Bob Mortimer ‘loves’ Stockton-on-Tees after MP branded it a ‘s**thole’

The salt-of-the-earth northern city allegedly branded a “s**thole” by the Home Secretary is definitely tremendous, the Daily Star can reveal.

Stockton-on-Tees, on the doorstep of the attractive North Yorkshire Moors, is beloved by comedian Bob Mortimer and serves up £3 pints – £2 cheaper than the nationwide common. Houses within the city value simply £150,000 and the primary public passenger railway on the planet was laid there, pulled by one of many first ever steam locomotives.

Superb Stockton was unfairly thrown into the highlight this week after James Cleverly was accused of creating derogatory feedback about it throughout Prime Minister’s Questions.

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Labour MP, Alex Cunningham, requested PM Rishi Sunak why so many youngsters in his constituency had been dwelling in poverty.

He claims the Home Secretary replied “because it’s a s** hole”. Mr Cleverly denied that – however admitted calling Mr Cunningham “a s*** MP”.

However, audio clips seem to again up the Stockton member.

The row risked overshadowing most of the city’s good options.

Funnyman Bob grew up a stone’s throw away and labored within the terrific city.

He was a bin man and later returned to work on the Law Centre in Stockton.

Bob, 64, stated: “I loved living there. I was there until I was 25, and the people that you meet then remain with you a lot longer than people you meet when you are older.”

One of his characters known as Councillor Evans was based mostly on an actual native Labour councillor from Stockton, someplace with a “very distinct, very dry” sense of humour.

Bob added: “I used to be a bin man for about 16 months. It was a summer season job however I simply stayed on. It was all proper and the folks had been fairly good to us as binmen.

“You obtained £4.20 a day and also you completed about noon each day, however then all of the drivers pressured you to the pub all afternoon.

“If I’m coming back to the North-East I set off early so I can come and have a little drive around. I drive around my old haunts to see what’s changed.”

Sensational Stockton’s different claims to fame embrace native chemist John Walker, who invented the friction match in 1827.

It additionally boasts the widest excessive avenue in Britain and helped to win the Second World War by growing anti-tank weapons and nuclear weapons on the city’s chemical agency ICI.

Billy Elliot actor Jamie Bell and Drop the lifeless Donkey star Stephen Tompkinson are from the city.

Film director Ridley Scott, former PM Harold Macmillan, and well-known author George Orwell additionally as soon as lived there.

Angela Harper, co-owner of Stockton’s KU bar which has hosted the Arctic Monkeys, stated: “We know for a fact Stockton punches above its weight when it comes to music, with festivals and events that would put big cities to shame and would challenge people to come and see for themselves.”

Claire Church, proprietor of Remember Me Tea Rooms, stated: “It’s shocking for someone who is a member of Parliament to say that. Stockton Council are doing their best, trying to regenerate the town, and they don’t get enough credit.

“The way the people come together – we do have our problems here but that’s like anywhere else.”

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