Letters to the Editor

Thursday, 15 May 2008

Letters to the Editor
The smoke of the local elections has cleared; who would have guessed that Prime Minister Gordon Brown was Labour's very own John Major, but without his luck and charisma. The seismic political change cannot be underestimated, and you have to go back to 1995 for a comparison. Even the governments “spin doctors” could not deny the implosion of the New Labour project. With just 24 percent of the national vote, behind the Lib Dems on 25 percent, Gordon Brown admitted it was a very bad day for Labour. But wait, our very own elected Labour Mayor of North Tyneside was quoted in a local newspaper (on hearing the local election results) as saying “I think we have done extremely well”.With the clock now steadily ticking down to next years mayoral elections a reliance on “spin” is very unwise. It is reasonable that the residents will examine the achievements, if any, by this administration. It is right to ask if their money is best spent on a very expensive “communications unit”, and the current engagement of an advertising and marketing company by Mayor Harrison. Freedom of information reveals that the annual wages bill of the “communications unit”is £515,976. The cost of employing the advertising company now exceeds £400,000. The mayor has moved the council administration into rented accommodation at a cost of £3.7 million a year. Staggering sums of money are being spent with very little to show for it. The regeneration of the coast has become a joke, but remember the voters will always have the last laugh. Enough is enough.