|  North East families have hit out at Matt Hancock for signing up to appear on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here
He was at the centre of government decision-making as Health Secretary during the pandemic. But this morning Matt Hancock was on the other side of the world in Brisbane, Australia, preparing to take part in I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! The MP, who grew up in Chester, was suspended from the parliamentary Conservative Party after he was revealed as a surprise extra name added to the list of contenders for the gruelling ITV reality show. And in the North East, families have shared their fury that Mr Hancock will appear in the show while the public inquiry into the pandemic - which is expected to feature heavy criticism of the former Minister - is underway. Read the full reaction in this piece by Sophie Brownson of ChronicleLive. Susie Crozier-Flintham, from Sunderland, lost her dad, Howard Crozier, aged 81 when, in the week before the first lockdown, he was taken to Sunderland Royal Hospital and diagnosed with pneumonia. On March 25 he tested positive for Covid-19 and he died just days later. The 45-year-old said it was "deeply hurtful" that Mr Hancock had decided to appear on the show. "Anyone who is a politician or is in a position of responsibility should be spending time preparing their evidence to put forward for the inquiry not swanning off to Australia in a moment of self-publication," Susie said. "He is not a celebrity. He is known for his disastrous handling of Covid which cost hundreds of thousands of lives, my dad's included. To piggyback on that to promote himself I think is morally bankrupt and distasteful." 
Has government's backing of battery gigafactory gone flat?  Artist impression issued by Britishvolt of its first full scale UK battery gigaplant in Northumberland. (Image: PA)
In one of his final acts before resigning as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson appeared to sign off on a £100 million cheque for a gigafactory for electric vehicle batteries in Northumberland. He told the Commons in early July an "in principle offer of support" of the Britishvolt project - which he'd previously described as a "levelling up opportunity" which would bring "thousands of new highly-skilled jobs to communities in our industrial heartlands" - had been sent. Mr Johnson had touted Britishvolt's project as a major milestone toward building an electric vehicle industry as the country heads toward a ban on combustion engine cars in 2030. Four months on, his optimism for the project is starting to look misplaced. Battery start-up Britishvolt, the firm behind the £3.8bn gigafactory at the former coal yards of the old Blyth Power Station, held emergency talks this week as it sought a last-minute reprieve to avoid tumbling into administration. It's secured short term support but said some 300 staff had voluntarily agreed to a wage reduction to stem costs. Speaking at a trade expo in Gateshead yesterday, Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch had a much more downbeat assessment as she told BusinessLive that the Government could not "back every single project everywhere, fully to the hilt". She added: "The investment landscape is one that is very risky so we have to look at what our risk appetite is. And my understanding - and I don't know the full facts - is that certain criteria were needed in order to get the grant funding and the criteria wasn't met."
 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arriving at Buckingham Palace, London after travelling from Balmoral following the death of Queen Elizabeth II (Image: Getty Images)
King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort, will visit the historic city of York and unveil a statue of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, it was announced today. The statue, designed and carved by York Minster stone mason Richard Bossons, will be unveiled - following a service - at the West Front of the Minster on Wednesday November 9. Lord Mayor of York David Carr said: "To extend the traditional greeting to King Charles III on what we hope will be the first of many visits to York will doubtless be one of the highest honours of my career and my period in the great office of Lord Mayor of York."
Construction firm with links to city leader stripped of council contract  Newcastle City Council leader Nick Kemp (Image: Newcastle Chronicle)
Prior to the power struggle that saw him succeed Nick Forbes as Newcastle's Labour council leader, Nick Kemp is known to have lobbied civic centre officials on behalf of local construction firm Orca LGS Solutions. The Byker ward councillor's LinkedIn profile states that he has been Orca's "Director of New Business and Housing Strategy" since 2018 – though he is not actually employed by the company, rather they are a client of his own PR and lobbying agency NKA Public Affairs. But the authority which Cllr Kemp leads has now terminated an agreement with Orca, the North Shields firm behind a development in Gosforth that now stands unfinished, due to the company "not meeting required contractual performance". When asked by Local Democracy Reporter Dan Holland, the council said it was unable to confirm what level of financial hit it had suffered as a result of Orca's contract being terminated. A spokesman said: "We contracted Orca to provide a small number of low-cost modular homes as part of a pilot scheme. Due to the company not meeting required contractual performance we have now terminated that contract." This summer, Cllr Kemp was the subject of a complaint over the fact that his role with Orca is not declared on the council's register of interests. That was dismissed on the grounds that he is not directly employed by the firm.
There was a fascinating announcement in Greater Manchester this morning as the region's Night Time Economy Adviser Sacha Lord announced he had become a member of the Labour Party. The Adviser to Mayor Andy Burnham and co-founder of the Parklife Festival and The Warehouse Project music events, has been welcomed to the party by Labour Leader Keir Starmer, who he met last week to discuss culture and the night time economy. Mr Lord - who has ruled out standing as an MP - is the second big-hitting Manchester figure to join Labour in recent months after footballer Gary Neville. As Times journalist Hannah Al-Othman tweeted this morning: "Will it be a Gary Neville / Sacha Lord run-off for next Manchester mayor when Burnham decides to step down?!"
Mayor: After 12 years of austerity there is nothing left to cut  Mayor Joanne Anderson has written to Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove (Image: Iain Watts/Liverpool Echo)
With the winter nights drawing in and Northern town halls drawing up their budgets for next year, the choices are getting harder than ever. In Liverpool, Mayor Joanne Anderson has demanded that the government does not bring in further "unsustainable" cuts to council budgets as the creaking local authority prepares to pass the £500m cuts mark since 2010, as Liam Thorp reports for the Liverpool Echo. She's written to returning Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove urging him to deliver on government promises to tackle regional inequality. The city leader revealed that Liverpool Council will be forced to make a further £73m in cuts over the next year - taking these cuts past the half a billion mark in the past 12 years. And she wrote: "After twelve years of austerity, there is simply nothing left to cut." And in Middlesbrough, key frontline services from street lights to road repairs and libraries and school dinners are set to be affected by wide-reaching council plans to tackle a looming budget crisis, writes Local Democracy Reporter Emily Craigie. Mayor Andy Preston warned yesterday that there were "no easy options" after it emerged that the council was facing a shortfall of £15m in 2023/24. Soaring inflation and the ongoing economic uncertainty mean that figure could yet reach £20m.
Urgent financial support is needed for theatres, museums and leisure centres facing an 'existential threat' from the cost-of-living crisis, a cross-party group of MPs warned today. The Commons culture, media and sport committee's report says the Government needs to tackle geographical funding imbalances for arts and culture if it is to fulfil its commitment to 'levelling up' the UK. Amid the cost-of-living crisis, the Committee calls on the Government to urgently bring forward targeted support, such as through VAT or business rate relief, to cultural, sporting and media organisations to prevent 'exacerbating long-term scarring' of those already hit hard by Covid-19.
'Angel in disguise' saves freezing pensioners with new boiler  James Anderson, a plumber who offers his services to disabled and elderly members of the public
And now how about something a bit more cheerful? A Lancashire couple in their 70s facing winter with no heating after nine years of boiler issues have been donated a new one for free thanks to an "angel in disguise" and an anonymous public donation. Ann and Keith Hartley, aged 71 and 74, have had a malfunctioning boiler in their home in Burnley for almost a decade but it stopped working completely this year – ahead of a winter of soaring living costs, as LancLive reports. Faced with a "freezing" home and unable to afford a costly replacement with their monthly pension earnings of around £1,000, the couple reached out to Disabled and Elderly Plumbing and Heating Emergency Response (Depher). The charity provides free plumbing and heating services to those in financial need and was founded in 2017 by local man James Anderson. In a tweet posted after visiting the couple's home, Mr Anderson said he was brought to tears by the couple's situation and asked for donations as they could not afford the £1,695 it would cost to replace it. Within hours an anonymous member of the public donated the £695 cost of the unit. Mr Anderson also helped the couple to apply for a £400 rebate from Burnley Council and said he would install the boiler for free, meaning they would not have to pay anything. "We were both dumbfounded, we were stuck for words… (Mr Anderson) was like an angel in disguise to be quite honest, we were both very emotional about it," Mrs Hartley told the PA news agency. 
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Northern Stories  Voi's Jack Samler with Cllr Dan Barrington, Liverpool Council cabinet member for climate change and environment
- The new initiative to replace Liverpool's city bike scheme is being rolled out across the city today. Voi, which provides the e-scooter service throughout Liverpool, is introducing a fleet of 50 e-bikes onto the streets. This number could rise to as many as 150 depending on the popularity of the scheme. The Swedish firm has stepped in to provide the service following the scrapping of the Liverpool City Bike scheme that launched in 2014. A Liverpool Council report said the size of the scheme had been falling due to theft and vandalism, "coupled with a lack of available funding to invest in new bikes."
- A Bill designed to finalise the set-up of the UK Infrastructure Bank has cleared its first Commons hurdle amid calls for ministers to use the Bill as part of a "far more ambitious plan" to grow the economy. MPs gave the UK Infrastructure Bank Bill an unopposed second reading and it will undergo further scrutiny at a later stage, with amendments tabled for consideration. The Bill will put the Leeds-based organisation, set up to invest in infrastructure projects using public and private cash but currently operating on an interim basis, on a legal footing.
- A Cumbrian campaign group that aims to secure a 'steady drumbeat of orders for submarines and large, complex warships' has launched its action plan for the next two years. The Keep Our Future Afloat Campaign (KOFAC) focuses on 'influencing defence procurement policy' to 'enable Barrow shipyard and its supplier base to sustain a core workload'. KOFAC is led by the Unite and GMB trade unions, Barrow Borough Council, Cumbria County Council and BAE Systems, with input from companies that operate in the supply chain.
- Stagecoach bus drivers in Sunderland are set to strike during the Christmas period in a row over pay. The bus operator confirmed that drivers are set to hold 10 days of strike action in November and December as part of an ongoing pay dispute. The planned walkouts are set to cause disruption to passengers over the festive period, with drivers set to strike on November 5, November 15 to 19, December 23 and 24, and December 26 to December 27. They have already taken six strike days in anger over what the GMB union is calling "poverty pay".
- Government timescales to introduce voter identification in time for next May's local elections are too tight and application processes risk putting people off voting, say councillors in West Yorkshire. Voter identification requirements are expected to be in place for May 2023's local elections, with a campaign nationally about voter ID likely from January. Calderdale councillors heard voters who do not currently have a form of photo identification that would be accepted, for example a passport or photo driving licence, will have to apply for a voter certificate of authentication. Officers say extra checks for these will not be straightforward but detailed guidance had not yet been given to councils.
- Police are hunting a man who glued the lock of Crewe and Nantwich MP Dr Kieran Mullan's constituency office and plastered stickers on the door on October 16. Cheshire Police are investigating and have released a CCTV image of a man they want to speak to in relation to the incident. Dr Mullan said: "Stickers and protests are part and parcel of being in politics and I don't have a problem with that within reason. But when people damage things like locks, it is taxpayers money being wasted repairing them."
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