Panic in the cockpit

Plus: MPs defend winter fuel vote and why globetrotters come to Preston

Sep 15, 2024

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Hello and welcome to today’s edition of The Lancashire Lead. As well as all the regular features, this newsletter also includes the return of Luke Beardsworth who will now write a regular column only available to paying subscribers.

His piece today focuses on the fallout of the winter fuel vote, what needs to happen next and how things could become difficult for Lancashire’s new MPs. It’s that issue of the winter fuel allowance vote where we also start today’s edition - and the response of those MPs who did give their backing to it.

First up, new Morecambe and Lunesdale MP Lizzi Collinge has attempted to explain her vote, saying it came after sleepness nights and a lot of consideration. In an open letter, she argued that the decision was necessary to protect public finances, while pointing to the other support available to pensioners. She wrote:

On Tuesday I voted against a Conservative motion on the Winter Fuel Allowance, clearly designed to undermine the new Government’s plans to stabilise our economy. Whilst I have concerns over the threshold for pension credit and those impacted at a lower income level, I believe that means-testing the winter fuel allowance is the right thing to do.
Simply put, wealthy pensioners do not need it and there are too many people who do need help not getting it because of the dire state of the economy. We still have a lot of work to do in making sure that those people who do need extra help, whether that’s through pension credit, household support fund or other benefits, get it.
Balancing the need to provide support while also addressing the economic realities we face was no easy task. I fully understand the concerns raised about this vote, particularly around people who only just miss out on pension credit. Please know that it was not a decision I made without a great deal of thought, consultation, and consideration.

You can read her full letter here.

Also looking to explain their vote is Preston MP Mark Hendrick. He discussed the matter with The Lancashire Lead and suggested that some of the money being paid out was unnecessary.

Well we said in our manifesto there wouldn't be rises in income tax, in VAT and so when you've got a situation where the economy is in a difficult situation - as we've been left with from the last government - then there have to be changes. And this is one where we feel a lot of people are receiving the benefit but they perhaps don't need it. I've had constituents who are pensioners say to me, and I know other colleagues have, why am I getting this payment each year?
However, I think we do need to look at some sort of taper on the payment as there will be people who don't qualify for pension credit - who might be right on the cusp of it - and so taking away the winter fuel payment will be difficult for them. I accept that. And I think we need to bring in a taper so people still get something to help.

Hendrick said he also hoped to see the application process simplified and defended Labour’s commitment to the country’s pensioners.

According to analysis from the Local Democracy Service, some parts of Lancashire will see more than nine out of every 10 pensioners lose their eligibility while more than a quarter of a million will be affected across the whole county. The full list is here:

Ribble Valley – 94.3 percent (809 still eligible; 13,481 not)
South Ribble – 92.0 percent (1,836 still eligible, 21,133 not)
Chorley 91.3 percent (1,970 still eligible, 20,619 not)
Fylde – 90.9 percent (1,945 still eligible, 19,540 not)
Wyre – 89.7 percent (3,022 still eligible, 26,407 not)
Lancaster – 88.7 percent (3,098 still eligible, 24,429 not)
West Lancashire – 88.6 percent (2,754 still eligible, 21,452 not)
Rosendale – 87.0 percent (1,624 still eligible, 10,868 not)
Hyndburn – 84.9 percent (2,104 still eligible, 11,858 not)
Pendle – 84.8 percent (2,478 still eligible, 13,805 not)
Burnley – 84.6 percent (2,387 still eligible, 13,137 not)
Preston – 84.3 percent (3,179 still eligible, 17,1232 not)
Blackburn with Darwen – 81.4 percent (3,835 still eligible, 16,733 not)
Blackpool – 80.4 percent (5,271 still eligible, 21,600 not)

Another worry is that many who are eligible for the credit don’t already claim it. Among the proposed solutions, a local public information campaign could be launched to help ensure Lancashire pensioners do not lose their winter fuel allowance unnecessarily.

Lancashire County Council is considering extra funding for its welfare advice service to boost the take-up of pension credit. As well as potentially attempting to increase applications for pension credit, Lancashire County Council is also exploring the possibility of enhancing schemes to provide short-term support to struggling elderly residents with their energy bills in the wake of the winter fuel allowance cut.

County Hall could also invest more cash in the warm and welcome spaces initiative that has operated for the past two years, through which libraries and other community facilities open their doors to people looking to escape cold homes that they cannot afford to heat.

Further investment could also be made in the Cosy Homes in Lancashire initiative, which helps people access grants to improve the energy efficiency of their homes – and so lower their heating bills.

If you ever considered yourself to be a nervous flyer, spare a thought for the passenger whose first ever attempted flight ended with him grabbing the throttle mid-panic attack and the plane crashing into another parked jet.

Details of the extraordinary journey, which involved the Pitts S-2A light biplane never leaving the ground at Blackpool Airport, were shared in the latest round of investigations by the Air Accidents Investigation Board (AAIB).

According to the investigation, the passenger was an employee of the pilot and had asked to go on a flight several times in the past. On June 8, this was finally to happen and the experienced pilot strapped the man in and delivered a safety briefing.

The man, who is 5ft 2in tall, was given a booster seat to sit on but wound up feeling “cooped up” and only able to see the sky. With worry setting in as the plane taxied, the pilot obtained permission to return to the hangar but as it was about to park, the man began to suffer his first ever panic attack and felt the need to get out. The investigation report states:

“He began to undo his straps and attempted to open the canopy. During this process, he accidentally advanced the throttle. The pilot reported that the passenger did not respond to his instruction to wait and calm down.
“The pilot said he had his hand on the throttle during the taxi, but it was ripped out of his grip. He stated that he cut the engine and attempted to brake but could not avoid colliding with a parked aircraft and a vertical post. The pilot and passenger were not injured but both aircraft were damaged.”

The passenger later commented it “may not have been the most appropriate choice of aircraft for his first time in the air”.

This week’s Blackpool Lead centred on Michael’s Holmes’ exclusive report on the Blackpool Council buying a collection of memorabilia including offensive blackface items. The collection was bought from a private collector for use at the resort’s new Showtime Museum.

So far, a photograph and flyer containing blackface material have been uncovered and are thought to date back to the 1920s. However, there are still several hundred items to be looked through and more could yet be uncovered.

According to museum bosses, the offensive materials will not go on public display but instead be taken to the History Centre archives at the Central Library in Queen Street, where they will only be available for viewing on request.

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Also published on the site this week were tributes to a retired police officer who died in a motorbike crash, a £15m payout to the family of a young boy who sustained complex injuries at birth at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, a warning about a text message scam targeting car park users with warning of penalty notices, news of the demolition of the eyesore former Hartes building, and

It was interesting to see the Guardian turn its attention to Preston this week and in particular the Spud Bros food stall which has earned a huge, worldwide online audience. A few years ago, it was unimaginable that people would be travelling across the world to sample a jacket potato in Preston’s market square but that’s where we’re at now.

But, as Hannah Al-Othman and Dan Milmo report, that’s where we’re at now:

Young potato sellers are breathing new life into the traditional British meal, with modern twists on favourite toppings.
And by broadcasting life from their pitches on social media, they are bringing in new customers from as far away as Australia and South Africa.
By 10.30am, a queue is already forming outside a closed baked potato van in a converted tram in Preston, Lancashire. Waiting in line are customers from Liverpool, Glasgow, and Orlando, Florida.
The first customer of the day gets their lunch for free and people have camped outside from as early as 4.30am in the past. Ask almost anyone in the queue why they’re here and they will give you the same answer – they have seen the Spud Bros on TikTok.
The Spud Bros are real-life brothers Jacob and Harley Nelson, and they have more than 2.6 million followers on the social media platform. Over the past year their posts have been viewed 1.5bn times on TikTok and views are running at 10m a day.

You can read the Guardian article here.

🏏 Tributes have been paid to two teens - including one who appeared on Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams - who died in a crash (Blog Preston).

🏥 A dad was left with a hole in his leg after he developed a rare injury four years after a car crash (Lancashire Post).

🚆 The Colne-Skipton link could be third in the queue for government support, a rail expert said (Lancashire Telegraph).

🙏 Campaigners are desperately trying to help a Blackpool man who is stuck in the Dominican Republic and whose health is declining (Blackpool Gazette).

🙌 Awards have been given to four hospice workers who’ve each given 25 years of service (BBC).

🍻 A 220-year-old pub whose name inspired that of its entire town is set to close down (BBC).

❌ A Lancaster city centre takeaway has had its premises licence revoked after repeatedly employing illegal workers (Beyond Radio).

As mentioned earlier, Mark Hendrick discussed devolution with The Lancashire Lead and described himself as a “heretic” as he called for the process to restart. Conceding his view would be unpopular with party colleagues and councillors, he said:

What we have now with all these district authorities and then the county set up, it just doesn't work. They don't have the clout and resources to get things done. Look at Preston, it's a city but it's small when it comes to being a local authority. A lot of those challenges in the city centre, they'll never be able to solve them because they'd need to get County to support them - and they won't because they are juggling so many different things.
And when county do things, well, just look at Friargate. It took ages, it's caused businesses real harm and it was a mess. They aren't interested. It's people in County Hall who on the most part don't care about Preston. How many people could name the leader of the county council? Not many I don't think. You've got all these cycle lanes going in and no one using them - except these takeaway delivery drivers whizzing along.
Look at how Blackpool and Blackburn are able to get things done. So I'm sorry, it's not popular with many councillors, but this whole parish, district, county thing - many of whom have the same people at each level, which is daft - we need unitary authorities in Lancashire each with about 250,000 people in and the ability to get things done in terms of budgets and then you have a Mayor over the top of it to speak for Lancashire and they also can get things done like Burnham and Rotherham.

Meanwhile, Paul Faulkner has taken a wide look at the current state of play on Lancashire’s devolution progress - and how it’s all gearing up for another clash of the councils. He writes:

The dozen second-tier authorities in the county are divided over whether a provisional agreement struck with the previous Tory government should be implemented as it stands or renegotiated.
In correspondence seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), the leaders of the seven Labour-run districts – Preston, Chorley, South Ribble, West Lancashire, Lancaster, Rossendale and Hyndburn, along with coalition-controlled Burnley and Pendle – have written to Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner calling for “a more ambitious devolution settlement” and asking for help to devise it.
However, the Conservative leaders in Wyre, Fylde and Ribble Valley have sent their own letter to Ms. Rayner – who is also the local government secretary – rejecting any notion that a new deal could be done quickly and stressing that it would be “a disservice to the people of Lancashire” to keep them waiting for the extra powers and cash currently on the table.
The devolution agreement reached late last year did not involve Lancashire’s districts and was struck solely between Rishi Sunak’s administration and Lancashire’s three top-tier local authorities – Tory-controlled Lancashire County Council and the Labour councils in Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen. However, its implementation was derailed by the snap general election – and Lancashire’s districts could now go from being bystanders to deal-makers.
As the LDRS has previously revealed, the cross-party top-tier trio is keen to see the settlement they signed brought into effect as planned rather than the ripped up and the process restarted with the new government – putting them on the same page as the Conservative districts on the issue.
The current fissure is just the latest in a long line of divisions to have opened up in Lancashire over devolution – a subject which has defied consensus between the county’s 15 local authorities, sometimes regardless of party affiliation, at almost every turn during the eight years that efforts have been made to find it.
The most insurmountable sticking point in that time has been whether any deal should see Lancashire get an elected mayor, in the mould of Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham.
Although the Labour-led letter does not mention the m-word, the Conservative district leaders’ correspondence with Angela Rayner reiterates the strength, as they see it, of the provisional devolution settlement not coming with that kind of figurehead.
“We are fundamentally opposed to such a mayor,” they write. “We can see the benefit of these in metropolitan areas, but believe that Lancashire is so diverse and unique that the county and district model which has served it well since the 1970s is best placed to continue to do so.
“This is supported by the fact that, since the pandemic, growth in Lancashire has overtaken the Liverpool City Region to become the second largest economy in the North West,” the letter adds.

You can read Paul’s full article here.

Lastly before Luke’s opinion piece, here’s some of the What’s On stories which have caught my eye this week. As ever, if you have anything you’d like to see featured in this section (or any other feedback), I’d love to hear from you on jamie@thelead.uk

For Labour and the country, things have to get better

By Luke Beardsworth

One thing that nobody could accuse Keir Starmer of is an unwillingness to make decisions he knows will be unpopular.

At least a vast chunk of the optimism felt in the aftermath of Labour’s sweeping victory in July has been taken away. Most governments have to make unpopular decisions anyway - but at least there has been a refreshing honesty to a dour appraisal of where the UK is. ‘Frankly things will get worse’ sits very differently to ‘sunlit uplands’. We’re still waiting on those.

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A guest post by

Jamie Lopez

Editor, The Lancashire Lead