"Smoke and mirrors" - Mayor slams Nigel Farage 'town in decline’ attack on South Shields
Mayor blasts back at Nigel Farage attack on South Shields as ‘a town in decline’.
North East Mayor Kim McGuinness has slammed Reform UK leader Nigel Farage after he criticised South Shields during a whistlestop visit to the town.
The Clacton MP described South Shields as a ‘town in decline’ as he made his way along King Street to garner support ahead of the local elections next month.
But the mayor pointed to developments like the multi-million pound investment into moving South Shields College into the town centre as a project that would be threatened by his party.
McGuinness said: “You can’t trust Reform with the North East’s future.
“We’re racing ahead with investments in our region, from £38m for Crown Works studios in Sunderland to £24m for Gateshead Quays and £18m to move South Shields College – a project that you can literally see taking shape – so it becomes a bustling part of the high street.”
Earlier in the day, the Reform UK leader has launched a stinging attack on the state South Shields town centre.
He said: “We have a high street in decline, a town in decline. That is not completely uncommon around the country.
“What was really interesting, I was talking to a couple of our local candidates about what can be done to get people back. One thing is that the college is being built, which is terrific and I happen to know the developer behind that. That is going to bring a lot of young people back into the street. That is good news.
“But a couple of my candidates mentioned parking as an issue and I spoke to two business owners, both of whom said parking charges are killing this place.”
McGuinness said that Reform UK were a massive threat to regeneration plans in towns.
She said: “It’s just populist smoke and mirrors from Farage.
“Let’s be clear – Reform is a massive threat to all of our progress. They’ll share false promises as they lie and cheat their way to power.”