You just know that if there was a regional table of where student loan repayments would hit the hardest then the North East would sit not so proudly at the top. And so it goes.
Also this week, why the words ‘top jobs’, ‘barge pole’ and ‘wouldn’t touch’ sit uncomfortably in the same sentence in the Tees Valley.
There’s the return of the BBC Proms to the region, some saving to be done around the hospitality sector and cockerels (fwee Bwian!), although any saving has come too late for Fentimans in Hexham.
Plus there’s the remarkable story of how wildlife is thriving in a nuclear wasteland - thanks largely to the fact that there’s none of us there.
No takers for top jobs
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen can’t find anyone suitable to take on two of the top jobs at the combined authority and is having to keep the current interim appointees in place until at least September.
TVCA is legally and constitutionally required to have chief legal (monitoring) and chief finance and resources officers, yet has been without both since the post-holders departed abruptly last summer, says Peter Morris in North East Bylines.
Without filling the posts with permanent appointees it will be virtually impossible for TVCA to free itself from the best value notice (BVN) that the Government imposed on it last April and has recently renewed. That means no chance of progressing its devolution path and accessing more funding in the same way that the North East Combined Authority and others are doing.
“It is hardly surprising that public servants with the qualifications to fill these important posts are not queuing up to fill them,” says Morris.
“In the past three years TVCA has been linked with corruption in the House of Commons (unsubtantiated), severely criticised in the independent Tees Valley Review, hammered in the media, been on the receiving end of a statutory letter from its external auditor and served with a BVN (now renewed) by the Government. No wonder if senior people don’t want to touch it with a barge pole.”
Graduates hit
There’s an inevitable predictability about the answer to the question: which part of the UK will be hardest hit by the decision to freeze the repayment threshold for Plan 2 student loans for three years instead of increasing it in line with inflation?
The freeze will cost graduates an average of £509 in extra loan repayments between 2027 and 2029 as inflation pushes wages above the threshold of £29,385 – but those in the North East and Wales will be hit hardest, according to analysis by the Centre for Business and Economics Research (CEBR).
The economics consultancy’s research for The i Paper found that graduates in the North East will see their repayments rise by 36% compared to 24% in Yorkshire and Humber and 7% in London.
Beatriz Rilo, senior economist at the CEBR, said the differences in graduate salaries and loan repayments reflect the country’s “high regional inequality”. She said: “In areas with fewer graduate jobs, employers face less competition for talent and therefore do not need to offer high salaries.”
United visit
Keir Starmer joined colleagues Lucy Powell, Anna Turley and Chi Onwurah on a visit to the Newcastle United Foundation yesterday. It came as the Prime Minister continued to face calls for his resignation over the decision to appoint former Hartlepool MP Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.
The united front at NUCASTLE, the foundation’s community hub, was in stark contrast to what was happening in Mandelson’s former constituency where current MP Jonathan Brash became the first Labour MP to explicitly call for Starmer to go.
‘Slap in the face’
It took the sending of 15 letters before Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen secured a meeting with Wes Streeting to discuss the ageing University Hospital of North Tees in Stockton - only for the Health Secretary to cancel Monday’s meeting at short notice. Something to do with a Commons hoo-ha about an ambassador, apparently.
“It is clear to everyone that action needs to be taken as soon as possible to deliver a new hospital,” the mayor said.
“I have a plan and I want to get on and deliver. However the lack of interest from this Government is a slap in the face for every patient needing vital treatment and each hard-working member of NHS staff forced to work in sub-standard conditions.”
Ex Tory MP becomes Reform leader
Alan Amos, who was Conservative MP for Hexham between 1987 and 1992, has become leader of the Reform group on Worcestershire County Council, where the party lead a minority administration.
The 73-year-old was first elected to the council in 2013 as a Labour member before rejoining the Conservatives in 2015. He sat as an Independent in 2025 before announcing his move to Reform at the start of the month.
As an MP, Amos was known for his tough views on crime, saying rapists and muggers should be flogged. He resigned as Hexham MP shortly before the 1992 election after being arrested and cautioned for alleged indecency, but was not charged with any offence.
For the life of Brian
A 14-year-old is urging Durham County Council to reverse a ban on keeping cockerels on allotments. Tom Barker Amos from Bishop Auckland said his pet cockerel, Brian, is an “integral part of my life” and improves his mental health.
Tom and his dad have kept Brian along with several other cockerels at an allotment for three years, but fear that some would have to be euthanised as owners struggle to rehome them.
Hospitality priorities
NE1, which represents Newcastle’s city centre businesses, has written to all parties ahead of next month’s elections asking them to support the hospitality sector by scrapping the night time levy, appointing a Cabinet member with specific responsibility for the sector, drawing up a strategic plan, and lobbying with licensees for national reform of business rates.
Greggs milestone
Greggs has saved more than six million meals from going to waste through its partnership with surplus food marketplace Too Good To Go. The partnership began in 2021, and today food can be saved from more than 2,000 Greggs shops across the UK.
All at sea
“Hello. DFDS? I’d like to book 1,400 return tickets from Tyneside to Amsterdam please.”
I’m sure the booking didn’t go quite like that, but this week saw the Army use a civilian ferry to deploy soldiers to mainland Europe for the first time in more than 20 years. From the Netherlands, it was trains to central Germany for a NATO exercise.
I frequented the bars and duty free shops when I made the 16-hour DFDS crossing, but they were off limits to the soldiers - although they could enjoy bingo, karaoke and music.
Proms back in region
The BBC Proms season is embracing the North East once again with a fourth residency at The Glasshouse in Gateshead and concerts at the Fire Station in Sunderland and Middlesbrough Town Hall.
The Gateshead weekend, scheduled for July 23-25, will feature a collaboration between Nadine Shah and Royal Northern Sinfonia. The Unthanks, meanwhile, will join the Sinfonia in Middlesbrough on July 23. David Whetstone has all the details here.
Sent for scrutiny
It was announced three weeks ago (Eyes & Ears 03.04.26) that the owners of the Metrocentre and Gateshead Council had signed an agreement to deliver Metro Riverside, a 20-year regeneration project around the giant shoppinc centre.
Now the MetroGreen Area Action Plan has been sent to the Government so that an independent inspector can be appointed to scrutinise the project before the plans are formally adopted by the council.
A quick word
Teachers at Haydon Bridge High School have called off their series of strikes over poor pupil behaviour after the head teacher stepped down and a new leadership team brought in. The urgent treatment centre at Shotley Bridge Hospital in County Durham has resumed overnight services after being closed between midnight and 8am since July because of staff shortages. The Shields Ferry will resume service next week after damage to its north landing by Storm Chandra on January 29 meant crossings had to be suspended. Reform UK has expelled a candidate for failing to declare his former membership of the British National Party. David Prior was standing for the party in Saltwell for a seat on Gateshead Council. Banking hubs have opened in the Northumberland towns of Alnwick and Prudhoe. Prudhoe’s is based in a temporary home in the town’s Spetchells Centre, while Alnwick has a new permanent location on Paikes Street. A huge solar farm covering 14 fields at Burnhope is now likely to go ahead after the Planning Inspectorate overruled Durham County Council’s decision to reject planning permission, saying the need to tackle climate change and achieve Net Zero targets outweighed concerns. Sunderland Pianoforte Society keeps a rare Model D Steinway in Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens. But the venue will close for a multimillion-pound redevelopment later this year, leaving the group in need of a new home for the rare instrument.
Truly groundbreaking
The official groundbreaking ceremony was held this week to mark the first spades in the ground at the £30m Sir Bobby Robson Institute next to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.
Son Mark Robson, chair of the foundation which is funding the research and treatment centre, said: “Dad had incredible drive and strength to have a 55-year career in football and his battle with cancer after that. He knew he was going to pass away, but he set up this foundation with the hope of improving treatments and that’s exactly what’s happening. It would be a great moment for him if he was here.”
Green for go
Newcastle College has secured planning permission for an £8.5m expansion of its Energy Academy in Wallsend. The development could see student numbers triple over the next five years. The college will also become the only provider in the UK offering green skills training from entry level through to postgraduate study.
Shortlist announced
The Turner Prize shortlist has been announced and it’s of more than usual interest to culturally aspirant Middlesbrough whose MIMA art gallery hosts this year’s competition. An exhibition of work by the four artists will open there in September running into 2027 when MIMA will celebrate its 20th anniversary.
Harry Potter spectacle
Drones as weapons of modern warfare have been part of far too many news bulletins in recent years – but drone technology has a benign use in the world of entertainment.
You’ll see this at Newcastle Racecourse in August when a mighty flock of drones - some 1,200 of them - will be used to mark 25 years of Harry Potter on screen.
Entertainment tech platform Fever has joined with Warner Bros. Discovery Global Experiences to create the show which is touring this year, billed as “a first-of-its-kind open-air drone spectacle”. David Whetstone has more in Cultured. North East.
Business briefs
Nissan has unveiled the all-electric Juke at its headquarters in Japan and said it will be built in Sunderland. The first trial phase of production is expected to start in the next few weeks. HTA Real Estate and CBRE have been appointed joint agents for the 126-acre West Hartford Park development in Cramlington. Dean Cook, MD of Arlington Real Estate, said: “West Hartford Park offers something genuinely unique in the North East: scale, power, connectivity and proximity to a deep-water port.” North East leisure and entertainment operator Lane 7 has acquired mini golf-led hospitality brand Par 59, including its sites in Cardiff and Bristol. North East-based data services company Seriös Group achieved record growth of 53% during its 2025-26 financial year after securing a number of prominent clients. Darlington Building Society’s latest results show a record year driven by strong mortgage growth, rising savings, higher profits, and total assets passing £1bn for the first time. Radiator manufacturer Stelrad Group has named Martyn Coffey as its new non-exec director and chair designate. He will succeed Bob Ellis as chair after the company’s AGM on May 20. Amended plans for 465 homes, commercial space, and an aparthotel near the Stadium of Light have been recommended for approval following an objection from Sunderland AFC. Cramlington company Compass Developments has secured the contract for the £2.5m restoration of Woodhorn Museum’s historic Heapstead structures. Scottish soft drinks giant AG Barr, the maker of Irn Bru, has confirmed that it will close the Fentimans site in Hexham following a £38m deal to buy the company at the start of February. The rising cost of fuel has resulted in Mavi Gok Airlines scrapping its Teesside to Turkey service before it had a chance to take off in July.
2009 ad break
Cadburys suffered a huge reputational hit in 2006 because of the way they mishandled a salmonella contamination crisis. Afterwards, the company deliberately stopped talking about chocolate and instead made ads designed to make people smile and feel happy.
It was a brand‑rebuilding strategy, not a product‑advertising strategy.
The Gorilla ad featuring the drum solo from Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight (which I’ve already featured) was the first in the series. This is the second from 2009. Two kids sit for a school photo then silently ‘dance’ with their eyebrows to Freestyle’s Don’t Stop The Rock.
THE WIDER VIEW
Without humans…
It is 40 years since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster that led to the creation of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ). No one is allowed to live there. Commercial activities, natural resource extraction and public access are all banned.
Amazingly, in the meantime it has turned into a thriving, unintentional wildlife sanctuary and a vast rewilding laboratory. Populations of wolves, foxes, Eurasian lynx, elk and wild boar have significantly increased. Species such as brown bears and European bison have returned.
The lack of human hunting, agriculture and development has a more positive impact on animal numbers than radiation has a negative one, reports Nick Dunn, Professor of Urban Design at Lancaster University in The Conversation.
Large mammal populations in the Belarusian sector of the zone are comparable to, or higher than, those in uncontaminated nature reserves.
There is no doubt that initial radiation caused major damage to flora and fauna, most notably in the red forest, a 10km² area that earned its name after pine trees died and turned red-brown due to high radiation absorption. Yet long-term studies show that biodiversity has increased in the absence of humans.
Professor Dunn’s report includes this 12-minute video on the accidental laboratory for evolution.
On a similar note…
Monkeys in Gibraltar have learned to eat mud and dirt as a way to soothe their stomachs from all the junk food they get from tourists.
We humans really do have a lot to answer for.
Another scandal - same outcome
The media exposes a scandal – a network of rich, powerful men are abusing teenage girls. Outrage spreads fast and the public demands that authorities reveal the evidence and bring the perpetrators to justice. Yet the system shields many of those involved. The men accused by campaigners of exploiting underage girls are not charged and go unpunished.
It sounds so familiar.
Yet this is a story that unfolded in Victorian Britain, as reported in The Conversation this week. A series of newspaper articles exposed systemic abuse and trafficking of young girls. There was uproar. Parliament was inundated with petitions and there was a huge demonstration in Hyde Park. MPs were forced to respond, passing legislation which raised the age at which girls could consent to sexual intercourse from 13 to 16.
Yet the rich Americans, MPs, lords, dukes, and foreign royalty who were named in a campaigning newspaper were never brought to justice.
It sounds so familiar.
Nicholas
End quote
I read The Knowledge most days. Their newsletter always ends with a quote. I particularly liked this one from yesterday:
