North East thread 7: the bus chat continues...

[Someaddedsugar]

Just setting this up so it's here

I couldn’t even get close to the chocolate ice block! It’s always such a popular event.
The extended ‘Collected’ shop is lovely and nice for a business to be a success.

We had a good time at Fire and Ice on Saturday - it's always lovely in the sunshine and it was hopefully a good day for the businesses in Durham too.

Collected is looking fantastic with the basement area. I recommend the cakes in there too!

Anyone go see King Charles at Durham Cathedral today. I enjoyed seeing the photos.
Durham looked amazing.
Happy Easter everyone, I’m going to enjoy my chocolate Easter egg.

It looked like a joyful occasion. The protesters even got their chance to have a whinge.

Loved the postbox topper!

I'm sure the dried vomit and chewing gum will be back by next week!

God the protesters! The chanting he’s not our King. I didn’t realise we elected them.😂.

Reform have won Durham County council. I’m ashamed and very disappointed. 🥺😭😭😭

I'm quite upset by it. We've kept the fab lib dems in our ward but they've got a hard few years ahead.

I bet the idiots that voted for their shiny new councillors can't wait to lose all their secured bus services (that includes many evening and Sunday services on otherwise commercial routes), fortnightly bin collections, school crossing patrols, the nature reserves where they let their dogs shit and run free...

We lost a hard working woman.
I have just been to Durham this afternoon and looked at the river in dazzling sunshine and could have cried.
Did see someone being interviewed on camera 🎥 they were asking why people voted for Reform. He said people were fed up and wanted change. We are gonna get change alright.
I am hoping that they make such a dreadful mess, that people vote them out next election.

The best that we can hope for is that it puts people off voting for them in the next general election. The nasty little bunch of grifters they already have in the commons doesn't appear to have achieved that, though.

I also expect we will have strikes.

I didn't do enough research on who to vote for and whether we should vote tactically so feel partially responsible. DS1 and I both went to vote yesterday and both voted for the Labour candidates. We've only recently moved to the area and I'm used to everything being Tory controlled. Absolutely floored by all the Reform wins, but DS1 did say he sees a LOT of Reform posters about (bus driver).

I wish I understood tactical voting because due to boundary changes, I probably should have voted at least one vote to LD.
The Durham MP and Jamie Driscoll have put Facebook statements out.
MP saying she told them about people’s concerns and unhappiness.

If you are still in Esh. That was a good result. Same as Fram.

Some people in my household couldn’t be bothered to vote.

Fram was about as decisive as it gets!

I am proud of the people from my village today.

I worry we might have some difficult days ahead. I hope I’m wrong.

Reform reform reform. Hideous. It's all levels of deprivation isn't it looking at the county results. You can predict the result for most areas.

And education. The city, itself, and some of the nearer villages resisted the move.

Of course, there are people on reddit (who use language that suggests they are bad actors) who insist that the lib dem bubble in Durham is just down to students. Obviously someone else who doesn't realise that, without the university, Durham would just be another run down town.

Witton Gilbert is very Lib Dem.
Less than 33% of people voted. So think apathy won.
The results speak for themselves everywhere voted Reform, but I blame the council. Durham MP is leaving her temporary office in Fram and going back to Redhill. Wish I even knew where my MP’s office is!
It’s going to be a rough couple of years.
But I don’t know why people can’t be bothered to vote. I like going in person but postal voting is so easy.

@PickAChew what does bad actors mean. I will google.

Well yes, education too though everything comes back to levels of deprivation as the common denominator. Education, health and all that is linked (smoking, breastfeeding, life expectancy, SIDS, lots of non communicable disease, literacy, employment...)

I’ve just heard him on R4 sheesh.

Political trolls. There to stir up a particular sentiment, quite often having no personal skin in the game. They tend to over-use buzzwords that no one in the general population, no matter how politically engaged, would use on a regular basis, if at all. I've also noticed that they tend to have a poor grasp of popular culture - almost as if they're not British. Or human.

Anyone excited about possible metro to Washington in about 10 years? lol.
I just want a better bus service, newer buses, buses that turn up and don’t break down.
Being selfish I hope County Durham gets some of the bloody money.
Its sounds like the metro station will be sort of nowhere, not near galleries etc. If you have to get a bus or drive to station, people might as well just use Heworth, like they do now.

Durham station is having less trains stopping, Chester Le Street has about a train an hour each way if it’s lucky.
Local buses is where they need the infrastructure and investment.
Heard the mayor on radio this morning, she certainly talks the talk. But no real action.