Better bus services for tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes — much like the buses
Better bus services for tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes — much like the buses

Better bus services for tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes — much like the buses

Again & again Tories promise better #BusServices tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes – much like the buses. I asked the Minister when he would deliver better buses for #Newcastle & hold bus companies to account for the atrocious level of…

Prepayment meters – announcement does absolutely nothing to protect vulnerable
Prepayment meters – announcement does absolutely nothing to protect vulnerable

Prepayment meters – announcement does absolutely nothing to protect vulnerable

The experience of those on #PrePayment meters in #Newcastle is atrocious.@ofgem's announcement banning pre payment meters being installed for those over 85 years old does nothing for people below that age. I asked the SoS why he isn't protecting vulnerable…

Afghan refugees – who supported our Forces – may be made homeless
Afghan refugees – who supported our Forces – may be made homeless

Afghan refugees – who supported our Forces – may be made homeless

Tories claim they will move resettled Afghans from hotels to "perfectly suitable #housing". I asked how, given Newcastle has a desperate shortage of housing. The Minister couldn't rule out making homeless the very Afghan refugees who risked their lives supporting…

Black children systematically treated as adults & denied basic rights
Black children systematically treated as adults & denied basic rights

Black children systematically treated as adults & denied basic rights

The @ChildrensComm found police are strip searching children as young as 8 & not following the rules. I asked the Minister about Adultification in our justice system where black children are systematically treated as adults & denied basic rights. Didn't…

Tories in 13 years have cut £300 million from Newcastle City Council Council’s budget and totally failed to provide the services people need
Tories in 13 years have cut £300 million from Newcastle City Council Council’s budget and totally failed to provide the services people need

Tories in 13 years have cut £300 million from Newcastle City Council Council’s budget and totally failed to provide the services people need

After 13 years of Tory economic failure what #NewcastleCentral desperately needs – is change. In the #NorthEast real terms wages are on average 3% lower today than when Labour left office in 2010. Prices have gone up. Wages have not.…

Under the Tories, wages in the North East are 3% lower than they were in 2010 – But prices and bills are through the roof!
Under the Tories, wages in the North East are 3% lower than they were in 2010 – But prices and bills are through the roof!

Under the Tories, wages in the North East are 3% lower than they were in 2010 – But prices and bills are through the roof!

Under the Tories, wages in the North East are 3% lower than they were in 2010. The #NorthEast needs a long-term industrial strategy, delivered by a Labour government, to kickstart our economy and tackle inequalities, not more sticking plaster politics.…

UK science start-ups and spin-outs are being hit by a Tory quadruple whammy!
UK science start-ups and spin-outs are being hit by a Tory quadruple whammy!

UK science start-ups and spin-outs are being hit by a Tory quadruple whammy!

UK #science start-ups and spin-outs are being hit by a quadruple whammy by Tories: ????Slashed R&D credits????£120m loss of European Regional Development Funding????Lowest biz investment in G7????No association with #Horizon The Minister says he doesn't recognise these as problems! pic.twitter.com/4CjPZDreb1…

Newcastle needs reliable, affordable and accessible bus services
Newcastle needs reliable, affordable and accessible bus services

Newcastle needs reliable, affordable and accessible bus services

#NewcastleCentral needs reliable, affordable & accessible #busservices but all we get from the Tories is lame excuses & short-term sticking plasters I asked the Minister when he would pay the long promised £163 million to @transport_north to improve services. He…

Horror of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria
Horror of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria

Horror of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria

For the #Turkish and #Syrian communities in #Newcastle, the horror of the earthquakes is particularly close. I asked the Minister to look at the issue of cross-border remittances so that the fundraising efforts of diaspora groups can be transferred easily…