BBC Tees EU Debate

This week I attended a live on air debate about whether or not we should vote to Remain (R) or Leave (L) the European Union (EU) in this coming week's EU Referendum.

The debate took place at the Darlington Arena, also referred to as the White Elephant of the North, for obvious reasons. So after an early train ride into Darlington, it was nice to be greeted by Andy Preston (R) and James Wharton (L) who were discussing our place in Europe and how, should there be a panellist unable to make it, I would slot in nice as I am now a veteran in local debates ... Apparently.

One of the big talking points through the debate was Immigration and whilst Mr Wharton MP sat in silence, or rather was talked over by his young acquaintance on the panel at the start, both Andy and Jessie Joe Jacobs (R) give a good account of why immigration plays an important role in modern day Britain and that whilst we acknowledge that immigration needs to be reviewed and "Benefit Migrants" should be clamped down on, Britain is better off with a mixed society of culture and art.

Another talking point was around agriculture, fishing and farming. With two fishermen on the Leave side of the room, it became a little bit of a shouting match, as much of this campaign has already become. At this point the tension was at critical, with both sides, me included shouting to defend our views. I found it rather enjoyable actually.

After the hour long debate I had a chance to speak with Mike Parr live on air about investment in the "Original Northern Powerhouse" and the impact it would have on the area should we be left with a Conservative Government solely in power.

Comments

Darlington Library

So Darlington Council have to make huge savings and doing so it seems their first target is the Crown Street Library. The plan is to sell the building and relocate services to the Dolphin Centre on a much reduced scale. This is to come at the cost of 25 jobs within Library Services and I am appalled that when the going gets tough, the council's get cutting. Instead of reducing the costs to the upper hierarchy of said council, it is the front line staff that are being sent packing. In my opinion services such as libraries should be the last thing to be hit when making cuts. Libraries have an environment that encourages thinking, reading and writing and allows imagination to run wild. Darlington Council will make their decision this Wednesday in a Special Cabinet meeting and I hope for the sake of learning and culture, they see fit to save this building and better still save the creative environment that comes with libraries.

Social Media

For those that don't know I have been blocked by Facebook, this has happened 3 times in as many days. Facebook says that is due to being reported and in my opinion I most probably know who by. But never the less, I will continue to inform people of what I do and what I think by other means. Twitter and Blogger are to become my main source of communication and to be truthful Facebook was beginning to get on my nerves anyway. Fake news at its finest. So from now on I will get family members and friends to post the links up to this blog and if you are on twitter you can follow me at @LukeJohnFrost where you can also send me private messages if you so wish to do so. I know there was a lot of people who relied on this on Facebook. But not to worry, if you are not on Twitter you can still request my email or catch me as some do in the Town Centre or Library.

Putting The Record Straight

Just to make something clear, I am not against investment in our area, far from it. I have signed many support comments for developments such as Aldi, Parade of Shops on the Industrial Estate and even supported the Hotel proposal and the Student apartments on Mandale Triangle. Saying that I have also objected to a few, such as the Mcdonalds on the centre and recently the two takeaways that where planned for Lanehouse Road, along with the proposal for 150 homes at the Barrage. In fact I am still the only objector on the Stockton Council Planning portal. I believe investment is great, when it is in the right area and with the right amount of demand, access and need. Over the years we have had a bombardment of planning applications go through Stockton Borough Council for south of the Tees developments that has seen the population swell and the infrastructure buckle under the weight of bad management and developers who constantly cut corners to make a quick pound or two. In the pas...

Luke John Frost

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