Funding The Fundaments

I did not blog on Thursday, because I was having a splendid afternoon. Venison bolognese, guinea fowl, white chocolate panna cotta, a more than passable cheeseboard, a bottle of Bordeaux, and then off to several good pubs, one of which did various flavours of pork scratching. Some people have children. My friend and I have this. (My friend, by the way, is a staunch Tory who once looked Nicky Morgan straight in the face and announced, in his best public school voice, "Madam, you are nothing but a c*nt.")

But privilege confers responsibilities towards the less fortunate. So tonight, as he begins his six week waiting period for Universal Credit, I am making up a food parcel for Simon Henig. One would not wish him to run into any Teaching Assistants at the foodbank. That would be embarrassing for all concerned. If Henig does not need his food parcel this year, then he will certainly be needing it next year. It is said that £10 million might be cut from the budget of Durham County Council. But the blame for that will be attributed, not to central government, but to Councillors. 

This and numerous other Red Wall councils were already on course either to turn blue or, as in this case, to go to No Overall Control, with the high likelihood that a Conservative might then become the Leader. To put the belt and braces on that, in Boris Johnson's mind, these cuts will have to be made. At least some of that money will then come back after the local regime change. Durham's mere £10 million could perfectly easily come back in full.

Frankly, if we want it back, then we know what we have to do: take the Council to No Overall Control, as we were going to do anyway, and ensure that Labour lost the Leadership. All eight of the Labour County Councillors in North West Durham voted for me, albeit for reasons ranging from being practically family to me, to despising me but hating Laura Pidcock even more. But at least one of them is retiring. Except where the other seven were seeking reelection, and with one other possible exception, then vote for whoever was best placed to defeat Labour in your County Durham ward next year.

That Durham County Council had passed out of Labour control would not change the fact that the Durham Miners' Gala, which is suddenly the hottest ticket in town, was a Labour Left event, with anyone welcome to attend, but with neither the Labour Right nor the non-Labour Left among the speakers, still less anyone else.

It would, however, bring even more sharply into focus the question of whether such an event could claim to be simply "the culture" here, take it or leave it. The drive from Lanchester to Wolsingham and back again on the Sunday between Christmas and New Year did not show me anything that made me feel that it was at all unnatural for this seat to have a Conservative MP. Politically undesirable, you might argue. But not somehow cosmically out of place.

I will be standing for Parliament again here at North West Durham next time, so please give generously. In any event, please email davidaslindsay@hotmail.com. Very many thanks.