“Tasers should be abolished” say authors of Resistance Lab report which shows Greater Manchester Police increased their Taser use by 73% in a year. A significant increase in Taser usage by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) poses a growing “threat to life”, particularly against BAME groups and people with mental and physical disabilities, the report says. […]
‘Manchester City Council create more bike lanes’ say billboards on the A6 & A56
The national #bikeisbest campaign has put up billboards on the A6 and A56 calling on Manchester City Council to create more bike lanes. Adam Tranter, Coventry’s bicycle mayor and the campaign organiser, says “If we’re to become a cycling nation, Manchester has to get this right.” For the next week digital billboards on the A6 […]
Manchester’s homelessness charities warn of ‘humanitarian disaster’ after Covid-19 in damning letter to government
Manchester homelessness groups join over 60 others across the country to call for additional funds for local authorities to permanently eradicate homelessness, as Manchester City Council tells The Meteor it needs ‘greater financial support’ from the government to keep people off the streets. Five frontline homelessness groups and charities operating in Manchester have joined more […]
Mayor Andy Burnham announces plans to make Greater Manchester a ‘Co-operative Zone’
Making progress on his previous promise to make Greater Manchester “the most co-operative region in the UK” Andy Burnham releases the report to turn that plan into a reality. Mayor Andy Burnham announced plans to turn Greater Manchester (GM) into a designated ‘Co-operative Zone’, with dedicated resources to offer business advice and support for new […]
Franchised bus system would ‘give better value for money’ for Mancunians says Sir Richard Leese
Public meeting saw Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, weigh in on the side of re-regulating the GM bus system in a franchised, London like model. Greater Manchester’s buses would be better value for money, more convenient and accountable if publicly controlled, an audience heard at a panel discussion organised by the Better Buses […]
Five reasons why Greater Manchester buses must be re-regulated
Last week consultation began over the future of buses in Greater Manchester. Since deregulation in the 1980s bus usage has declined while prices have risen. Change is needed and there are two main options to choose from. Re-regulation in the form of franchising or a private bus company backed partnership model. This is the case […]
Organiser of World Naked Bike Ride in Manchester explains why hundreds of nude cyclists took to the streets
You may have noticed some unusual sights in Manchester city centre last month – and your eyes weren’t deceiving you! There really were hundreds of naked cyclists riding through Manchester city centre on 7th June. It was for the World Naked Bike Ride, an annual event that takes place all over the world. I spoke […]
Burnham says GM needs a ‘new economy’ and promises funding for co-operative development
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has criticised the dominance of the “mantra about the free market” in shaping local economic policy and committed to pursuing a more co-operative economy for the region that sees industrial progress going hand in hand with social progress. He believes developing the “new economy” can be done while supporting […]
Food Poverty Action Plan aims to tackle hidden crisis in GM
The latest estimates are that 620,000 people in Greater Manchester are living in poverty, and struggle to put food on the table. Of those, around 200,000 are children experiencing food poverty. £30 billion per year has been cut from welfare budgets since 2010. By 2020, Local councils will have lost 60% of central government funding […]
Bus companies should be forced to provide a fleet that does not harm us
Pascale Robinson from The Better Buses for Greater Manchester campaign argues that re-regulating our bus services would improve our health, environment and economy. Better Buses are putting on a film and Q&A session at Bolton Socialist Club, Friday 22 March, 8 till 10pm. “The public ownership of rail, better control of bus services and investment […]