TransLogistics

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Matt Vickers MP – Stockton’s parmo populist

We all know that Matt Vickers likes thumbs up, and parmos[1]. But how much do we really know about the icon of the Parmo Sox Generation? Let’s dive in:

Matthew Alexander Parmo Socks Vickers

I can remember those far-off days when the Gazette, the Northern Echo and populist Teesside politicians[2] didn’t relentlessly[3], endlessly[4], remorselessly[5] bang on about parmos 24 hours a day. But Matt Vickers has discovered an infallible method of relating to the hard-working people of Teesside via their favourite slab of greasy chicken and cheese, and he never shuts up about it[6].

Groundhog Day at the Golden Eagle Hotel

By the time of the March 2021 budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak had completed his pork-barrel vote-buying “Levelling Down” plan to switch funding from deprived communities[7] to Tory marginal constituencies such as Stockton South. Matt Vickers’ share of the loot was the £24mn Thornaby Town Fund[8]. To celebrate, Vickers did a photo-op in Thornaby Town Centre, during which he pledged to get on with the job of demolishing the derelict Golden Eagle Hotel[9].

Six months later, Matt Vickers was back at the Golden Eagle Hotel for another “demolition” photo-op, this time with Levelling Up minister Michael Gove[10].

Two months after this, the Gazette reported that cranes had moved on to the site. At last they were cracking on with the job[11].

In April 2022, five months after the Gazette reported that demolition cranes had moved on to the site, Thornaby residents were disappointed to realise that this had been yet another false dawn. The Golden Eagle Hotel was still standing. But Matt Vickers was really on the case now[12], instructing Stockton Council to get on with the job.

In October 2022, six months after Matt Vickers pledge to get things moving, the Golden Eagle Hotel was still there. Matt opined to the Gazette that “The Golden Eagle has remained a blight on Thornaby’s skyline for far too long[13]”.

Six months later, in April 2023, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak came to Thornaby for a photo-op with Matt Vickers. Sunak enthused over the great progress that Matt Vickers was making with the Thornaby Town Deal[14], including the demolition of the Golden Eagle Hotel. Who’s going to tell him?

Fast forward to 19 July 2023, and Cleveland Fire Brigade were called to a blaze at the derelict Golden Eagle Hotel in Thornaby[15].

Their finest hour

June 2020 saw the most hollow, cynical publicity stunt of the post-Brexit era as Matt Vickers, Darlington MP Peter Gibson, Brendan Clarke Smith and “30p” Lee Anderson cleaned a statue of Winston Churchill after a Black Lives Matter protest. Plastic patriot Matt didn’t take time to explain why he was more interested in the statue of a dead man than the lives of actual living people in his Stockton constituency, where a third of the children live in poverty, or even why he’s spent the last four years trashing Churchill’s greatest achievement, the European Convention on Human Rights. A few weeks later, Matt was at it again with the culture wars grandstanding, this time over the unfortunate death of PC Andrew Harper.[16][17][18][19]

Theakston Estates Ltd – Matt and the Teesside autocrats

In December 2021 Matt Vickers was in a real dilemma. After an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate, a property developer had been given permission to build 300 new homes[20] on farmland at the edge of Yarm. Matt’s constituents were rightly outraged by this destruction of the green belt, but they hoped that their local MP would stand up for them. The property developer was Theakston Estates Ltd[21], owned by Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen’s Teesside Freeport scrap-metal cronies Ian Waller and Martin Corney. Ben Houchen didn’t attend the planning enquiry, but another one of the scrap-metal crew did – Chris Harrison. Ben Houchen and the Teesside autocrats got their way as usual, as their Tory crony Matt Vickers[22] knew that they would from the start. But how could he double-talk his constituents into convincing them that he’d always been against the development?

Think fast, two-faced Matt

Matt Vickers’ sprang into action on behalf of his constituents by writing a Facebook post[23], saying that he would present a case to Housing Minister Michael Gove. But, of course, Matt knew that Gove couldn’t call in the planning application at this late stage. Matt COULD have presented his case to Gove three months earlier, when they met up at that photo-op at the Golden Eagle Hotel in Thornaby on 24 September.

The peacemaker

In July 2022, Matt Vickers appeared on Iain Dale’s LBC show[24] to pontificate about the recent Northern Ireland Assembly results and the NI protocol. What followed was a staggering display of stupidity, ignorance and arrogance, confirming that English Tory MPs such as Vickers, who had disregarded the wishes of the people of NI by tearing them out of the EU, then got Brexit done by drawing a border down the Irish Sea[25], then decided to immediately tear up the international treaty that had agreed this, really should keep quiet about NI affairs. Two months before Vickers’ interview with Iain Dale, the people of NI had overwhelmingly voted for parties who supported the Protocol[26], but Vickers insisted that they’d done the exact opposite, talking over the interviewer and asserting that he would take only take notice of the opinions of the minority DUP, and wasn’t interested in the majority of people in NI who’d voted for Sinn Fein, the SDLP and the Alliance Party.

Money laundering

If Vladimir Putin wished to continue to sow division in the UK by funding Tory MPs fighting marginal seats in the upcoming General Election, how would he go about it? Maybe something like this:

We need your help! The press in our country is dominated by billionaire-owned media, many offshore and avoiding paying tax. We are a citizen journalism publication but still have significant costs. If you believe in what we do, please consider subscribing to the Bylines Gazette 🙏[31]

References

  1. ^ parmos (www.mattvickers.co.uk)
  2. ^ populist Teesside politicians (www.facebook.com)
  3. ^ relentlessly (www.gazettelive.co.uk)
  4. ^ endlessly (www.gazettelive.co.uk)
  5. ^ remorselessly (www.thenorthernecho.co.uk)
  6. ^ he never shuts up about it (www.thenorthernecho.co.uk)
  7. ^ switch funding from deprived communities (www.theguardian.com)
  8. ^ £24mn Thornaby Town Fund (www.stockton.gov.uk)
  9. ^ Golden Eagle Hotel (www.gazettelive.co.uk)
  10. ^ Levelling Up minister Michael Gove (www.facebook.com)
  11. ^ At last they were cracking on with the job (www.gazettelive.co.uk)
  12. ^ Matt Vickers was really on the case now (www.gazettelive.co.uk)
  13. ^ The Golden Eagle has remained a blight on Thornaby’s skyline for far too long (www.gazettelive.co.uk)
  14. ^ Thornaby Town Deal (www.gazettelive.co.uk)
  15. ^ a blaze at the derelict Golden Eagle Hotel in Thornaby (www.thenorthernecho.co.uk)
  16. ^ cleaned a statue of Winston Churchill (www.dailymail.co.uk)
  17. ^ a third of the children live in poverty (www.nechildpoverty.org.uk)
  18. ^ European Convention on Human Rights (www.thenorthernecho.co.uk)
  19. ^ unfortunate death of PC Andrew Harper. (conservativehome.com)
  20. ^ permission to build 300 new homes (www.gazettelive.co.uk)
  21. ^ Theakston Estates Ltd (northeastbylines.co.uk)
  22. ^ Tory crony Matt Vickers (www.mattvickers.co.uk)
  23. ^ Facebook post (northeastbylines.co.uk)
  24. ^ Iain Dale’s LBC show (www.youtube.com)
  25. ^ drawing a border down the Irish Sea (www.mirror.co.uk)
  26. ^ the people of NI had overwhelmingly voted for parties who supported the Protocol (www.bbc.co.uk)
  27. ^ Alexander Temerko (www.theguardian.com)
  28. ^ Jake Berry (www.huffingtonpost.co.uk)
  29. ^ IX Wireless (northeastbylines.co.uk)
  30. ^ exactly the same amount to the Northern Research Group (news.sky.com)
  31. ^ please consider subscribing to the Bylines Gazette 🙏 (bylinesnetwork.co.uk)

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