NO, MINISTER
It’s the Wear, not the Tyne
Northern Powerhouse chief ’s gaffe at city’s new bridge
The Government’s Northern Powerhouse Minister got his North East geography badly wrong when he hailed the new Wear Crossing as being built over the Tyne.
Jake Berry MP was speaking to the Echo as he walked across part of the New Wear Crossing, which is being backed by £82.5million of Government funding.
Construction of the bridge is well under way and due to be completed by spring.
It will be the first bridge to be built in Sunderland for 40 years and city leaders say it will help regenerate the area, relieve congestion and attract new jobs and investment.
When asked what he made of the new development, Mr Berry, who has also visited Sunderland University’s Hope Street enterprise and innovation centre Hope Street Xchange, replied: “I think it’s absolutely fantastic.
“We are about two years into the construction of this iconic structure, but it’s not just about new buildings and new roads it’s actually about the message it sends to everyone who lives here. This historic, first time for 40 years crossing of the Tyne will not just help Sunderland, but it will also release growth all along this south bank.”
When contacted by the Echo for clarification about his comment, a spokesman for Mr Berry said he had meant to say Wear and had done so in other interviews held as part of the visit.
Some on social media compared the mistake to David Bowie’s concert ap- pearance at Roker Park in 1987, when he took to the stage and declared “hello Newcastle”.
Mr Berry was rebuked by SharonHodgson,LabourMP for Washington and Sunderland West, who said: “It’s a shame the Northern Powerhouse Minister couldn’t get his rivers right, even when standing on a bridge with the name Wear in it.
“Let’s hope once he is back in Whitehall that he swats up on his North East geography to avoid another embarrassing slip up like this – I’d happily provide him with a map if he needs one.”
Despite his gaffe, Mr Berry spoke of the benefits its creation is expected to bring.
He said: “The Government is co-investing with the council to make sure the tools that are required by Sunderland to grow this great city are there and that’s partly about infrastructure, but it’s also about investment in your big industries like the Innovation Centre.
“I think for people who live here to be part of that explosive growth story is the real success of the city.”
“First time for 40 years crossing of the Tyne” JAKE BERRY