Channel 4 has an article out today on its feature on current political opinion in Grimsby - which it has chosen without very good representative reason - to be its UK representative town.
The article is by pollster James Johnson, who began by noting that:
Politics in Britain is [usually] less fighting in the trenches, more a natter over a cup of tea. Less a shout of fury at politicians, more a tut and a roll of the eyes.
The picture that met me in Grimsby, conducting a focus group on behalf of Channel 4 News, could not have been more different.
The former fishing town, won by Boris Johnson in 2019 and wrestled back by Labour in 2024, perches on the edge of the North Sea. It is one of the ninety seats where Reform UK is second to Labour.
He then noted:
I spoke to two groups of people. The first voted Labour in 2024 but now lean to Nigel Farage's party. The second – like many across the country – did not vote at all last year.
He summarised raw sentiment:
Their outlook for the country was nothing short of apocalyptic. They spoke of hundreds of homeless Britons on the streets, while “floods” of illegal migrants are housed in hotels on the taxpayer. A carer spoke of children hobbled with mental health problems, the long hangover of the Covid pandemic still biting. The stay-at-home mum talked of criminals and junkies living above her, with politicians and local police powerless to stop them.
He found political alienation:
Not one of the Labour voters could name an achievement by the party they voted for. The most recalled action was Labour's cutting of the winter fuel allowance, described as punishing Brits to siphon more money to immigration. The non-voting group spurned the election deliberately, feeling there was no option that represented them. The mainstream parties' alien values had pushed them away: “there's no democracy in the UK anymore”.
The government's handling was “disgraceful”, “disgusting”, “managed decline”. Britain was described as “losing everything that made us great”. Some even spoke of the possibility of violence, a “civil war”, a “revolution”.
His summary was:
Immigration was at its core, with high numbers of legal and illegal migration seen to be “diluting” British culture and the “indigenous people” of the country. In this context, Keir Starmer's welfare cuts were seen as an insult to Britain's poorest while the money kept flowing to those crossing the channel on small boats.
But then, he chose to talk to groups inclined to Reform and Farage in an east coast port where Reform is at its most popular, by far. As objective reporting goes, this was about as far removed from balance as it was possible to get.
He also noted:
Conspiracy theories abounded: Epstein and a shady force “pulling the strings” featured. People often shouted over each other. Anti-Ukraine sentiment was common, with anti-Zelenskyy talking points cutting through to these Grimsby residents.
There was contempt for all political leaders except Farage. Badenoch suffered most of all, but Starmer has been written off.
His conclusion was:
Leaving Grimsby is the most dejected I have ever felt after a focus group. My colleague in tow was more optimistic; he saw great political opportunity, with the voters not resigned to decline but desperate for change.
I am not so sure. There was no excitable revolutionary fervour crackling over the roofs of Grimsby on Monday evening. It was a howl of anguish.
I accept that is likely to be true. And why not?
For forty years, people have been abandoned by a form of politics that treats 90 per cent of people with contempt, keeps eight per cent happy and massively favours two per cent. Why should people be happy?
Led by a vicious and hostile media that is seeking to maintain the privilege of the very wealthy, immigrants are being picked on as the cause of the woes of these people. It is hard to persuade people in Grimsby that they are not as a consequence. Even Channel 4, by picking Grimsby and these people, chose to reinforce the view that immigrants are the problem. The reach of fascism extends a very long way now.
People are in anguish.
The trouble is Starmer and Reeves have no answers.
Badenoch is utterly useless.
Farage would be more incompetent than Trump as president - although people have yet to realise just how bad he is in that regard.
The Greens and LibDems do not reach the consciousness of the people interviewed - because they are not talking about the issues that matter to these people.
Until politicians create jobs, provide decent schools, deliver health and social care, and tackle criminality, there is nothing they can do to persuade people they are relevant any more.
Labour will do none of that.
The Tories certainly will not.
Reform would not have a clue.
None of them care. And that is the problem at the epicentre of our politics. Until it cares, it will change nothing.
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A very worrying situation. Again purely anecdotally, people I have spoken to from a variety of backgrounds feel that politics has failed them and hold Starmer in contempt or deride him as useless.
I find it remarkable how many people agree with you that all the political parties don’t care or are useless in government. You list several things that government should do, jobs, care, education, crime etc.
So how do you cross this bridge of getting people who won’t do it to be put in charge of these things, while insisting that only government can do them.
Is it possible that you haven’t matured since your idealist years and are still hoping for the one, a leader who can come along, and unite away our fears and bring together are cares.
Who do you think, oh great and wise on of non-idealist persuasion – think can do thjese things?
And pelase don’t say the market, because it hasn’t
And don’t say we therefore do not need them – because we obviously do
And don’t say we can’t afford them, because we did when much poorer
Give us your wisdom
“In this context, Keir Starmer’s welfare cuts were seen as an insult to Britain’s poorest while the money kept flowing to those crossing the channel on small boats.”
A variation on
“three people @ a table – one guy with a mound of money, one guy with £1 and another with £3 – the guy with the mound nudges the one with £3 and say – see him over there he wants your £3”
The problem is neoliberalism & its adherents which +/- populate Wezzie and the assorted stink-tanks that infest its surroundings. As for fart-rage as PM – the man couldn’t run a whelk-stall – but there again, neither can the Mango-Mussolini.
the media is partly to blame – it fails to hold politico’s feet to the fire allowing arrogant idiots, e.g. Bell end lessly going on the other night on TV, ditto Reeves, Starmer and similar speak-your-weight machines. None of them give a stuff about UK citizens – who for the most part are regarded as serfs/scum/peasants etc.
Which leaves the question: what does starmers political brain: McSweeney make of all of this? I’d suggest that he is way way out of his depth, clueness & rudderless.
It shows that propaganda works. Almost every day for several years – ‘small boats’ and ‘migrants’ have been headlined – a deliberate govt strategy reinforeced by the media and BBC , to try to make people put two and two together – ‘this is the source of all your problems’.
There was a similar focus group exercise – Merseyside? about what people thought of a new housing development going up nearby. Most of the group said ‘migrants will be getting the new houses because they will be top priority – in most need’. The developers said no they were open market houses – there was no social allocation process – but the story was the thing.
Divide and rule really works.
Thank you, both.
About 18 months ago, I dined with a friend and former colleague, a British diplomat, and the junior minister responsible for her region. The minister said that the government emphasis on the boats was a deliberate tactic to divert attention from much larger numbers coming for work, study and family reunions. He added that Brexitannia could only function as an army of cheap labour, a bit like Mexico and, back in the day, China, labour costs needed to be kept down and the media liked to be fed stories about the boats.
That resonates with me
Farage would be useless, yes, but my worry is the people his sponsors would parachute in if he won power. What policies and tactics do they have lined up? At best it would be a quick pump of wealth from bottom to top, make off with what they can before it crashes down.
About 12 years or so ago the BACP “Therapy Today” ran an article by Martin Seager.
He had been asked by a Labour Sec. of State. for Health (can’t remember who) to gather psychotherapists from the different schools of practice and see if they could agree a common psychological approach which could underlie the various social programs.
We do tend to look at physical needs and costs without considering mental health implications. IMHO mental health is often regarded like a physical illness to be fixed by a specific remedy.
They came up with a document based on Bowley’s attachment theory which I thought made excellent sense. It had applications for education, NHS, housing, crime and probation and so on, I was part of a group which put on talks for counsellors and Psychotherapists and I suggested we made this our annual conference and we did.
The minister had been moved on and the next one showed little interest. By the time of the conference the govt. had changed. The people attending the conference thought it was good.
It was a missed opportunity but we do have the tools and the people who could implement such polices. We lack the political leadership with the vision.
Do you have any links?
You have bigger issues….
I think this is the article:
“Bad science and good mental health”
Science alone does not provide all the answers; we also need to acknowledge the influence of mind, argues Martin Seager. Therapy Today, September 2012, Volume 23, Issue 7. https://www.bacp.co.uk/bacp-journals/therapy-today/2012/september/
See also: “Mind as a dimension & compassion as a relationship issue” by Martin Seager (2014)
Journal of Compassionate Health Care, 1, 3 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40639-014-0003-y
Thanks Ian
I will read over the weekend
Yes it is
Thanks. My copy is in the loft
I wonder, if Ian has the time, if he could confirm whether or not this is the referenced article
https://www.bacp.co.uk/bacp-journals/healthcare-counselling-and-psychotherapy-journal/2014/october/from-bad-science-to-good-mental-health/
I haven’t found anything else on the web yet
It looks like there is more than one….
See another comment coming soon
the article I referred to is the one Ian Tresman put up 2012.
But I have long had the same opinion about the issue of scientism (that science is the only way to understand the world) It is telling that more scientists talk about their spiritual beliefs after they retire.
The Royal college of Psychiatrists has special interest groups, working with the elderly, prisons etc but the biggest is the one on Spirituality. It has some papers us mere mortals can read.
Might the James Johnson who was, presumably, responsible for the overt and submerged messages of the Channel 4 broadcast which is referred to, be the James Johnson, pollster and political adviser to Prime Minister Theresa May, the cabinet and the Conservative Party?
https://jlpartners.com/
One and the same
Apologies for posting twice. I appreciate that you may not be a great fan of Athenian democracy as implemented 490BC. But there is one aspect that could be useful, given current circs: ostracism.
Yearly vote by all citizens on which person in the body politic to ostracise. Ostracism to last for 10 years, can’t vote can’t hold any public office.
One could also extend this to the media: vote on who to remove as talking head (obvs not literally).
Won’t happen – but if it did, I’d guess Starmer or Reeves gone in 2 years, followed by others in the tory party and possibly Farage.
🙂
This indeed seems to be true (I say ‘seems as this is secondary source of info to me) – Michael Hudson mentions it in his book ‘The Collapse of Antiquity’ (2023). Rich families who caused problems in communities with their greed were basically forced to leave and live apart.
We should see the exit of our millionaires and billionaires therefore more positively as ostracism rather a disaster it so often it is painted as?
Hey – and get this other morsel from Prof Hudson (p.11, Chapter 2 etc).
The word/concept of ‘tyrant’ was a word used to describe persons in the age antiquity who came along and introduced reforms – with force – fairer societies, who curbed the rich, annulled debts, allocated land fairly etc. This word was created by guess who? The people who OPPOSED these reforms. Look how loosely we use the term now (Trump).
I have read that Greek rulers had their finances examined pre and post appointment….any impropriety resulted in execution!
Even amongst some members of my own family, who, incidentally, all vote for the S.N.P and Independence, there are those who still think that immigration/immigrants are the problem. It never seems to occur to them that their mother, my wife, who suffers from later stage dementia, is being taken care of, in our home, by care assistants all from either Africa or Asia. Without their help, my wife would have to be in residential care, causing more expense for the state. Talk about blinkered.
Agreed
On occasion, I have mentioned here my concern that the poor/disastrous performance by Labour will open the door for Reform at the next General Election. I see nothing that is really changing that perception of the state of UK politics.
But, we don’t live in this world in isolation. So I am now wondering, “How big an influence will events in the US have on UK politics, and just what will that effect be?”
I have no answer, perhaps others readers do?
Will electors be switched off because they see no acceptable option? Or would they be prepared to gamble on the Greens or LibDems (where are the LibDems, how many can name their leader, let alone any other of their MPs)? Or will they just vote Reform – because ‘they have no choice’.
But my overwhelming feeling is one of great danger to our future. It’s like an all-enveloping black cloud, and the reported state of Grimsby is only making it darker.
Noted
Rich, I mentioned in a comment to one of Richard’s ‘why I’m angry’ blogs, some ‘bright spots’ that I think are likely to occur this year, or already have.
One , which we can see emerging already, will be the total melt down of Trump and the agenda of his acolytes. If you watch the segments from the MSNBC current affairs programmes (by which they mean almost exclusively US affairs) you’ll have seen a that a fast growing protest movement is developing and taking action. The federal courts are also holding – to the extent that yesterday Trump called on the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (John Roberts) to ‘reign in’ or otherwise punish federal judges who take action against ANY of Trump and co’s actions. This, I think, is where a break point might occur in the slavish following a Trump by politicians who once called themselves Republicans, but are now shown to be Royalist – with Trump as their King.
Why? Because last week Roberts took the very unusual step of publishing a statement that ran directly counter to Trumps wishes. This was in response to a MAGA Congressman issuing papers for the impeachment of three federal judges that had already ruled against Trump. Roberts stated that this was no acceptable and that if Trump and co had judgements against them then they should use the appeals process – which would eventually lead to the Supreme Court anyway.
Prior to this both Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett (a supreme court justice appointed by Trump) had sided with the three ‘liberal’ justices against an appeal brought by Trump. Of the other four justices, one appears corrupt and is clearly in the pocket of Trump’s billionaire supporters (plus his wife was implicated in the January 6th attempted insurrection); one is as right wing as they come and clearly has no problem with the demise of US democracy; and two owe their places on the Court to Trump, and in one case it’s doubtful he would have been nominated by anyone other than Trump. And as with Thomas and Alito, I doubt whether Gorsuch or Kavanaugh are that bothered about the US becoming an authoritarian state, where the new ‘King’ gets to chose when the constitution applies or not.
But I strongly suspect Robert – the Chief Justice – and Coney Barrett have no wish to end up in the yet to be written history books as lead participants in the demise of the US as a democratic country – which is exactly what they are very soon going to be asked to participate in as more and more of Trumps actions make their way through the Federal court system to the Supreme Court. The two of them already have some ‘blood’ on their hands as they supported the ridiculous judgement that Trump (a President) was immune from prosecution for (potential) crimes committed while in office – even after leaving office (although to be fair Coney Barrett did caveat her support for that judgement).
So, we wait and see. Clearly, the time will come -sooner rather than later – when the Supreme Court will issue five – four judgements against Trump. And at that point it will be inevitable that Trump will issue threats, and try to take actions, against those on the court that support judgements against him. We’ll then see for sure how far MAGA Republicans, and those who voted for Trump without any recognition that he’d be a tyrant, are prepared to go down the road to destroying democracy in the US. And they won’t any longer be able to hide behind Musk and his so called DOGE.
Thanks
Sobering.
In trying to sum this up, this is what you get when the state is seized by a section of society for its own purposes, with its attention focussed on their needs at the expense of other needs.
That section of society is basically the rich, capital – where money & power accumulates the most.
Keep taxes low, keep the tax system essentially rewarding wealth, hobble state financial commitments and investment to create arbitrage and income opportunities for wealth, grab what you can. Make those that need the state, pay for it. Just help yourself Mr Rich dude, don’t worry about defence, or sea defence or whatever.
The rest – the departments, ministries, ministers are now merely performative – theatre – acting out their pretend agonies (increasingly unconvincingly) in public over decisions essentially made to enhance the rich.
So of course we have a leadership vacuum – I mean the quality of leadership is now so low with Farage in contention – a man who makes a point and then is likely to just walk off when any real work needs to be done.
And we also have a lot of anger and unhappiness fuelled by lies and out of control social media which reminds me of an information based Klondike gold rush. Add that to austerity and you a get powder keg.
This is what an anti-democracy looks like. We are living in one. It’s not ‘coming’; its here. Now.
Nothing big has kicked off yet. Why? Because there are still plenty of decent people around for now. The people of this country are a decent lot. But that may not endure.
The people who rule are not decent people. It is they who have broken this country and may yet even get away with it I’m afraid.
The only friend we have is time. Time reveals. I suppose that is why we must record in places like this, what it was like to live in such times, and hope that helps form whatever new and better comes eventually.
its a bit stereotypical for Channel 4 to choose Grimsby. I get why they did it – for the same reason they might have chosen my home town – Luton. It might be more jolting for people if they chose somewhere more unexpected like Paignton, Bournemouth or Waterlooville for example – places you wouldn’t normally expect “defeated” people to live.
As always, you hear what people are saying but you don’t listen.
Immigration HAS caused serve issues for certain parts of the population – just because you can argue that ‘on average’ it is a net benefit it does not mean that it cannot cause significant hardship for certain subgroups.
By dismissing the adverse impacts of immigration, the left (and particularly people like you) support the rise of those on the right (Reform) and worse, those on the far right like EDL etc.
Not all immigration is positive, indeed much of what can be hugely negative, but mo-one in power is prepared to say that.
I recognise stress for some from migration
What is the actual issue caused though?
You think I do not know. Tell me what it is. Cold facts, not racism please. I am from a migrant family. I don’t like racism and have experienced it.
I don’t think you’ve experienced racism Richard, I think you’ve experienced people telling you what they honestly think of you, given how you often treat others and given your perceived sense of superiority.
That’s quite different.
You don’t know what it was like to have an Irish name in the past then
The sense of conceited English superiority from you is overwhelming and you are too much of a cowrd to admit who you are
Most, maybe all, the problems caused by immigration (which I acknowledge are real issues in some parts of the country) are a result of Public Sector failures to acknowledge and address the problems. Pressures on local services, for example, should be addressed by investment, and they frequently aren’t.
I agree
“Immigration HAS caused serve issues for certain parts of the population – just because you can argue that ‘on average’ it is a net benefit it does not mean that it cannot cause significant hardship for certain subgroups.”
Let me put you straight on few things:
Around 10% of England(not UK) is built up. Plenty of room for housing. Why have we a housing shortage? Because Govt. won’t build them.
40% of GP practices say the have at least 1 GP vacancy. 60% of GPs looking for work say jobs aren’t there. Why can’t we see a GP? Because Govt. won’t employ them.
In 2023 there were 46,000 nursing vacancies and 8700 jr doctor vacancies. Why are there long waits in hospital? Because the Govt. won’t employ them.
In 2023 £5.5 billion was lost in tax evasion and £163 million in benefit fraud. Why have we no money? Gov’t chasing poor people whilst the rich get off scot free.
Since 2010, govt. money to councils has been cut by 27%. Why have we no services, potholes, poor street lighting? Govt won’t provide them.
From 2010 police numbers were cut by around 20%. Why have we increased crime? Because the Govt cut the police.
You might notice a pattern here, and it doesn’t involve immigration.
@Sean
Yes, but those are just true facts….
Very unfair of you to use FACTS in an argument about immigrants.
Farage doesn’t use facts. That’s why gets so much support.
(You are right of course).
If more people had good jobs, comfortable homes and good health, Farage would disappear like a mirage. For some reason, Labour don’t understand that.
And yet you still can’t actually TELL US what the problems you say have been caused by immigration actually are.
If it was that obvious, you’d be describing them.
Instead you just go back to the usual nonsense.
I have not blocked him from coming back
The far right bot factory is very active today
Migration is a tricky issue to discuss, as it is emotive rather than logical. It’s easy to conclude that the politicians who use immigration as a wedge issue are racist, often by what they say, particularly Reform, but that does not mean that all people concerned about immigration are racist. It could be argued that immigration hurts wages for low-skilled workers, and does benefit the ‘elites’ I’m sure. Foreign workers don’t unionise, are easier to control, and can be pitted against native-born labour. Aristotle knew this. It must also hurt those struggling in this country to see their government take in more people when they don’t appear to care for those born here. Often, people aren’t racist, it is just that they don’t like change, and one of the most visible changes has been immigration. It is going to be important to people.
I would say this though, immigration is a policy issue as much as anything else. During the Southport riots, I spoke to a friend who lives where I grew up about what was happening. He said I didn’t know what it was like as I live in the countryside and immigration doesn’t affect me. He told me there was a large family of refugees on his street, packed into a council house, and apparently dumping their rubbish in the street, which the residents were understandably angry about. My question to him was why were the council not supervising and supporting them. Why had so many of them been housed in such an unsuitable property? Why had the residents not been consulted? Lack of housing, lack of funding, and lack of care led to a situation where my friend and his neighbours were left to deal with an issue that should have been the responsibility of the government, local and national. My point is, that immigration is an issue because it has been allowed to become an issue. Housing has been turned into a commodity, so there is none available to house incomers, and the money to deal with refugees and other migrants has been taken away through austerity. Migration may deliver a net benefit to the country, but it doesn’t feel like it to those living in poorer areas. Address this, and you could fend off politicians who are using immigration to generate anger.
@Ian Stevenson
I’m a fan of Bowlby. Attachment theory makes the most sense to me, not least because it was based on real world observations over many years – unlike many other schools of thought. “Thought” being the apposite word there.
only came back to the blog this evening. Martin Seager said it was one the best attested theories in psychology.
No steer Keir and Rachel from accounts seem to be on a path of deliberately not doing anything that might improve the lot of the majority.
Rebranding austerity as “doing more with less”.
What has the Koch funded Heritage Foundation got planned for Reform at the next election?
Look at what is happening in the US. The UK population needs to be woken up to stop the same being done to the UK.
‘Managed decline’
Sums it up really
Like France we lost an empire, unlike France we never managed to move on to a new role.
Commentators talk about a very ‘Third World’ economic model, selling off assets and deregulation.
As an inhabitant of GY (well, Cleethorpes), it’s not a surprise to see such views expressed – especially if you are looking for them. Speak to most people down Grimsby/Cleethorpe Road who are likely to live in the surrounding terracing and nearby council housing and you’ll see people who are really struggling as the town has been hollowed out around us in recent decades, even after the collapse of the fishing industry decades ago. Entering GY heading towards Cleethorpe Road, you pass Freeman Street, once the main shopping street of the town which now comprises mostly boarded up derelict shop fronts, charity shops and the like. There has been a big redevelopment of the area mooted for years, but nothing has come of it and the council is skint.
Continuing into Cleethorpe Road doesn’t exactly endear people to Grimsby as you drive past boarded up and decaying buildings in amongst businesses which still operate. Although you can’t see them, just to the south of some of these buildings are patches of wasteland where blocks of 1960s flats once stood. Taken down back in 2018, nothing has ever been done with the land (which would be part of any redevelopment of the Freeman Street area – which isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
As you drive into Cleethorpes, the only growth business seems to be tattoo shops which have replaced the tanning salons previously there (money laundering enterprises, I wonder?) and those garishly lit ‘Vape and Snacks’ shops, which have now become so prevalent that I can only assume they must be involved in the drug trade in some way as well. They certainly display bongs for sale in the window which weren’t required for the use of vapes last time I checked.
However, once you get to the High Street, nearer the beach, things get a bit nicer. Some decent shops down Cleethorpes’ main shopping street, St. Peter’s Avenue. Though the two Post Offices in the area have closed down in recent years. One of these was in a well-run newsagent/convenience store but the doors were shuttered one day. The landlord evicted them, apparently, because they couldn’t pay a hefty increase in the rent. Still boarded up a couple of years later, as are one or two other shops around there now.
The seafront and the bars/shops around there are quite nice. If you asked locals you find around here what they thought, you’d be less likely to encounter the far-right rhetoric which the Tory press have started to push, as well as the nonsense pushed on social media. Probably less support for the likes of Reform as well, though the area as a whole may end up voting that way, which would make me very embarrassed.
The local MP, Melanie Onn, is a decent consituency MP from what I know and she is at least local (she’s friends with the wife of one of my friends), unlike her appalling Tory predecessor who was parachuted in by Johnson, was barely seen in the town and did little for her constituents. However, whatever Onn does in the town itself, she’s hamstrung by the ineptitude of LINO in Westminster and has to follow the whip to have any chance of getting any sort of support. She’ll only alienate even more of the electorate by toeing the party line and I’d be amazed if she retained her seat at the next election.
I wonder which sort of Reform grifter I’ll have representing me as my MP come 2029? Somebody utterly useless, borderline racist, who is in it for themselves, I suspect.
Oddly enough, monly hope comes from the forum for GTFC where we do have political discussions among the talk about our team. Although there are some obvious bigots there whose arguments it is pretty easy to take to pieces as they just rehash nonsense from the right-wing press, facebook or twitter, most of the posters on there generally seem to lean more towards a liberal view of things. However, it probably isn’t a representative group as I know that quite a lot of the posters on there are exiles who are from the town but live elsewhere in the country, or even abroad. These people seem more likely to have better-paid jobs, have gone to further education and so forth.
Sorry, a bit of a long and rambling post. Grimsby/Cleethorpes (and the surrounding villages which tend to be more affluent) can certainly be considered as being ‘left behind’. A long descent from the collapse of the fishing industry following the cod wars and the Thatcher era, a slight upturn in the Blair era (when there was a bit more money spent in the centre of Grimsby) and then an accelerated decline ever since. Starmer, Reeves and the rest of LINO are too stupid to do anything which can reverse this trend, unfortunately. It’s not just ineptitude. It is outright stupidity.
The first ever professional football match I saw was at Blundell Park, in Cleethorpes, of course. A long story. Fishing was alive then, but declining. And no government has ever really cared.
The last soccer game I saw in England was also in Cleethorpes. A 1-0 win for the mighty mariners!
🙂
A very good post.
In terms of fishing, this could be revived. There are 6 large wind farms near Grimsby and in addition, Hornsea 1,2,3 are being developed. All the farms have scour protection for the base of the wind turbines. Ideal ground for all sorts of marine life, including fish. Indeed, Orsted, the developer of Hornsea is committed to restoring the seabed – which has been devasted by nearly 175years of trawling. A government with a couple of neurons between its ears could facilitate this. It won’t. Thus the Grimsby community (local gov, MP etc) should approach the wind farms and find out they could work together to take advantage of a restored marine environment. Sounds wishy-washy, ain’t.
I like that
When fishing was at its peak most of the fishing boats and many of the processing factories in Grimsby were locally owned and the profits stayed in the local area.
Now there are no fishing boats and only the smaller factories are locally owned. The profits go elsewhere.
Worse still, the hotels are full of people from all over the country working in well- paid jobs in the offshore wind farms who spend hardly any money in the area and few local workers are employed in these jobs.
What we need is an obligation for large companies to employ local labour so the local economy benefits.
I once did some training in nearby Scunthorpe in my retailing career in the 1990s. I worked there for a whole week and stayed overnight in a colleague’s house.
The people were friendly and hospitable but a pall of uncertainty hung around the place. It was one of those places that could be so easily be forgotten by Westminster.
Aren’t the majority of the non-EU migrants in the UK from Commonwealth countries?
i.e. allowed to come to the UK anyway?
I admit I may be woefully wrong on this!
95% (near enough) arrive here with visas
Small boat would end if we put people on ferries
And hotels would end if we allowed those applying for asylum to work
And I meant to conclude by saying that I think Trump’s crash and burn will have negative implications for Farage and co, and all authoritarian governments.
I am sincerely hoping so
That short comment was supposed to follow the longer comment I submitted, Richard, but hasn’t appeared yet. So it looks a bit odd!
All down to time Ivan….
We all know that Reform would be useless in power and probably dangerous. They display nothing in Parliament or the media of their ideas or competence. That so many people support them should worry us all greatly. They are obviously getting a message out there that we don’t see from our political bubble, and it clearly centres around immigration, with hints of Alt-Right and conspiracy culture. Labour is sleepwalking into a grassroots Reform victory in 2029, or at the very least a major challenge from them. Personally, I don’t feel represented by anyone in government.
I do wonder if sortition could be the answer. You may get a plenty of awful people as MPs, but the current system almost entirely selects for awful people; it could only be an improvement!
Oh please, not this nonsense again.
I have lived in Grimsby for more than seventy years and would not want to live anywhere else.
I have recently been helping to build a broad-based community group that is campaigning for positive changes in the area, and last October we held our first assembly, when more than two hundred people filled one of our Catholic Churches where they pledged to campaign together on two issues – damp houses and giving more local jobs to local people. Our membership is drawn from many different faith groups, trade unions, educational establishments and others.
A few weeks ago I accompanied a group of Sikhs visiting houses in the East Marsh Ward to find out more about the number of damp homes in the area. More recently I was with a group of Muslim Ladies visiting homes in the West Marsh Ward. Included in the group were a doctor, a pharmacist and a university lecturer. Next week it is the turn ofmembers of an Anglican Church to visit homes in Nunsthorpe.
The people we have spoken to have all been friendly and there have been no unpleasant incidents at all.
Grimsby (and North East Lincolnshire) are not at all like they have been depicted in numerous newspaper articles and television programmes. We have our problems, but we have given up waiting for the cavalry to come over the hill and are increasingly taking control into our own hands. Most of North East Lincolnshire is a pleasant place to live or raise a family. Some areas are not, just like many other towns and cities. We have problems, but there are strong signs that people are beginning to forget about their differences and are uniting to campaign for the things that affect them all. When we can do this we can work wonders. That has to be the way forward!
Thanks
Thank you for that heartening post. These TV/Press investigations of places like Grimsby (they will be making them about Runcorn soon) remind me of “poverty porn” such as Channel 5’s “Benefit Street” a few years ago. Carefully and exploitatively designed and edited to present a predetermined and very misleading picture of so-called”benefit scroungers”. I was running a foodbank when it was shown, so I knew the circumstances of several hundred people on welfare payments.
The Guardian does similar “vox pops” quite often, they know exactly who to talk to, and who to avoid, to get the story they want.
Whether its immigration or welfare, most of the media people talking about it haven’t got a clue about the real lives of the people they misrepresent with their stereotypes. They are working to an agenda, to protect the interests of their masters.
The thing they always avoid is discussion of the REAL grievances in “left behind” communities, or any evidence of people coming together to make a difference. They despise the ordinary local people, and use them to present their predetermined picture. Then they leave.
@Les Bonner
This is EXACTLY how any new Party, or electoral alliance, should be built, on two essential foundations:
1) Bottom-up, on the basis of people coming together, irrespective of background or beliefs;
2) Needs-based, on the basis of perceived local needs.
Trying to do it top-down on an ideological framework and via standard electoral politics won’t work – the Westminster STP (Single Transferable Party) culture bolstered by FPTP make that route almost impossible.
Instead initiatives such as yours and Peoples’ Assemblies types of association need to work at the grassroots, transforming the political ecosystem, and making the STP and other Parties and nascent Party-type groupings irrelevant.
At that point they can take the decision to enter the electoral arena more formally, and start standing candidates.
But they need to be ready for 2029 (or the next election after the one that may need to be called when Starmer’s – or his successor’s – Faux-Labour Party goes to the polls) so time is short.
And BTW, this route has already been taken, and it produced the Labour Party – the product of local, bottom-up, needs-based initiatives by Trade Unions in particular places and industries eventually coming together to create an organisation to meet those needs generally. Pity Starmer’s mob have forgotten this.
Best of luck, and well done on what you have achieved so far.
I heard a talk when back in Glasgow from the organisers from this relatively new group set up in East Kilbride. EKIN. East Kilbride integration network. Working first hand in the community with new migrants in the area. Welcoming, supporting and connecting with people. Because at the end of the day we are all human beings needing that connection, empathy and love. Imagine what we could do if we had a government that cared.
Very good…..
Really interesting (if alarming and depressing) findings from that Grimsby focus group.
I think there is huge potential for the Green Party to step up to the plate and provide an alternative that is desperately needed – an alternative to fascism on the right but also to the hapless, disabled-bashing Labour govt.
The leadership needs to be more “streetwise” and needs to start talking about capitalism as the problem. And the Green Party social media presence – which is a bit all over the place at the moment – needs to move in the direction of what people like Richard, or Gary Stevenson, are doing.
Thanks, Howard
I don’t think there is am activen Green Party at the moment
Their last chairman is now a Lib Dem councillor
I don’t think there is an active Green Party at the moment
Their last chairman is now a Lib Dem councillor