Drunk driver threatened man with claw hammer

A man has appeared in court after making Conservative Grimsby MP Lia Nici’s life ‘miserable’ with a campaign of threatening behaviour.

She says the harassment at her home left her and her family with no respite.

Nicholas Burrows, 49, of Cartledge Avenue, Grimsby, admitted using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour towards the Conservative MP.

She says Burrows, who is the friend of a neighbour, became ‘obsessed’ with her after she was selected as a candidate.

Burrows admitted offences between July 30 and August 2, but Mrs Nici says it had gone on for much longer.

She has condemned abusive behaviour towards MPs, which comes just weeks after Sir David Amess was fatally stabbed, and says it won’t stop her from carrying out her duties.

“Since being selected as candidate for Great Grimsby MP, I have been subject to ongoing incidents from this person at my home,” she said.

“I have lived in the same house for more 20 years with no problems, but a friend of a neighbour became obsessed with harassing me.

“He clearly decided it would be funny to make my life and my family’s life miserable.

“When this happens at home, you don’t get a moment with your friends or family. There is no respite.

“I am pleased that he has admitted this in court, and I hope this will make him reflect on his actions.

“People need to understand that MPs are people working hard and trying to do the best job they can for their constituency.

“Police and parliamentary security have been great support while dealing with this.

“It is sad that MPs in this day and age need protection because people feel it is acceptable to treat them like this.

“Safety is always a concern. Since the murder of Jo Cox, MPs have received briefings from police and security on how to act and be vigilant.

“This event will not stop us from doing what we were elected to do. In a healthy democracy, we need to hear each other out – acting like this is quite unacceptable.

“I am happy to have a debate with anyone if they are not going to abusive.

“What also people need to understand is that my offices in Grimsby and London have teams who staff them. When people get aggressive with me, the staff are often the ones who receive it.

“Social media certainly doesn’t help – people say things on there that they would never say in person.

“The actions of people like this won’t stop me from working hard for Grimsby.”

Burrows was fined £400 when he appeared at Grimsby Magistrates’ Court.

He was also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £34 victims’ surcharge by a deputy district judge.

Humberside Police have confirmed that Home Secretary Priti Patel has asked for the security arrangements of northern Lincolnshire MPs to be reviewed.

“The fatal stabbing of MP Sir David Amess was a despicable act and quite rightly, has sent shockwaves across the UK,” a spokesperson said.

“The Home Secretary has asked all police forces to review security arrangements for MPs with immediate effect and we can confirm that we are underway with how we can do that for all MPs across the Humberside region.

“We are working with other forces across the UK, along with the Home Office, to agree an approach on how best to ensure the safety of our MPs, and more widely, our communities at large.”

— Additional reporting by Mark Naylor

Those who lost their lives at war to defend our freedoms will be honoured on Remembrance Day this year, as part of a weekend of services in Lincoln.

Remembrance services have been observed since the end of the First World War in 1918, to honour armed forces members who lost their lives serving their countries in the line of duty.

It is an annual tradition for services to be held across the country, and this year is no different, as Lincoln prepares for a weekend-long Remembrance of our heroes of war.

There will be a brief service on Remembrance Day itself, Thursday, November 11, held at the war memorial on Lincoln High Street and organised by the Royal British Legion.

The service at the Lincoln War Memorial. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Another service will be held at the war memorial on Saturday, November 13, this time organised by City of Lincoln Council in conjunction with the Royal British Legion.

The Armistice Service will be attended by the Lord Lieutenant, the Civic Party, members of council, freemen and more, with a wreath-laying opportunity and music provided by the Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue band.

The day after, on Remembrance Sunday, Lincoln Cathedral will host its usual annual service, with the Mayor of Lincoln in attendance along with the Civic Party and members of the council.

Elsewhere in the county, West Lindsey District Council have said that the chairman will be at All Saints in Gainsborough on the morning of Remembrance Sunday, and then All Saints Parish Church in Nettleham in the afternoon for two separate services.

In North East Lincolnshire, there will be services held in Grimsby, Immingham, Laceby, New Waltham and Cleethorpes to allow people to pay tribute.

By James Pinchbeck Partner, Streets Chartered Accountants

Listening to the Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Budget live, who would have thought that over the last 18 months we have experienced one of the biggest economic shocks and seen unprecedented levels of financial intervention from a government to support our economy and public welfare.

It would be interesting to know if anyone has or was able to tot up the sums of money, billions and millions, pledged and earmarked in terms of public spending over the next few years.

It certainly seemed to be a Budget based on our economic and social prosperity being driven by investment in both the public and private sector. Whilst few predicted that this would be a Budget of tax hikes, it was not unreasonable to think it might have included some, or some inkling of future changes.

It looks like balancing the books is dependent on business innovation and investment, along with public sector and consumer spending giving rise to tax revenues from direct and indirect taxes. 

With government borrowing at a level not seen since the end of the Second World War, there is surely a risk of a bumpy ride ahead if growth targets are not achieved and levelling up doesn’t really lead to levelling up.

The current rise in inflation is being, in part, attributed to increased and renewed global demand, particularly for goods following lockdown. This has led to supply chain issues along with increased energy costs linked to increased manufacturing and supply to meet such demand.

It is given this background coupled with low interest rates that inflation will settle down and so too will supply chain issues. However, perhaps workforce shortages will still be a real concern. The OBR forecast that the UK economy will return to pre-pandemic levels by the turn of the year.

Looking at the plethora of public sector spending announcements, few would disagree with much needed spending being allocated to our health service, education and infra structure projects, especially those that lead to a real levelling up. Those in the public sector will welcome the lift on the freeze for public sector pay increases.

More specific announcements, for businesses in particular, included the reduction in Business Rates for those in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors including a 1-year discount of 50%, more frequent revaluations – every three years from 2023; and relief for adopting solar panels and a 12-month rate holiday on property improvements.

For those businesses looking to make capital investments, the £1m Annual Investment Allowance will be extended to March 2023, instead of ending in December.

The arts, museums, entertainment and culture sector will no doubt applaud the announcement that the covid support and recovery Creative Tax Reliefs will not only be doubled but that they will now remain in place until April 2023.  

Whilst considering relief those involved in innovation, including research and development, will be delighted to hear about the enhanced reliefs available for R &D, along with increased funding available to support such activity through Innovate UK. For those undertaking research involving cloud computing and data, they will be pleased to hear that such costs are now eligible for tax relief.

Whilst the increase to the National Minimum Wage, for those aged over 23, from £8.91 to £9.50 an hour was announced before the Budget, few were perhaps aware of the pending changes to alcohol duty which focused going forward on these being ‘simpler, fairer and heathier’ – a key winner certainly seems to be English sparking wines and draft pulled beers/lagers all benefit from lower duties.

Moving on to fuel duty, but not advocating a drive to the pub, the good news as we face unprecedent prices at the pump, was that fuel duty will again be frozen.

It would be easy to think perhaps there was little in this Budget, in some ways it would be difficult not to agree. Perhaps the test will be around the impact and effectiveness of what seems to be an unprecedented public sector spending spree. In the Chancellor’s own words, it certainly seems like ‘an age of optimism’.  

For further in-depth commentary of the Autumn Budget & Spending Review 2021 you can still register for Streets’ virtual presentation at 12noon till 1pm on Thursday 28^th October. All those registering and unable to join live will receive a link to the presentation recording and a digital copy of our Budget Summary.  Register here.

James Pinchbeck is Partner at Streets Chartered Accountants, a top 40 UK accountancy practice. James, as a specialist in marketing professional services, is responsible for the development and implementation of the firm's strategic marketing as well as its engagement in the community it which it works and serves. His role allows him to capitalise on his broad interest in the national and local economy as well as his passion for enterprise. As part of his wider interest in enterprise, marketing and education, James is a board member of NBV – the East Midlands Enterprise Agency, an FE College Governor and a board member of the University of Lincoln’s Business School. He is also an Institute of Director’s past Branch Chairman.