Mayoral Candidate and self-made businessman Jeremy Middleton has congratulated North East Combined Authority (NECA) Leaders on their decision to back the North East Devolution Deal.
Speaking after the NECA meeting, Mr Middleton welcomed the deal, saying: “This is a big step in the right direction for the North East. It is the start of a long journey that will hopefully see a whole host of decisions and budgets devolved from Westminster to a local level. In Manchester they have already got far more than their original deal promised, including local control of the health and social care budget.
“Now the decision has been made, it is time for politicians, business people, and North East residents of all viewpoints to put age-old party political divisions aside and do the best for our region. For too long we have been left behind while other areas of the country prosper and forced to accept whatever deal Whitehall thought best for us, now we have an opportunity to stand tall and bring real prosperity to the area.”
“We now get a chance to choose who makes these devolved decisions for us. There is nothing democratic about the current system, where internal Labour Party committees decide who leads the North East. Who picked Simon Henig to be the leader of the Combined Authority? We didn’t! No wonder people don’t feel their vote changes anything. With one vote people will get a chance to choose who leads. The mayor will be an individual who can take decisions, for which they can be held to account.