Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.
The script was flipped in Hyndburn this week when a Reform UK councillor under fire for his social media conduct pointed out that the target of his mockery had a shady digital history of her own.
The argument from Reform UK appears to be that people in glass houses should not throw stones - and on this occasion the Labour candidate in question was clearly in the flimsiest of abodes.
And it has left Labour members in Lancashire furious that the party’s vetting process has left them open to such a straightforward response.
Elsewhere, in the briefing, there is an update on might-never-happen mayor for Lancashire and some historic building development updates.
And for the first time, The Lancashire Lead is here in cartoon form. We’ve brought in award-winning political cartoonist Graeme Bandeira to sum up the ongoing row over pothole performance that begin with our Freedom of Information request made to Lancashire County Council. Enjoy.
Just when you thought it was safe to go back on the road
Lancashire briefing
🗳️ Lancashire residents would likely give “a positive answer” to the question of whether the county should have an elected mayor, according to one of the leading proponents of devolution.
Henri Murison, chief executive of The Northern Powerhouse Partnership, told an audience in Preston he believed the more the public see of the mayoral model, the more they like it.
He was speaking at an event in the city last week – staged by the Preston Partnership and hosted by The Lancashire Lead’s own Ed Walker – during which one of the county’s most vexed political subjects was debated. Panel members mulled over when – and even whether – the county might see a mayor installed.
After more than a decade of discussion – often characterised by intractable disagreement between Lancashire’s 15 council leaders – Lancashire will next summer become the only part of the North of England not to have its own mayor. As things stand, there is still no indication of how long that island status will last.
🏰 A prominent landmark castle is set to be unveiled to the public after being refurbished. Clitheroe Castle is a distinctive sight, towering over the town beneath it.
But in recent years its keep fell into disrepair, prompting Ribble Valley Borough Council (RVBC) to carry out hundreds of thousands of pounds of repairs to it.
The repairs have included bolstering its structure, as well as repointing the mortar and stonework.
Now, after spending most of the year under wraps, the scaffolding is being removed from the keep, with an official reopening set to take place towards the back end of next month.
Adam Allen, director of community services at RVBC, talked the council’s community services committee on Tuesday, October 20, through the changes.
He said: “We originally started it about three years ago, to repoint the castle keep, then we got the heritage experts and surveyors in and they said there were issues in terms of the actual structure.
“They had to do a lot of serious works in terms of the structure.”
🌬️ Thornton’s much-loved and iconic Marsh Mill looks set to undergo further extensive restoration work.
Last year the mill, one of the Fylde coast’s landmark buildings, entered a new chapter as Wyre Council’s 25-year lease of it concluded, with final maintenance and restoration work being carried out.
Now a planning application has been lodged with Wyre Council for Listed building consent for the temporary removal and secure storage of existing sail boards and shutter assemblies, including repair and maintenance works.
A list of the intended works is also included in the application, which names Wyre Council as the applicant.
During part of Wyre’s lease tenure, the building was transformed into a museum-style attraction, with volunteers on hand to inform visitors of its history.
The mill has been closed to the public for some time but calls have been made for the mill to be re-opened once work has been fully carried out.
The Grade II listed structure, built in 1794 by millwright Ralph Slater for landowner Bold Hesketh, was under the council’s stewardship from 1999, after being sold to Melrose Development Services for £1.4 million with a long-term lease agreement which officially ended last year.
But final works are still being completed by the council.
“A bloody mess”: Labour candidate suspended after under-fire Reform UK councillor turns the tables
By Luke Beardsworth and Will Morgan
The suspension of a Labour by-election candidate after the revelation of highly critical social posts has been described by sources in the party as a ‘bloody mess’.
Jackie Rawstron was the 12 November Huncoat by-election candidate for Labour but found herself pulled into a row with Cllr Joel Tetlow, a Reform borough and county councillor in Hyndburn.
Rawstron is visually-impaired so when Cllr Tetlow referred to her as a ‘Stevie Wonder lookalike’ there was a wave of criticism about his conduct.
Cllr Tetlow, who has been criticised for his social media conduct on a number of occasions previously, ‘categorically denied’ the accusation of ableism and said he would never deliberately mock someone because of a disability - despite having mocked someone for their disability.
It prompted strong responses with Cllr Munsif Dad, the leader of Hyndburn Council, saying that it was time he was held accountable for his actions.
And disability rights activist Zack Kerr, based in Hyndburn, said that it was not good enough from Cllr Tetlow.
But Cllr Tetlow, in a move of undoubted whataboutery but one not without merit, on Wednesday revealed a series of more than 50 posts on X from Rawstron’s private account that could be perceived as abusive towards people’s weight, gender and sexual identity.
In one post, Rawstron responded to a pansexual England fan by saying: “Pansexual…a love of pans the frying pan being my personal favourite.”
She commented multiple times beneath pictures of trans people saying: “Make Asylums Great Again.”
And she wrote of then-leader of the Labour Party Keir Starmer: “He bats for the other side camper than carry on camping.”
After sharing the social media messages, Cllr Tetlow said: “It is now apparent that the very people seeking to portray me as prejudiced have remained silent about a substantial history of derogatory and insulting comments made by their own candidate, including remarks directed at people’s appearance, weight, sexuality, gender identity, nationality and even fellow Labour supporters and councillors.”
The revelations about Rawstron have left Labour Party members in Lancashire furious with her social media posts described by one as ‘disgraceful’.
They said: “These posts highlight a very poor show from Labour in terms of vetting.”
The frustration comes from the fact that Cllr Tetlow has managed within 24 hours to unearth a series of posts that have resulted in a suspension that appear to not have been picked up by the Labour Party.
They come at a time when Reform UK has been in the national press for scandals about the conduct of its own councillors and candidates, most notably the recent undercover investigation by ITV.
The source added: “How do we call out poor behaviour if we can’t be sure of high standards within our own party?”