Is Levelling Up a scam | Redcar report

[@LBandCOOLJ]

£1 an acre? There have to be criminal charges launched

[@chetmanley1885]

Stinks of corruption.

[@MosAchillesJourney24]

Gove’s answer pretty criminal too

[@amayastrata4629]

Yet something else to investigate by the Labour Party. It’s never ending.

[@cat_glove]

Just off the top of my head. That's a industrial brownfield site an ex steel works. There would need to be extensive environmental testing and even potentially cleaning up of the area before it can be repurposed. I'm not sure what the cost of that would be but I imagine it would be expensive. Maybe the price reflects that. That's my guess.

[@johnners911]

@@cat_glove From what I read about it some time ago, a clean up was undertaken at the tax-payers expense. Also, there was a huge sale of scrap from the site that came from the clean up. It raised millions in revenue and that went straight to the new owners / shareholders. The whole thing stinks. Publicly funded for private gain.

[@thomasknight1998]

Credit to Private Eye and Richard Brooks for running this story for years!

[@MorningtonCrescent]

Yep - the Eye plus the FT are the only major titles covering this corruption.

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

They do tend to be the canary in the mine.

[@theborobull]

I mean theres undoubted criminality in that land sale and lease back. Someone HAS to be held accountable

[@aidy6000]

"I mean" why do you need to lead with a clarification when you haven't written anything at that point.

[@penguimTwo]

@@aidy6000 shut up aidy

[@EvgeneXI]

@@aidy6000 Government and business taking the Micky and causing problems for the north. And this is your main concern? Boil ya heed, ked.

[@kezzt]

Private Eye have been reporting on this for YEARS

[@lewisjones4158]

Levelling up is and always has been a joke

[@ArtyFactual_Intelligence]

Levelling Up means levelling DOWN the rich, and the Tories never meant that!

[@rodgerhargoon3402]

Well they did say that the sun shall never set on the British empire .....well that's what they thought .....with all their colonies 😂😂😂😂

[@nickjones9867]

Even the name. Such a “hello fellow kids” vibe

[@jean-lucpicard5510]

@@ArtyFactual_Intelligence They look out for the rich!

[@ncooper8438]

@@lewisjones4158 What about hs2?

[@AndrewSinclair-bk9ho]

Redcar in the 80s had a 20% UNEMPLOYMENT and probably has not improved .Thatcher has a lot to answer for . Hell must be well pleased with her.

[@gobot4455]

I really do hope demons get well acquainted with both Reagan and Thatcher's nether regions given the damage those two have done to the average person's lives.

[@apemoon1731]

​@@gobot4455 I can't think of any damage they have done to my life. You know there have been quite a few presidents and PM's since they were around, right? 🤔

[@gobot4455]

@@apemoon1731 ah, then you haven't looked at the root of the national debt and budget deficit in the US, or the loss of the pensions (like the airlines) or the root of the wealth inequality. That's the US. As for the UK, ask coal miners how much they love Thatcher. You can't? Hmmm... Or you could ask the woman who died of hypothermia because she was afraid to turn on the heat IN THE WINTER(!) because the energy grid has been privatized. They may have died before you were born (afterall I don't know you), but their pernicious influence remains. Some mistakes were built to last.

[@TheSkunkyMonk]

We wanted 30%+ unemployment before back in the day, it was good to have people comfortable and not working as it meant that the crappy rolls paying almost nothing didn't get filled and companies were pushed into improving things. These days the benefits system is about making people as uncomfortable as possible so the workers will take these rolls and the companies can run off with massive profits.

[@roody59]

Good on you Joe for this kind of journalism!

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

Gove's really got to stop getting carpet burns on his forehead.

[@zygmuntthecacaokakistocrat6589]

as he gets @#$%ed up the *&^% by rich Tory donors, you mean?

[@michaelwilliams3232]

The lesson is never snort a ine with a candle in front of you...

[@parametr]

Keir, please outlaw these deals and prosecute anybody who took part on signing them. This is simply stealing from taxpayers.

[@avrilneilson8005]

😂😂😂 Ziffff that'll ever happen. I want to be wrong

[@theondebray]

Like all the other privatisation scams - stealing from the tax payer - US.

[@richardmorrison8217]

@@avrilneilson8005fear not, queer spanner will do nothing; them new snouts are sniffing out those well stuffed envelopes!

[@secretsquirrel6124]

Like he prosecuted Savile 😂😂😂

[@jamiehardcastle4999]

Kier Stammer will help no one ,other than himself and other leaches in Government

[@zygmuntthecacaokakistocrat6589]

My grandad worked there (Dorman & Long, as was, then British Steel) from the 1920s to the 1970s. He poured the steel that made the Sydney Harbour Bridge, & 000s of miles of railway line, and acres of plating for ships and tanks in WW2. He encouraged my dad to emigrate to Australia in the 70s, as he could see the direction the works, and then Middlesborough, would take. I am sad to see all his work turn, literally, to rust, and be supplanted by greed and stupidity (Free Ports are an oligarchic scam, hatched by Rish!'s disaster capitalist mates).

[@ChrisWBarker]

We have to stop calling it bad value for money. It's fucking theft. Prison for those involved

[@neiltitmus9744]

These deals need explanation at least and it better add up

[@njr1222]

Bare faced corruption.

[@Pacmunchkin]

And they voted Ben Houchen back in?!

[@vkgraphics]

Welcome to Lanarkshire my friend. We got shafted 40 years ago, but no one gave a fuck.

[@californiadreamin8423]

I did. I was one of the design engineers based in Teesside , who worked on Ravenscraig, Teesside and Port Talbot / Llanwern.

[@HarunalRashide123]

​@@californiadreamin8423Nothing for people in Merthyr/Rhonda. High unemployment, depression and a life of drugs. I don't know whether it was by design or sheer contempt for those people.

[@californiadreamin8423]

@@HarunalRashide123 No comment.

[@thesmallfarmerlife]

£1 an Acre...? If you get arrested for buying stolen goods and they ask the question "Did you think it was worth more than you paid for it..?" If the answer is yes and in this case what else could it be...? Then you are charged with buying stolen goods and it seems to me that whoever purchased that land at that price was buying stolen goods or in this case LAND....! Take it back they stole the F-----g land they never purchased It £1 is just something they can say they put in the contract, like when you see LTD companies with 1 share for £1 etc. Or if you do pay £1 for something then you are committing to taking on all the debt from whatever you are buying for that sum of money.. Shocking business whoever was involved should be arrested and investigated, will never happen but they should be..!

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

Another investigation for Labour when they're in power.

[@therealrobertbirchall]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@secretsquirrel6124]

All liebour will investigate is the fat brown envelope stuffed with cash😂

[@DigitalRageInc]

Tories have ruined Teeside since Thatcher

[@peterreed3104]

Thatcher Bulldozed Teesside starting in 1980, From The River to the Sea, Death By 40 years of Cuts The Original Plans For Redcar Iron and Steel works were Never Finished Because of Thatcher!

[@zygmuntthecacaokakistocrat6589]

Tories (beneath their contemptuously polished smiles) hate ordinary people, they hate unionized workers, they hate Labour, as to them, it's the ordinary people thwarting their Rees-Moggsian infantile desires for total power over mummy's breasts.

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

You should've seen the docklands, before Canary Wharf, another Tory scam with Jeffry Archer armpit deep in it.

[@khalidacosta7133]

Yorkshire too...

[@Nelson_Churchill]

Wasn't it labour for like 20 years?

[@eddjordan2399]

Wow we have lost such skilled people in this country. leveling up where has that happened? utter rubbish no investment in people and industry. my heart goes out to you and i hope you get back on your feet.

[@jonbob2]

Levelling up, just a rehash of the promised Northern Powerhouse. None of us up here really expected anything to actually happen.

[@ArtyFactual_Intelligence]

Good con trick to associate with the big Brexit Bus Lie, though.

[@_banja]

They said they would level up. They have done a great job with the levelling... now we just wait for the up.

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

They wanted you annoyed and voting for brexshit.

[@antonyjharper31]

Youl be happy with brexit when the eu reveal their real plans!

[@kateanddavelacey2267]

Top man Bri, every word true my mate! You did your very best and can hold your head high! If the people in government had half the honesty integrity and honour that you have the country would be a far better place! Keep the faith✊ Taff

[@holdmusic_]

6:17 "I can't answer that question" - the barefaced cheek of this sock puppet is hard to stomach

[@oakfat5178]

If AI art got prompted "Weasel-word man" Michael Gove would be one of its most realistic images.

[@chetmanley1885]

David Cameron didnt help because he wanted the Chinese to build nuclear power plants. The trade for this was flooding the EU with cheap steel. I was on my brother in law's stag and his best mate said this is why he (and many people like him in construction) was voting for Brexit.

[@frankstollar8492]

But that is not true as the EU is very protectionist about its steel industry. You got hoodwinked to vote for Brexit with propaganda and lies.

[@GCarty80]

Strangely I voted Remain for that reason thinking that "if the Tories are willing to flood the EU with cheap Chinese steel in spite of the EU itself being opposed, then there's no way they'd defend British industry _outside_ the EU".

[@davidtomkins2542]

Cameron pledged to buy Chinese steel for h2 that’s why he had to crawl back

[@GCarty80]

@@davidtomkins2542 h2?

[@AJP-kf7wq]

@@davidtomkins2542 i bet cameron had plenty of 'dividends' from the chinese too

[@ArcTV.]

I'm surprised there's not more calls for even further devolution in northern England. Westminster have actively harmed and have gone against the interest of the north. Parties like say the yorkshire party who advocate for a regional parliament have little support. It's so distinctly different from the south of England, especially London and severely different interests and goals. The north of England is so underdeveloped and uninvested. That's not to say there are the same types of areas in the south of England. But they do need to wake up. Not really smart of the red wall voters to have voted Brexit though.

[@TinkerTailor117]

As someone from Teesside I'd prefer more centralisation. Young, Clarke and worse Hougen, Preston have been insanely currupt. They sell assets to their mates or what little development money their is goes into areas they own property

[@GCarty80]

Isn't the problem that the factors pulling wealth to London and the South East are so overwhelming (it's both the capital city AND the part of the UK closest to Europe's prosperous "Blue Banana") that nothing could really help except (perhaps) replacing London as the UK's capital city? The main thing northern England had going for it in the past was simply that it was where the coal was.

[@TheSkunkyMonk]

Might be a lot less money up north but if you've been you will know the people are so much nicer.

[@priyaakajedimindtrickdrago1193]

I find this so so shocking. When I first heard about this I thought criminal charges would be brought or SOMETHING but if they have taken advantage of loopholes that exist there is nothing that can be done except close the loopholes for the future. This whole scenario actually makes my stomach turn because I'm so livid.

[@OOvki]

If people can’t see whats was and is still going on by the ‘ Post Office enquiry’ they deserve everything they get.

[@JSmith19858]

Yes. It's just a way to funnel more money in to the pockets of their mates. Around here they shut all the perfectly fine leisure centres and then spent the levelling up money on building new leisure centres, the shed, and on football facilities they gave to Mr Eisner. Nothing on what we really needed or would benefit us like adult social care programs, cycling infrastructure, or social housing

[@beammeup8458]

They all hide behind enquiries, like the PO, which is so lucrative for the players that they never end ...

[@XxMsrSzprzxX]

It hurts so much to hear people with decades of invaluable experience that you can't find anywhere else have nowhere to put that into for other generations.

[@ld4244]

The whole thing is corrupt. Taxpayer is getting a terrible deal, while a few individuals are making a fortune.

[@paulurwin1232]

NEVER TRUST A TORY

[@thepm3972]

Look at the Scottish steel industry.....gone...you don't count...my sympathy and thoughts are with you bud. Motherwell been there still suffering. Good luck

[@beefybreaker]

Labour need to go after all of these bent MPs

[@secretsquirrel6124]

So go for b.liar first then😮

[@Alex-jx8ez]

If the US congress can hold the CEO of adobe directly responsible for their corrupt practice, why cant our justice system hold the people behind this decision personally responsible for this? absolutely criminal.

[@philipbaker4840]

When Government decisions STOP PROTECTING THE PUBLIC, they are no longer suitable to be in government. The Public don't want to hear EXCUSES they want action that makes their lives better. If your MP doesn't fight for your local interests SACK them at the next election. An MP without an INCOME soon clears their hearing and focuses on saving their Job by saving YOURS.

[@UkSapyy]

Lots of projects in and around Teesside but all are being rushed through with concerns they don't have enough funding, which is kinda funny when you think about how MPs and the mayor have screwed the taxpayer. One thing is for sure if you're landlord then it's the right time to start buying up all the cheap Darlington housing.

[@robinrdale8318]

Already happened when the treasury jobs were announced about 2 years ago

[@ncooper8438]

Its not just Teeside they failed to help, there's the whole Midlands area as well. And to make matters worse they've relocated many military bases and other government bodies from those areas to the south of England.

[@Clubberdude-sp1gw]

God I really hope the polling is right. I hate the tories and everything they stand for. Hopefully this is the end.

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

To calm your fevered brow. Go and listen to Phil at A Different Bias Channel. He's great with polls, and their psephology. Listen to a few from the last few days. He's been nearly unable to keep the smile of his face. It's on a knife edge if The Tories get voted into third and irrelevance. Mind you I'll be enjoying every draft sports hall, when you see the light of hope go out in their eyes. I do feel I should add a Machiavellian laugh!

[@murglebinter]

If you live in Teesside I would highly recommend you report this and send this video to the police. It shouldn't take many of you to initiate an investigation.

[@davidty2006]

police round ere can't stop the local druggies nevermind anything else.

[@TheElDoctoro24]

Port Talbot, this is what awaits you

[@ramodiebel9939]

While heartbreaking, how this community has been treated, thank you for making this film & series of interviews. Certainly left me drained & not sure what to say, do or how to go forward. With all familiar/ expected democratic, political & sense check frameworks being hijacked & bypassed - a situation masterminded by opportunistic developers/ inside dealers. They appear to be a small group of unscrupulous insulated & positioned elite that are facilitated to determine what happens in our country. Its history repeated with the sale of British Leyland in the late 70's early 80's & I suppose Royal Ordnance for a similar trivial sums. If any of the mis-treated local community read this - well done for telling the story & trying to correct/ oppose this sickening behavior.

[@juliewake4585]

I remember the steel works, and the ICI chemical plant, on Teesside. All gone. Thank you Andy McDonald: a very good man fighting for his people.

[@WaineBGallagher]

What I'd like to know is can some of these dodgy deals closed by "Hands-in-the-till" Houchen and corrupt Clarke be torn up and the project come under public sector ownership? Surely, a good lawyer could find a clause or two that means the deals were null and void or at least illegal.

[@linmorell1813]

Really good questioning but Groves is clearly Teflon.

[@peterreed3104]

Jail Grove !!

[@tlcrf80mins73]

Interestingly, in the 2019 election, Redcar returned a Conservative MP with a 3,500 majority - a tory uplift of 13%.

[@TheMixCurator]

Scandals surrounding Gove? Colour me surprised. The cola fan should be banged up what he's done as Education Secretary, let alone his role as Levelling Up (whatever the fuck that meant)

[@ArtyFactual_Intelligence]

Any incoming government needs a special unit to identify declining industries and match up NEW employment opportunities to the workforce that are thrown aside like 'Factors of Production' Fodder for the employers that will shift their capital with a push of the button..

[@charliedrake247]

Criminals in power completed our destruction

[@robertgannon-cx2mm]

What a stupid question!! Of course it is!!!! It's the same shit as Keith Joseph's levelling down shit!! It a total con that the Tories come up with periodically!!!

[@DanPlimmer]

Bribes with extra steps

[@lizdocherty3067]

The problem is people think the government is supposed to keep jobs and industries flourishing in the country. The people who worked in the steel industry are hardworking people but the majority don't vote Tory, so throwing them on the scrapheap is of no consequence to the Tories and they no doubt will benefit financially from the people who bought the land.

[@LAD907]

Rule number 1 never trust a tory. Rule 2 never trust a tory

[@marcd6897]

@jeremyschippand your solution is…? (Please don’t say Faraj)

[@klousy58]

We need a people's government not a government that inly looks after its friends

[@philipcurnow7990]

He's completely correct. Everyone in Taranto in Italy knows the ILVA site is toxic (cancer, pollution) but politically the gvt saved it. Any Italian govt would have done the same. It's a basket case. I visited Taranto last year and also have family in Saltburn. It's all about political choices as the video relates with precision.

[@raggletaggle8827]

As a teessider, I appreciate this coverage. Kind of would like any future videos on Redcar to look at the conflicting opinions on the demolition of Dormans Long Tower. Many locals (myself included) felt that, while green industry is needed - the tower should have been preserved as a historical monument. Others (mostly the die hard tory locals) downplayed it as 'just an old coal shuttle' and saw no problem with Dorries and Houchen going against Historic England's reccomendation. Dorries and Houchen even lied about how 'the decision was made by a young male intern who didn't know better'. Even if you're someone who didn't care about the demolition - I thought the blatant lies those two politicians were callously making should have rung alarm bells about this project from day one.

[@thesaltycabbage]

Living in Middlesbrough I have never seen a job advertised at any of the Teesworks site. All of the contractors are brought in from outside of the area.

[@Ooze-cl5tx]

Someone leveled up mightily and thats enough for the Tories.

[@bield7]

And Gove closed ranks to protect Houchen. The whole thing stinks.

[@darrennixon8729]

No mention of course that it was Labour who originally let the steelworks close and it was the Tories who brought in SSI in 2011 to try and make a go of it. Regardless of how much an acre the land was sold for, whoever bought it took the risk for clearing and cleaning the site to make it suitable for use again. Teesside in recent years has had highs and lows, look at the loss of the clothing factories in the 80s and 90s, replaced by call centres, now steel and call centres replaced by what is happening at Teesworks. Yes it is sad that steel has gone from Teesside, but let’s get behind what is happening on Teesworks and make a go of it!

[@rogerwileman9965]

The Tories have done that to so many over the years

[@dansonthetube]

An appalling sell off for the profit of the few. An excellent report for the many! Nice one Ava & #Joe #WickedMedia

[@geoffcropper1410]

If they carry on the green agenda,steel production in this country will close down. It will cost too much to produce steel under those conditions. The Indian owners will cut and run.

[@simost2566]

This type of deal is crooked af! The amount of corruption that exists in this country over the last 25years is appalling.

[@bob23301]

And they voted their tory mayor back in........sooooooooooo. lol

[@californiadreamin8423]

Yup.

[@raymondnewton2388]

Contaminated land requires expensive clean up.

[@onenote6619]

If you want to go historical, ICI was a major employer. Also a major distributor of chemical ash over the area when a batch went wrong. It amuses me that this guy is complaining that Europe protects their own businesses after the UK left Europe. I would be interested to know if this guy voted for Brexit. If we were still in the EU, it might have been possible to do something.

[@Matthew-qw6bi]

Glad you have taken up the reporting

[@DavidMyers-c7k]

Labour politican. Just does not mention corruption or call it corruption. Say it or shut up. Typical standard politican.

[@madmesmith5187]

Why are they still walking FREE ? Criminals the lot of them i feel like i have been Mugged and they are laughing at me.

[@Tunsgate123]

Labour and Tory are the same thing, all should be held to account

[@AuraTrimCoMeath]

After communism, EU forced Eastern Europe countries to close state run factories. Then some connected people could purchase whole sites for a £1. Then they sold machineries for scrap price and moved to another site. Thanks to EU and those connected people, unemployement reached 35%.

[@MrHighRaw]

These "simplified customs rules" are not unique to the free ports. Your able to use a simplified declaration to clear goods at any of the existing major commercial ports in the UK.

[@jamesmilne2455]

Staggering Teeside voted for a tory mayor

[@BoyeeSmudger]

Shame this isn't getting same traction as other videos.

[@TheCheshireCat.]

But they'll still vote for Tory. 😂 🤷‍♂️

[@Ben-fk9ey]

Pretty sure you can't even buy land in Chernobyl for £1 an acre or less.

[@loquek]

93m wtf..

[@danmayberry1185]

Andy McDonald - haven't seen him before, but seems knowledgeable, and with his heart in the right place.

[@JackManEveryday]

He was in Corbyns shadow cabinet, good bloke

[@jgdooley2003]

I have worked with people who worked with a steel mill in Wales and moved to work in Ireland in the semiconductor industry as technicians in the processing lines. They had electrical and chemical instrumentation qualifications readily transferable to more modern industries. Some people can make the transition but other cannot. Over 50's would have a bigger problem as would those with big families and spouses settled in their original community. This is a common problem with what are called traditional smoke-stack industries but I would imagine that a NATO power cutting native steel supply below a certain minima would be unwise. Tanks ships and guns need steel.

[@californiadreamin8423]

Unwise !! The U.K. no longer has any steel making capacity.

[@smithondaspliff2428]

As a Redcar lad I cannot believe that the Joe team has stepped foot here ❤️

[@TheSkunkyMonk]

I've wanted a few acres my entire life to use as a small farm :( All our Government cares about is the profits of large companies they couldn't care less about the people who put in the work and make it happen.

[@Thegobstopper61]

Ask most Scots. We have lost hundreds of Jobs to the south.

[@katejackson7432]

what gove must'nt do is answer questions aparently

[@NeonVisual]

These people are the last generation of jobs for life, and now seem to expect compensation or something.

[@nicolass7102]

Uk is not umited anymore

[@LimeyRedneck]

Playing hokey cokey with the monies!

[@ArosIrwin]

I love that Joe used their own video for the quote from Gove and ended up with their logos overlapping, like they're making a point about other people using stolen videos

[@Maxx1066]

Since Thatcher there's been cheap imports and a policy of Deindustrialisation look at the car industry and the the steelworks in Wales

[@customharleysuk3500]

Politicians taking back handers.

[@kevgeordie1]

Why didn’t they name the handful of men that behind it?

[@Google_Does_Evil_Now]

Who voted Tory? This is your fault.

[@robinrdale8318]

Not a Tory fan either but , Labour were in charge is this area for ages and did nothing . Teesside , Cleveland , tees valley even (North Yorkshire which ever one comes up when you put the postcode in (if your local you’ll understand) is the forgotten part of the north east , so good it’s named as 4 different areas I’m surprised you even found it

[@californiadreamin8423]

Labour were in charge …..what does that mean ? At a local government level possibly , but it is the government in Westminster which call the shots and the Tories have been in power significantly longer than Labour since 1945.

[@robinrdale8318]

@@californiadreamin8423 Tony Blair was pm and a minister which represented this area

[@californiadreamin8423]

@@robinrdale8318 Yes Tony Blair was prime minister….this area has never had a minister….but that was at a time when we had a massive iron and steel industry from Ravenscraig, to Teesside, to Scunthorpe, to the 2 plants in South Wales, that I can think of. Was Blair to favour just Teesside at the expense of the other plants ? I think the case you’re trying to make is flimsy.

[@starofdavid9919]

A pound an acre, at least Dick Turpin had the decency to wear a mask, insider trading, conflicts of interest the list could go on, I imagine this is happening all over the country, they have the nerve to call this a free and democratic country more like a free for all for the establishment, the whole thing stinks to high heaven, its true when they say people are in prison for a lot less.

[@InnocuousInes-pe8mk]

Honestly. Joe is cooking with the election content this cycle

[@axelbruv]

Who would've guessed.

[@jakiairey]

Great work . Thx.

[@jazzpotato1572]

most American guitar rift with British steel in the corner hahahaha

[@paulrussell9667]

Free ports are a bad thing, and should never be allowed.

[@DebatingWombat]

It’s because they really aren’t (just) free ports anymore. A free port used to be just that: An area where goods could be stored and transshipped without having to go through customs, since they generally weren’t destined for the local market. Other than that, the free ports adhered to local laws, employment rules etc. What is now being called free ports are actually the so-called “free economic zones”, which are basically enclaves that are exempt from all kinds of normal laws and regulations “Free economic zones” tend to be used to exert downward pressure (or at least remove/dampen upward pressure) on the surrounding society in terms of wages and working conditions and other kinds of rules to safeguard ordinary people, including legal protections and political rights. These “free economic zones” are basically oligarchic fiefdoms run by and for consortiums of transnational corporations and their political allies.

[@SirWhig-esq.]

The music is making me think of the ‘gay steel workers’ scene in the Simpsons. [on a serious note; steel has now gone the same way as coal]

[@mickthurston9883]

Wealth doesn't trickle down. Anywhere in the UK. Might be why so many turn 2 both sides of the drug industry.