By Confusion reigns over Prime Minister’s visit to Grimsby
Confusion and rumours are continuing to circulate surrounding North East Lincolnshire Council’s involvement in facilitating the Prime Minister’s visit to Grimsby last week.
As part of his visit, PM Boris Johnson was scheduled to take part in a canvassing event amid the Park Ward elections in Scartho.
But despite a number of local councillors and Conservative associates being in attendance on Antrim Way, the stop-off was cancelled at the last minute.
It was initially assumed that this was due to the PM’s schedule having overrun.
But conflicting reports from authorities and news outlets have contributed to confusion regarding the reason behind the cancellation.
There has been some speculation that the local council had denied the Prime Minister access to this part of his visit.
When we contacted the council, a spokesperson asserted that “the authority had rightly not been involved in any of the original arrangements to facilitate the overall visit.”
Boris Johnson was accompanied by Lia Nici, MP for Great Grimsby, who was recently appointed as Mr Johnson’s private secretary.
Since the visit, Ms Nici has claimed that a council official told her the Prime Minister was ‘not welcome’ to visit Scartho.
Another media outlet suggested that the Prime Minister’s plans were cancelled as a result of the council having been informed of the plans at “short notice,” leaving them little time to respond, and resulting in the plans being altered.
North East Lincolnshire Council have continually denied any involvement in the plans surrounding the Mr Johnson’s visit, suggesting some conflict or contradiction between the authority and Ms Nici.
In the latest update, a spokesperson for the council reaffirmed its position, stating that “the authority had no involvement, quite rightly, in the facilitation of the overall visit.”
The statement added that “the publication of that short statement in another media outlet led to some misinterpretation.”
Updates to follow.
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