Some crank websites are having a field day claiming I’m “hiding from the public” because I’ve sensibly decided not to advertise open surgeries given the threats I’ve received. Apparently, prioritising basic safety makes me some sort of hermit.
Let me be clear - I’ve been grafting harder than a Geordie at closing time. Knocking doors across the patch, visiting care homes, attending street parties, police gatherings, town halls - you name it, I’ve been there. Real engagement with real people, not performative politics for the cameras.
But these outlets couldn’t resist a cheap shot. They asked the Labour PCC for comment about threats against me (why would they know?), then when the PCC said they knew nowt, declared I must be lying. Brilliant journalism that - “We asked someone who obviously wouldn’t know, they didn’t know, therefore it’s made up.”
Here’s the thing - I’ll be damned if I’m putting myself at risk just to appease some blog that wouldn’t care less if some extremist or nutjob turned up at a publicized surgery with a blade. The same people who bang on about “threats to democracy” are the first to weaponize genuine security concerns when it suits their narrative.
I’m doing the job. I’m in the community. I’m accessible to constituents. And behind the scenes, we’re delivering results - in not even two months, we’ve prevented industrial solar farms paving over acres of countryside around our communities, created a hostile environment that’s stopped the Government placing illegal migrants in Durham, and every single day we’re championing common sense from eradicating racist DEI policies to fighting wasteful spending and virtue signalling.
Remind me what Labour has achieved in 12 months at much higher office? The Chagos Islands multibillion pound sellout for an island we already owned, a botched EU deal that sold out our fishing industry back to Brussels, hitting family farms with inheritance tax leading some to take their own lives, leaving our pensioners out in the cold while Miliband throws billions at ‘Green’ schemes, and we’re now on for a record year of illegal Channel crossings that are then being prioritised for private rental accommodation - a scarce resource. But sure, let’s focus on my surgery schedule.
The only difference is I’m not advertising my exact location like some political sitting duck. That’s not hiding - that’s having a functioning brain cell.
Behind the scenes myself and the rest of our team are working with Officers daily to deliver on the people’s priorities and the mandate handed to us so overwhelmingly in May. So whilst they sneer, we are the ones fighting the corner of our county.
The people of Durham deserve better than this manufactured outrage from keyboard warriors who’ve never had to deal with real threats. I’ll keep doing what works - being where people are, when they need me, safely. Delivering what people need - what they asked for, by any instrument available to us, quickly. We are here to serve you, not them.
Ignore them, only a moron wouldn’t think about their personal security, your no Moron, keep going buddy, you know we are all behind you 100%
Darren, you have my total admiration. If it wasn't for people like you, I would be in a very dark place right now. Just like a pilot is taught when faced with adversity, first aviate, navigate, then communicate. Go well and keep flying high, and I hope you continue to draw strength from all those who clearly wish you well.