| It was billed as a "truth and reconciliation" moment for Sheffield, as the long-awaited investigation into the sometimes bizarre events surrounding the felling of thousands of trees between 2016 and 2018 was published at 10am today. The saga of Sheffield City Council's controversial tree-felling led to daily confrontations between protesters and contractors in some of the city's leafiest middle-class suburbs. Police were deployed in vans and a number of people were arrested during the long-running dispute. The saga included two pensioners being arrested during an early morning raid in scenes described by former deputy prime minister Sir Nick Clegg as more like a well-planned anti-terror operation than a morning of tree maintenance. Today Sir Mark Lowcock, a former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, published his verdict on the saga which he said "will make for uncomfortable reading for a number of people". Locals were still digesting the report as this newsletter went out today (read the full thing here) but one striking conclusion was that the Labour-run council misled the Independent Tree Panel that it set up itself to find a compromise. Sir Mark adds: "Setting up an independent panel, misleading it and then ignoring substantial numbers of its recommendations was destructive of public trust and confidence." And summing up the years-long affair, he said: "The dispute did significant harm. Thousands of healthy and loved trees were lost. Many more could have been. Sheffield's reputation was damaged. Public trust and confidence in the Council was undermined. It has not been fully rebuilt." 
Minister defends mosque objections as cost revealed  How the new Preston mosque will look
He's got one of the highest-profile jobs in government, but Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is under fire in his Lancashire constituency over his role in the public inquiry into a controversial new mosque. Local Democracy Reporter Paul Faulkner writes this weekend that the inquiry into the building of a new mosque in Broughton cost Preston City Council almost £20,000 in legal fees alone. The Brick Veil Mosque is set to spring up on land overlooking the junction of the M55 and A6 having been given the go-ahead by the authority last February. It was the government that ended up getting the final say after Mr Wallace, MP for Wyre and Preston North, and a councillor asked Ministers in the Levelling Up Department to 'call in' the application for consideration at a national level. Preston's cabinet member for planning and regulation David Borrow, a former Labour MP, said the inquiry process should never have been instigated and that it had succeeded only in "wasting a huge amount of money". He told a council meeting he found it "extraordinary that a cabinet minister taps up another cabinet minister [Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove] to call such a decision in". But Conservative Mr Wallace tells Paul he has no regrets over making that request. He adds: "Preston City Council had indicated it was likely to grant permission for this development, despite it being contrary to the policies and site allocations set out in the local plan…which was developed following extensive public consultation."
'Positive change' at stately home built on slave profits  Photo of David Harewood issued by The Harper Editor
Born in 1965 to Barbadian parents who arrived in Britain in 1957, actor David Harewood went on to find fame in US drama series Homeland. But in recent years he's been publicly exploring his links with Harewood House, a stately home north of Leeds, whose former owner the 2nd Earl of Harewood also owned the Caribbean sugar plantation where his relatives were enslaved in the 18th century. In 2021, the actor visited Harewood House as part of Channel 5 series 1000 Years A Slave, meeting David Lascelles, the 8th Earl of Harewood, to discuss both his and the house's historic roots. Now a portrait of the actor and writer has been commissioned to address the lack of diverse representation within Harewood House's historic art collection. The photograph will be accompanied by an exhibition exploring Harewood's life and celebrating his career. The piece will be included in the Missing Portraits series which aims to better reflect the history of Harewood, which was built on the fortune made by Henry Lascelles through the slave trade. Mr Harewood said: "To have my portrait presented at Harewood House brings on many complex emotions. It is a day that is well overdue for me and my ancestors, a day that sees their efforts and hard work finally acknowledged. I am pleased that we have reached a point when this can happen and I hope it might encourage positive change elsewhere."
Crisis for Merseyside's proud automotive sector  Jaguar Land Rover is among the firms impacted by problems in the automotive industry
With thousands of jobs created by a supply hub that nestles on the border of south Liverpool and Knowsley, Merseyside's automotive industry is a source of pride to the region. But as Liverpool Echo's Political Editor Lian Thorp reports, a worrying run of announcements about job losses is now sparking concerns about the whole sector. The biggest of those players, Jaguar Land Rover, was the first to hit the headlines just before Christmas. Dozens of agency workers were called into an office at the Halewood plant and told their contracts would be cut short. Many had believed they would be kept on until at least the Spring. The firm says the problems it faces are down to disruption in the global supply chain of semi-conductors, which has been wreaking havoc on the automotive industry since the first quarter of 2021, halting assembly lines around the world. There was even worse news still to come in February as international car parts supplier Magna announced it plans to close its entire Merseyside operation - which trades as Merplas - putting around 290 employees at risk of redundancy. Bosses said: "The automotive industry has been changing significantly. It has seen unprecedented recent challenges including the Covid-19 pandemic, semi-conductor shortages and labour shortages. Currently it is an extremely competitive business driven by advanced technologies, changing consumer preferences and legislation." Local Labour MP Maria Eagle says the move towards electric vehicles is changing things for the sector and that government is not doing enough to support the industry as this change happens.
MP: Coming out as gay the best decision I've made  Clive Betts plays in an MPs vs journalists match. Pic: Daily Mirror
Veteran Sheffield South East MP and former Sheffield council leader Clive Betts came out as gay in 2003 after a tabloid newspaper revealed he had employed a former male escort as a researcher. And speaking to GB News this weekend, the Labour MP and avid Sheffield Wednesday fan admitted he feared how football fans would treat him after he'd come out. But he said the reaction had been overwhelmingly positive. Mr Betts, who has been an MP in Sheffield for more than 30 years, told presenter Gloria De Peiro that one fan also personally apologised to him about homophobic chanting. He said: "I go to away football matches, and sometimes football fans are not always the most polite about comments they make in the chanting. I went to my first away game after I came out at Leicester, where I went to see Sheffield Wednesday play. Fans came up to me and said, 'Great to see you back, you're still the same football fan you were before'. And I thought that was a change of approach." Mr Betts also opened up about his decision to come out, saying it was "the best decision he'd ever made". "When I was brought up in Sheffield people weren't out. There was hardly any gay scene, it was hardly talked about. You know, if people talked about it, they were often quite disparaging remarks. So, that was a different time. People's understanding, people's comments, people's views of the issue of sexual equality and sexuality have changed over the years." 
Sign up to The Northern Agenda Has a friend forwarded you this edition of The Northern Agenda? You can sign up to receive the latest email newsletter direct to your inbox every weekday by clicking on this link.
Northern Stories  Harry Styles fans make their mark on the Twemlow Viaduct in Holmes Chapel (Image: MEN)
- A Harry Styles walking route has been created for fans making the pilgrimage to the superstar's home village in Cheshire. The trail in Holmes Chapel, featuring landmarks connected to the singer, was recently drawn up by the Holmes Chapel Partnership. It follows concerns that were raised about the growing number of fans walking along a dangerous road to access what's known as Harry's Wall at the Twemlow Viaduct - believed to be the site of his first kiss. It is covered with messages written by fans who have journeyed there from across the world.
- The father of the youngest victim of the Manchester Arena bombing has said he intends to sue MI5 as it has "most of the blame" for the attack. The security service's director general, Ken McCallum, issued a public apology after the public inquiry into the May 2017 atrocity found it might have been prevented if MI5 had acted on intelligence received in the months before. Andrew Roussos, the father of Saffie Roussos, who aged eight was the youngest of the 22 people killed in the attack by suicide bomber Salman Abedi which also injured hundreds, said he has instructed solicitors to look into suing the security service. The Sunday Times reported that he said a number of other families had indicated they might join him in the legal action.
- The panel set up to guide Liverpool out of government intervention and onto a long-term future path will meet for the first time today. In August Greg Clark MP, the then Levelling Up Secretary, confirmed alongside further expansion of government oversight of the city council, a new panel would be set up to lead it out of the intervention. The panel is to be chaired by Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of Liverpool City Region, who confirmed to a meeting of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority on Friday how the panel will convene for the first time at Mann Island today.
- A serving Northumberland councillor has been banned from driving after he got behind the wheel while over the legal limit. Ian Hutchinson, who represents the Haltwhistle ward on Northumberland County Council, appeared at South East Northumberland Magistrates' Court on March 1. Cllr Hutchinson, of Hunter Avenue in Blyth, pleaded guilty to one count of driving a motor vehicle when above the legal limit for alcohol. The councillor was on Plessey Avenue in Blyth when he was found to have 48 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath – the legal limit is 35mg.
- Drinking alcohol in the street could effectively be outlawed in Preston city centre – except within the external areas of licensed premises – under a raft of new rules being considered to help curb anti-social behaviour. Fines of up to £100 would be on the cards for anybody who refused to stop swigging in public or to hand over their drink after being asked to do so by the police or a council officer. The move is one of a range of measures being explored by Preston City Council as part of a proposed Public Spaces Protection Order.
- Cheshire West and Chester Council has been ordered to apologise and to pay out £7,500 to the family of a boy with autism who was left without an education for two years. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has upheld a complaint from the boy's family, finding the council at fault which caused an injustice. The Ombudsman's report stated the council had failed in its duty to provide the boy with an education and with special education needs provision. The Ombudsman said the authority had failed to properly consider and provide alternative provision when the boy could not attend either of his mainstream schools due to increasing anxiety caused by unmet needs.
Thank you for reading - If you have been forwarded this email and would like to sign up, you can do that right here. Contact us: You can get in touch via email - rob.parsons@reachplc.com - or via our Twitter page. | 
