harry to the list.
He told me about the time Mandelson spoke up for the town in a letter to the Observer claiming that “there is fine skiing in the Pennines just a short drive away”.
Harry said: “I wrote about this in the Far Corner (his column in The Guardian and title of his first book) and said something to the effect that his political ideas were more Marie Antoinette than Nye Bevan and he complained to my publisher...”
Mandelson has far more serious things to worry about now than being accused of eating cake, and the current Hartlepool MP, Jonathan Brash, took to the floor of the Commons on Wednesday to say: “I think today I speak for Hartlepudlians when I look at the evidence before us and say undoubtedly that Peter Mandelson is a traitor.”
Meanwhile, Martin Farr, senior lecturer in Contemporary British History at Newcastle University, has written an article for The Conversation: ‘The fall of Peter Mandelson and the many questions the UK government must now answer’.
Nicholas
Bum notes
Kate Nash is a successful musician, yet her most recent European tour left her £26,000 out of pocket, and she faced a further £13,000 loss on her UK dates.
Speaking to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee this week, she said: “I was doing everything I could do to cut costs, which I really hate doing as an employer. Now the only reason it is possible for me to do it is because I sell pictures of my bum on the internet.”
The 38-year-old noughties star has been massively vocal on the financial struggles facing the music industry and said she funded her tour through OnlyFans, an online subscription platform where creators charge followers for access to exclusive content.
Big advantage
Staying in the nether regions, and with the Winter Olympics just beginning, there are claims that some male ski jumpers have been injecting hyaluronic acid into their you know whats to gain an advantage.
In ski jumping events, apparently, it really is a case of the bigger (the ski-jumping suit) the better as a larger suit can increase lift and reduce drag - enough to add measurable distance to a jump.
Teams have been punished in the past for tampering with crotch seams to artificially enlarge suit dimensions. Now, it would seem, the athletes are taking things into their own, er, hands.