Houchenism is now officially a thing. Will Hutton in tonight's Guardian/tomorrow's Observer
Houchenism is now officially a thing. Will Hutton in tonight's Guardian/tomorrow's Observer
Houchen appears to be delivering to make Teesside a better more vibrant place. I can’t understand why people who live here can be against it. I couldn’t care less what colour tie you wear, if you’re gonna do your damnedest to make my area of the country a better place to live with more opportunities then you’ll get my vote. If you’re going to take me for granted and sit on your laurels, you won’t. More power to him I say and I hope he continues to pull the correct strings to drive through the improvements and opportunities this area needs.
Or are over sixteen years of age ?Seems to just be a few out of touch “labour for life” types on here who can’t quite grasp that Houchen maybe does want to make the area better and that not everyone in blue has an ulterior motive.
I question whether many of them even live in the north east.
Or are over sixteen years of age ?
Of course it's true and is what I was alluding to. Houchen is lucky with many things. Life is like that mind and it's important to recognise opportunity and act on it. He's done that but people shouldn't think it's all because of him. It would have happened anyway.Any investment in the area is welcome and BH has successfully become the figurehead for the area - now even on the national scene. He has however something of a reputation amongst local authority figures as a ‘piggy-backer’ ie claiming success for projects that have been in the planning for years or done by someone else - much to their frustration. Whether this is true/justified who knows/cares?
I doubt you’ll get many fanboy replies to this. Everyone wants him to do well because we all want Teesside to do well there’s just “happy clappers” and “ believe it when we see it” people. And as for the start arme comment from Alzi about living local, if the hag Thatcher and her cronies (ooh look Tories again!!) hadn’t destroyed Teeside then I would imagine the vast majority of us would still be fcuking well living there!Discussing Houchen’s achievements is worthwhile and whilst not criticising his efforts or that his commitment to the area there does seem to be some discord between the figures and the general perception of his delivery.
1. Since Houchen took over as Mayor, unemployment in TVCA has risen from 4.0% to 7.9
2. Since Houchen took over as Mayor the number of jobs in TVCA has shrunk by 11,789.
3. Since Houchen took over as Mayor the number of people claiming benefits outside of Covid furlough etc in TVCA has risen from 16,795 to 32,314.
Let’s have a look at the 18,000 additional jobs that have been promised, in the small print there’s an important caveat that seems to be overlooked and that is the potential of up to 18k jobs, the reality is the current scope seems set to create around 3.5k long term full time jobs and around 6k short term construction and supply chain jobs, whilst that’s still great for the area that’s only around half the jobs that are being promised and still leaves an overall employment shortfall of approx 2.5k.
The airport having a link to London is great and it’s hard to make judgements in the current restricted climate of whether that will be a success, the concern is already routes have been reduced and the funding of the deal looks to put any shortfall in running costs onto the LA rather than the operator.
Freeport’s are not a new idea and have been tried in the past in the U.K. with limited success, you can go back to the Anglo-Hanseatic war to show what happens when a country goes it alone after a long time trading alliance.
Regardless of piggybacking etc Houchen has spent x10 more than any other Mayor or politician on social media advertising, so his reach is wide spread but isn’t unbiased.
So whilst not questioning Houchen’s desire to improve the area there is the question of who do we point the finger at for the figures, have the National government botched the surgery and is Houchen the aftercare nurse doing his best with sticking plasters and paracetamol or is he to blame and has the use of his £470m budget failed to deliver as he has claimed.
The first balanced, informed and accurate post I've read about Houchen.Discussing Houchen’s achievements is worthwhile and whilst not criticising his efforts or that his commitment to the area there does seem to be some discord between the figures and the general perception of his delivery.
1. Since Houchen took over as Mayor, unemployment in TVCA has risen from 4.0% to 7.9
2. Since Houchen took over as Mayor the number of jobs in TVCA has shrunk by 11,789.
3. Since Houchen took over as Mayor the number of people claiming benefits outside of Covid furlough etc in TVCA has risen from 16,795 to 32,314.
Let’s have a look at the 18,000 additional jobs that have been promised, in the small print there’s an important caveat that seems to be overlooked and that is the potential of up to 18k jobs, the reality is the current scope seems set to create around 3.5k long term full time jobs and around 6k short term construction and supply chain jobs, whilst that’s still great for the area that’s only around half the jobs that are being promised and still leaves an overall employment shortfall of approx 2.5k.
The airport having a link to London is great and it’s hard to make judgements in the current restricted climate of whether that will be a success, the concern is already routes have been reduced and the funding of the deal looks to put any shortfall in running costs onto the LA rather than the operator.
Freeport’s are not a new idea and have been tried in the past in the U.K. with limited success, you can go back to the Anglo-Hanseatic war to show what happens when a country goes it alone after a long time trading alliance.
Regardless of piggybacking etc Houchen has spent x10 more than any other Mayor or politician on social media advertising, so his reach is wide spread but isn’t unbiased.
So whilst not questioning Houchen’s desire to improve the area there is the question of who do we point the finger at for the figures, have the National government botched the surgery and is Houchen the aftercare nurse doing his best with sticking plasters and paracetamol or is he to blame and has the use of his £470m budget failed to deliver as he has claimed.
The sixth former WOKE brigade will invade this thread and scold anyone/thing that dares applaud H’s good work .
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@American_Mary what’s the source? This information something that needs to be considered wider. A progress review is something the Gazette seems reluctant to do - that said this article was buried away at the foot off the app last week.Discussing Houchen’s achievements is worthwhile and whilst not criticising his efforts or that his commitment to the area there does seem to be some discord between the figures and the general perception of his delivery.
1. Since Houchen took over as Mayor, unemployment in TVCA has risen from 4.0% to 7.9
2. Since Houchen took over as Mayor the number of jobs in TVCA has shrunk by 11,789.
3. Since Houchen took over as Mayor the number of people claiming benefits outside of Covid furlough etc in TVCA has risen from 16,795 to 32,314.
Let’s have a look at the 18,000 additional jobs that have been promised, in the small print there’s an important caveat that seems to be overlooked and that is the potential of up to 18k jobs, the reality is the current scope seems set to create around 3.5k long term full time jobs and around 6k short term construction and supply chain jobs, whilst that’s still great for the area that’s only around half the jobs that are being promised and still leaves an overall employment shortfall of approx 2.5k.
The airport having a link to London is great and it’s hard to make judgements in the current restricted climate of whether that will be a success, the concern is already routes have been reduced and the funding of the deal looks to put any shortfall in running costs onto the LA rather than the operator.
Freeport’s are not a new idea and have been tried in the past in the U.K. with limited success, you can go back to the Anglo-Hanseatic war to show what happens when a country goes it alone after a long time trading alliance.
Regardless of piggybacking etc Houchen has spent x10 more than any other Mayor or politician on social media advertising, so his reach is wide spread but isn’t unbiased.
So whilst not questioning Houchen’s desire to improve the area there is the question of who do we point the finger at for the figures, have the National government botched the surgery and is Houchen the aftercare nurse doing his best with sticking plasters and paracetamol or is he to blame and has the use of his £470m budget failed to deliver as he has claimed.