‘Learn the lesson of Sam Fender and invest in culture’ – Kim McGuinness’s message to Michael Gove as a way of levelling up the North

Speaking at this year’s Convention of the North, in Liverpool, Kim McGuinness claimed reducing the number of families in poverty would also help reduce crime in the North East.

To do this, she has called for the government to divert more funding into cultural opportunities for young people in the region as a way of boosting regeneration.

And in an address to Michael Gove and her fellow Northern leaders, McGuinness, who was elected Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Northumbria Police in 2019, used North East singer-songwriter Sam Fender as an example of how his life could have been different had he not found music.

She said: “What a great cultural export North Shields’ Sam Fender is, but let’s face it, his talents almost never made it to our playlists.

"His lyrics share with us the full force of poverty on his family, from courts summons to benefit worries.

"These are real struggles experienced by real people. He saw the easy wins from the drug dealing happening around him; he came close to being swept up with it all.

"But he didn’t. He joined a band, and he grew as a person and just look at him now.

“We need more young people saved, more talent uncovered, and more reason to stay and shine in the North East.”

The PCCalso called for the funds to support cultural activities to be handed back to the regions and for the power to deliver them to be handed back to the people.

She added: “Cultural activities in my part of the world are basically two things – they are hope and they are the path back to the straight and narrow.

"As any police officer in my patch will tell you, we cannot simply arrest our way out of trouble. Kids need opportunities but not enough get them, especially in the North East.

“From football to music lessons, museums to festivals, boxing coaches to digital design, when we invest in young people we give them healthy role models and we can divert them away from the temptations of criminality.”

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