Manchester Pride is a wonderful life affirming event that highlights the progress made in accepting sexual and gender preference diversity in the UK, and the many changes we still need to make to provide LGBT+ people with equal rights and opportunities. Manchester City Council (MCC) is broadcasting its support for the event, but these words […]
Council in partnership with ‘most brutal police state in the Middle East’ says Amnesty International
Manchester City Council’s business partnership with the Royal Family of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, came under heavy criticism from activists and academics at a packed public meeting in the Central Hall on Oldham Street last Saturday. Describing the UAE as “the most brutal police state in the Middle East”, one speaker from […]
What links ISIS, the al Nusra Front and genocide in Darfur to the Manchester property market?
The housing development boom in Manchester is gathering pace. Skyscrapers are rearing up across the city, with many more in the pipeline, while a housing crisis continues for many. An increasing number of these luxury high rise apartments are being snapped up by overseas companies, the ultimate owners of which are often shrouded in the […]
Defying the council, activists rename street after Ahmed Mansoor – an Emirati human rights defender sentenced to ten years in jail
A bid by human rights activists to rename a street after Ahmed Mansoor was refused by Manchester city council. When Mansoor was jailed for ten years in the United Arab Emirates for tweeting about human rights abuses in his country, the activists decided to rename the street themselves, with an unofficial mayor doing the honours. […]