Taken from this month’s edition of The Trumpit.
“I have fallen in love with the spirit of Bradford” so says Leeds-lad Richard Shaw who is directing Bradford’s bid to become City of Culture 2025 (Yorkshire Post 30/5). I wondered what readers of The Trumpit think of this bid.
Personally, I do not buy arts-led attempts at a renaissance; the city needs real jobs not grant-funded tambourine players standing on empty street corners with a three-legged dog.
Shaw, is gushing in his support of this bid, after all, it is a few years nice work. However, I sense he is what we like to term locally as a bit of a fanny merchant.
He describes Bradford as being “completely seduced by it”; having lived in San Francisco, he says that Bradford is “better…probably”.
The Red Gate Bridge
I am a proud Bradfordian, accepting our city for what it is; a bit of faded movie star, long removed from the limelight, begging for one more chance. There is no Golden Gate Bridge here, only the ugly red one across Manchester Road.
What I cannot stomach is another outsider spinning nonsense, simultaneously avoiding real issues. Bradford has form here; remember the Council seduced by architect Will Alsop almost twenty years ago-the so-called Masterplan?
Barnsley Chianti
You would have been forgiven had you wondered if the originator of this had been high. His vision in 2003 was that hundreds of millions would flow into the city. He went bust soon after as did plans to turn Barnsley into the Tuscany of the North.
There have been many others. Odsal as the new Wembley of the North? Or the West End development?
Now the Council talk is of a new office building in the centre – One City Park. There is an abundance of unoccupied office space and a clear need to do something different.
Shaw talks glowingly about our “spirit of independence” citing the council being the first to introduce free school meals – in 1906! He cites Hull, winner in 2017, a city with a similarly poor external view; we need more than just a hard luck story to sell.
Cllr Hinchcliffe, Leader of Bradford Council, continually makes the claim we have the youngest population in the UK but what is there for them here so far as culture?
The following cities enjoy multi-purpose entertainments arenas, all have smaller populations: Bolton, Derby, Exeter and Milton Keynes.
Even the Bradford Live restoration of the old Odeon will only cater for four thousand and for years the council was lukewarm to this. They may be assisting now with soft loans but it was public pressure that won the day here.
Previous winners cite increases in tourism as spin-offs; whilst welcome, Bradford needs more than new coffee shops. Our offer is largely outside the city centre anyway and our need is more pressing .
Waiting for some promised land five years down the line is not the answer. Real issues need confronting with strong leadership, honesty and transparency, something our local politicians sadly seem incapable of.
Lost Voices
The BBC’s decision to make cuts to regional news is one more example of how irrelevant this flabby, London-centric dinosaur is. In the interests of efficiency we are going to be “standardised” aka dumbed-down.
Losing one of the nightly co-presenters of Look North might seem supportable but contrast this with The One Show, half an hour of tripe, that will still have two so-called presenters.
Contrast too the presentation of sporting events with a whole team spread across the studio, commentary box and touchline, every box imaginable ticked!
The BBC has not been fit for purpose for a very long time; surely it is long overdue for a rethink. They are saving £25m a year; Gary Lineker rakes in £1.75m – enough said?
Impartiality
Whilst interviewing Sir Kier Starmer, Sky’s Political Editor, Beth Rigby challenged him over the recent sacking of Rebecca Long-Bailey, referring to her as “Beccy”. How cosy! Robin Day would be turning in his grave.
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