"Astounding anti-English hatred"

Plus: care home death probed and call to end hotel asylum use

Sep 18, 2024

Hello and welcome to today’s edition of The Lancashire Lead. I’ve stepped up my ‘remote working’ efforts and am writing this newsletter while in a surprisingly hot and typical beautiful North Wales.

It’s only a short break but I’ve been determined to make the most of the time so in a day-and-a-half I’ve visited two castles, climbed Yr Wyddfa (aka Snowdon) and enjoyed an evening stroll on a sensational beach. All of that only scratches the surface of what I’d be doing with more time as it really is one of my favourite areas to visit (outside Lancashire of course).

With all of that in mind, it came as a big surprise to me when I caught back up with the world of Lancashire news to see complaints from a walking group who reported encountering abusive and anti-English attitudes while visiting the same place.

The Burnley Express reports that Amy Hurst - a member of the Clitheroe-based ‘Women that Walk’ group - was left confused and upset after facing “astounding hatred” including anti-English jibes and poor service in Llanberis.

She said: “I've been to Wales a few times – but this was really anti-English and probably anti-women too - I will not be going back.”

Thankfully, my experience has been very different to that one but it’s a great shame the group’s members have been left feeling so unwelcome and as though they shouldn’t return.

In much more serious news, The Blackpool Lead reports the tragic death of 42-year-old Rob Kerr. Mr Kerr arrived at Blackpool Victoria Hospital on September 7 and it is believed he had been attacked at his Coronation Street home almost one week earlier.

Tragically, he died yesterday and a murder investigation is under way with four men currently being held in custody in connection with his death. A police appeal for further information has also been launched.

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The Blackpool Lead also has news of Chris Webb MP’s call for the Metropole Hotel to end its use as temporary accommodation for people awaiting asylum decisions. While complaints over this type of arrangement are usually focused on the loss of the facility to the public, the Blackpool South MP made a different point that it is simply unsuitable for this purpose.

You’ll often hear people say things like ‘oh I’d love to spend a year in a hotel for free’ but the reality is something very, very different. The hotel’s use was supposed to last three months but has instead reached three years and the length of time taken to deal with individual cases is one of the many failings of the previous government. Webb said:

“With the new Labour government actively processing over 100,000 asylum seekers to clear the backlog and eliminate the use of hotels for temporary housing, it is imperative that we take decisive action.
“The Metropole Hotel and location are wholly inadequate for this purpose, and the Minister is now urgently reviewing the contract established by the previous government to ensure that we can terminate its use as quickly as possible.”

Looking at Blackpool one last time, a care home has been ordered to make changes following the death of a resident. Terence Manning, who was known to eat especially quickly and from other people’s plates, choked on a meal on October 22 last year and died in hospital the following day.

In May, an inquest heard that a Speech and Language Therapy (‘SALT’) referral had not been made at Haddon Court Rest Home, while he was also not being fed a pureed or soft texture diet and he had errors in his record caused by carers carrying forward the details of records relating to other residents from entries made on the records of those other residents.

Issuing a Prevention of Future Deaths Report - and with it a legal requirement for the home to take action - assistant coroner Andrew Cousins said:

“It was noted in the evidence, that erroneous record keeping had taken place over a period of time and involved multiple carers. It was caused by carers transposing the records of one resident into the care records of another, leading to inaccuracies.”

He argued that there was a risk of a further deaths under such processes. In its response, the home said staff had been reminded of the “importance of accuracy in record keeping” and that action had it been taken in relation to the software used to maintain records. A director added they believed “robust measures to ensure records at the home meet the standards rightly expected from legal, professional and regulatory perspectives”.

Over in Pendle, Paralympic gold medallist Gregg Stevenson is to be honoured in his home village of Foulridge. Gregg, who lost both his legs in an explosion in Afghanistan while serving as a Royal Engineer Commando 15 years ago, won gold in the mixed double sculls final with GB race partner Lauren Rowles.

It was the 39-year-old’s Paralympic debut and he and his racing partner had only been rowing together since January last year. He will be honoured by becoming a Freeman of Foulridge with an associated annual named scholar prize for St Michael and All Angels Primary School.

Alma Avenue Play Area will also be renamed The Gregg Stevenson Play Area with a Paralympic plaque detailing Gregg’s achievement.

Pendle Borough Council’s Armed Forces Champion, Foulridge Councillor and Chair of Foulridge Parish Council, Kevin Salter, said:

“As soon as we heard of Gregg winning a gold medal, fellow parish councillors and villagers all wanted to do something to mark his outstanding achievement.
“We wanted to find a fitting tribute for Gregg, and I feel we have achieved that by making him a Freeman of Foulridge, where he currently lives.
“Along with his wife and two sons, Gregg’s family are passionate about sports and love spending time outdoors, so a plaque and rename of the village play area fits in perfectly with that.
“Gregg has come a long way since being injured while serving in the Army 15 years ago. Despite initial struggles, he worked hard to regain his fitness and pursued opportunities to learn new sports.
“He became interested in rowing after trying out for the Invictus Games in 2018 and since then has gone on to achieve many sporting accomplishments, culminating in his Paralympics gold medal – showing his sheer determination which makes him such a role model for future generations.”

With any major project, especially one which takes so long to come together, there will be always be people doubting whether it will ever really happen. Despite all the optimism and funding promises, you’ll find plenty on the coast who remain sceptical about the prospects of Eden Project Morecambe becoming a reality.

In a chat with BBC Radio Lancashire, the man responsible for delivering the project moved to allay some of those fears, stating he remains confident the new government will maintain its £50m funding commitment despite cutbacks elsewhere.

Si Bellamy, Eden’s director of transformation, said a final business plan had been submitted at the end of August and there is "nothing to indicate" funding will be cut. He added:

"We think it's a really compelling case for the transformation of the site, in terms of jobs and growth. It's a competitive environment, and there are tough challenges economically, but we believe that we've presented the strongest possible case to government."

Lancaster City Council said there’s “no suggestion” the new government will withdraw any of the promised funding, and they expect ministers to approve the development next month.