I was at full council last week as the Conservative Party accused Labour of a parking charge hike that they themselves instigated through the Teesside Mayor removing parking funding. After the meeting an imaginary coalition between the Lib Dems and Labour was created by the Conservatives as their next attempt to create a campaign in the run up to next year's general election.
This is the level that politics is at - petty imaginary gutter squabbles.
Beyond the nonsense, I did get an opportunity to rifle home a few truths about increasing mortgage rates, food inflation and the highest tax rate since 1946- but my stride was broken by the smirking face of the Redcar MP Jacob Young who was busy laughing with his two employees sat next to me. Both are councillors in Wheatlands but Jack Symon appears to live in Loftus. So the connection with a Redcar is suburb is questionable. Their behaviour was even more questionable.
I also got in the fact I had asked for an investigation by R&C into Teesworks, which Alex Brown, the Labour council leader, had seemingly ignored. This is how much of a "coalition" is occuring between my party and Labour. A coalition were I lay into Labour for breaking environmental promises and not being transparent. Let's be clear: the Lib Dems don't do coalitions with Labour or the Tories (we've learnt that lesson).
On my Facebook page I have details about the incinerator and the broken 2030 pledge.
My antipathy for Labour goes way beyond rigged selections. The transfer of public land (our land as taxpayers) to private interests, I also detest and Labour are just as guilty as the Tories for this.
The Tories have done so with Teesworks and Teesside Airport Business Park. Now Labour are proposing to give land away in central Redcar to Coatham Arena Limited (CAL). I'm sympathetic to an Arena, I vaguely remember my dad going to a concert at the Coatham Bowl. However, a reported secretive deal of a 125-year lease to a private company is a big "no" from me.
It appears the local Labour regime have the same loose morals on public land and finances as the local Tory regime.
Transferring public assets to private hands makes the majority worse off as the profits from the land are privatised. The arena, if it remains an arena and isn't turned into housing later down the lease, is small change compared to Teesworks and the Teesside Airport Business Park.
It's likely up to £1bn in lost future taxpayer revenue has been sacrificed by handing over those two Tees plots to two private individuals.
Such processes are better placed in Russia, but when we have an oligarch in charge in the UK in the form of the oil-stained Rishi Sunak, an oligarchy is what we should expect.
I was in an online dailogue [loose term for the event] with the Tees Mayor this week, over £7M that was allegedly transferred to the Tees Valley Combined Authority from R&C. The figure coming from two former cabinet members. I know the amount is at least a notional £4M from here. Is this cash that was destined to be spent on R&C or a physical payment out? That is what I'm now trying to determine. While the Mayor was online I had the opportunity to ask who had control of Airport Business Park decisions. The Mayor responded to every question with "you must apologise" likely arguing R&C never made a payment. Which led me to think I was speaking with AI or a chat-bot. Either way, £4M or £7M, notional or actual, we are footing the bill for the airport as R&C taxpayers through reduced services and council tax rises - as the combined stake in the airport of the councils is reportedly only 11%. So future dividends are unlikely. Trying to establish facts on the matter is not easy. I hope the Mayor is correct in his assertion that R&C money hasn't been used but it doesn't explain away the lost notional £4-7M.
This leads us nicely to the fact that as a councillor I've had to resort to submitting FOIs to R&C to find out facts. I've had numerous unanswered "members' enquiries" over the past three months and sadly I expect the tendance to continue.
If all this sounds frustrating, it is.
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