There has been a suspected spike in domestic abuse during lockdown. Safe Spots charity stresses that women can still get help during this time and are taking donations in order to be able to continue providing help. First published in The Northern Quota, 20 April 2020 Concerns have been raised about the potential rise of […]
Socialism and Degrowth aren’t the same thing
Mark Burton from Steady State Manchester joins the Manchester Green New Deal Podcast to discuss the limits of Growth, how Climate Breakdown and Growth interlock and how Degrowth can save us from disaster capitalism. The pandemic gripping the world has put Capitalism back into one of its classic cardiac arrests. With economies slowing to a […]
Businesses are struggling, the government’s schemes are not working and the UK economy is about to disappear
Political economist Richard Murphy believes the UK government’s business support scheme will fail to help many small and medium size enterprises survive the coronavirus crisis, and points to Europe for a workable solution. In Greater Manchester, in 2017, there were 100,510 firms fitting into the small and medium sized enterprise band, employing 1,166,740 people. I […]
Trio take over Manchester planning decisions
The coronavirus lockdown means that council planning decisions will be delegated to a small team of council officers and not subject to scrutiny by a full planning committee. The power to decide on major Manchester planning applications has now been delegated to council chief executive Joanne Roney, alongside chair of the planning committee Cllr Basil […]
Coronavirus: how the UK government is using behavioural science
Stuart Mills a PhD researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University, reports on the use of behavioural science nudges, by the UK government in combating the coronavirus crisis. The UK government’s handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic has come under serious criticism, not just from citizens, but from leaders around the world. One of the reasons for […]
Learning from housing histories: why we need to requisition property to address the pandemic
The UK Government’s commitment to upholding individualised private property during the global Coronavirus pandemic is matched only by their wilful ignorance of historical responses to crises. By Samuel Burgum of the Urban Institute at the University of Sheffield At the time of writing, they are ignoring modest calls by organisations such as Streets Kitchen to buy up hotel […]
77% of residents living in Greater Manchester cladded high rises concerned about fire risk
A survey of private renters, social renters and owners undertaken by Greater Manchester High Rise Task Force, led by Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, underlines the confusion and potential panic felt by those living in high rise properties and living with the risk of fire. Never mind coronavirus and floods, residents are still living in […]
‘The Future is Human’ according to MIPIM – but whose future and for which humans?
Beth Redmond questions Manchester City Councils involvement in the MIPIM international real-estate conference in Cannes, beginning on 10 March 2020. A four day extravaganza, where lavish hospitality is provided by property development companies hoping to strike a deal with those who can offer them the land to build on. The theme of this year’s MIPIM […]
Salford City Council set to approve subsidy for English Cities Fund
Salford City Council is set to approve an outrageous £4.752million subsidy to the English Cities Fund, or ECf, to build a 23 storey block of apartments off Stanley Street that will feature ‘no affordable housing’. The ECf, is a partnership that includes the financially massive Legal and General company and Muse Developments, and the funding […]
Re-focussing the economy in times of climate emergency and economic exclusion
In a talk given to Manchester Labour Backbenchers’ Committee on 6 February 2020 Mark H Burton of Steady State Manchester outlined some of the key problems and potential solutions to climate emergency. In addressing this overall question, I will set out what I see as some of the key challenges, identify the main contenders for […]