Snow Causing School Closures and Traffic Disruption in County Durham - Useful Links For Up To Date Information

The snow is continuing to cause havoc in County Durham, with 88 schools in the county being closed.

The Journal has a list of all the schools closed in the county, as well as updated traffic news, here:

http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2010/01/07/school-closures-61634-25528474/

The Northern Echo have a similar list here:

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/4840274.Latest_school_closures__Friday/

GO North East are updating information about their buses in the area here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gateshead/Go-North-East/215880875709

As Durham Runs Short Of Salt and Grit - Government Ignored A Report Suggesting Action For Five Months

Durham County Council has announced that it is going to restrict the use of salt on the roads "due to the current under-supply and future uncertainty regarding the supply of salt." Across the North East and across the country, local councils are running desparately short of salt as the very cold snap continues.

It seems that the Government has been sitting on a report that was published in August 2009, about how local authorities should respond to cold weather. Government Ministers didn't bother to respond to the report until 15th December - when it became clear that bad weather was on the way.

The report contained 19 recommendations, which could have meant that the shortages and chaos across the country could have been alleviated. It is a shame that the Government sat on its hands for five months and didn't do anything that could have helped with the supply of salt.

If Gordon Brown's Party Has No Confidence In His Ability To Be Prime Minister, Why Should The People Of North Durham?

The Labour Party really is in an unholy mess.

Once again, senior figures in the Party have made clear that they have absolutely no confidence in Gordon Brown as Prime Minister. Once again, Cabinet Members have made clear in private (according to multiple sources) that they have no confidence in Gordon Brown as Prime Minister. Once again, Cabinet Ministers have shown that they do not have guts to 'resolve' the issue of the Labour leadership.

So we have a Prime Minister without the confidence of his party and we have a Cabinet who have been shown, time and time again, to be devoid of guts - all 'off the record' talk and no action.

The people of North Durham will be right to ask one very straightforward question after todays events - 'If his own Party don't even have confidence in Gordon Brown's ability as Prime Minister, then why on earth should we?'

Heavy Snow In North East For Weeks. National Media Panics As 'Snow Showers Head South'

We all know that the national media has an inherent South Eastern bias. I have blogged about it before here. Nowhere does this become clearer than the hysterical panic that grips the media when London has more than a flake of snow.

The North East has had heavy snow, on and off, for over two weeks now. The snow in the past few days has closed roads, closed schools and affected transport links. Durham Tees Valley Airport was closed yesterday due to an icy runway. Amidst all of this, the national, London based media didn't feel fit to give the story any more than a passing mention.

All seemed to change this morning though. The main media outlets had as their headline story the fact that 'snow showers are heading South'. Doubtless, if snow does hit London and the Home Counties, elements of the national, Southern based media will be on the the verge of calling for a state of emergency. Perhaps, one of these days, the national media might rebalance itself from its Southern bias. That will, of course, only happen when the North East is represented by MPs willing to stand up for the region and assert their North Eastern pride.

Strengthening The NHS and Improving Health Outcomes For The Poorest

I think the NHS is a great British institution. I'm forever in its debt for all of the care it has given to me my family. I'm perpetually humbled by the skill and dedication of everybody who works within the NHS. I believe in an NHS free at the point of delivery and an NHS that delivers the best health outcomes in the world. Today's speech by David Cameron made clear that a Conservative Government will be strongly committed to making the NHS even better.

That is why the Conservatives are ring-fencing health spending. It is why we are dedicated to genuinely creating a patient centred NHS - providing detailed information to patients so patients can be clear about the standard of services provided and can make more informed decisions than ever about their treatment. It is why we will free professionals in the NHS from process driven targets.

We will also ensure that the health inequalities that have grown worse under Labour are remedied. Under Labour, the difference in life expectancy between the richest and poorest in society has grown. The gap is now larger than it has been since the 19th Century. Public health funding will be weighted so that extra resources go to the poorest areas with the worst health outcomes. This equals real and decisive action to tackle the health inequalities that Labour have allowed to widen

Polly Toynbee Pinpoints Labour's Failure To Help The Less Well Off

I don't always agree with what Polly Toynbee writes. Although I do share her political priorities of improving social mobility and reducing poverty. Her column in yesterday's Guardian was spot on about Labour's failure and the failure of Gordon Brown. Of particular importance is her analysis of how Labour's record affects the less well off in society:

Growth in his [Gordon Brown's] time was profoundly unfairly shared – over half the population saw virtually no growth at all; GDP per capita is a fraudulent measure that disguises how almost all growth went to the top 10%, and most to the top 1%... Middle Britain did badly however hard they worked and "played by the rules". Whose rules?... Brown cannot admit the monumental error he and Ed Balls made in their economic policies because there are some mistakes just too big to apologise for.

This comes only a few months after she damned Labour's record on social mobility:

"on Labour's watch, class has become more rigid, destiny for most babies is decided at birth, and the incomes of rich and poor families have drawn further apart."

Polly Toynbee was one of Gordon Brown's biggest cheerleaders. That she now notes the level of Labour's failure to help those people who had the highest hopes of a Labour Government says so much.

Labour have betrayed ordinary, working class people. They have betrayed anybody who dares to aspire. That is why so many people in North Durham, who have put their faith in the Labour Party for so long, are ready to vote for real change at the next election.

If elected, I will work unstintingly to ensure that priority is given to policies aimed at improving social mobility, helping people fulfil their aspirations and fighting poverty. I will work to ensure that the advantages of birth play an ever diminishing role in British life. The Government have had thirteen years to turn the situation round and have failed utterly. It is now time for the failed Labour establishment in the North East to step aside for those of us with the ideas and determination to create a new wave of social mobility and aspiration.

2010 - The Year Of Change In North Durham

A very Happy New Year to everybody in North Durham and across the North East.

This will be a massive year for North Durham. This a year in which the people of North Durham and the North East will be able to bring about real change. so many people I speak to in Chester-le-Street, Stanley, Sacriston, Annfield Plain and across the constituency have had enough of being taken for granted by an out of touch Labour Party. Local people are sick of our area and our region being ignored.

That is why I'm standing on a platform of real change for the better in North Durham. Unlike local Labour politicians, I will stand up for North Durham and stand up for the North East. I will be speaking up about the issues that really matter to local people.

I'm looking forward to 2010. It will be a year of real change for the better in North Durham.