Imagine that news emerged of 18,000 undiscovered historical artefacts relating to Manchester were illegally taken out the country by a museum in North Africa. We can only think what the response in the city would be in such circumstances. Political leaders would demand the return of the stolen goods, public protests would break out and […]
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 […]
A Green New Deal could alleviate the housing crisis and climate change
Jonathan Atkinson from Greater Manchester’s Carbon Co-op, looks at the key issues concerning the Green New Deal and the multiple beneficial outcomes that could be brought about by its implementation. People wanting to learn more about the Green New Deal can do so at a free event this Friday at the Friends Meeting House in […]
HSBC take flak for funding massive overseas coal projects, undermining Paris Agreement on CO2
Highstreet bank HSBC’s activities funding new CO2 emitting fossil fuel projects are under attack by campaigners across Greater Manchester, who are demanding the bank make a “Big Shift” to funding renewable energy Christian Aid’s on-going climate campaign (#BigShift) is now focusing on HSBC because of their continued funding of massive new coal projects in Bangladesh, […]
Can the Homes Act fix slum conditions in the private rented sector?
You move into the only place you could afford in your area. The wallpaper is hanging and bubbling off and there are large areas of mould mottling the walls, like the house has caught some kind of disease. The doors and windows are draughty and there are mouse droppings all over the kitchen. Welcome to […]
10 reasons why the bus companies’ partnership proposals will not ‘revolutionise’ our buses: we need regulation
Why do passengers and staff want a regulated network when £100 million has been offered for the alternative – partnerships? The fact that bus companies are suddenly offering a £100 million partnership package as an alternative to regulation shows just how great re-regulation of our buses is, and how much bus companies will do to […]
Greater Manchester plan for jobs, homes…and the environment?
After several delays the Greater Manchester Combined Authority has published the new draft of its Spatial Framework. The previous version, published in late 2016 met considerable criticism, especially from groups campaigning on green space but also from other quarters, including our own critique of its assumptions of accelerated “economic growth”. On the other side the […]
76% in favour of re-regulating bus services in Greater Manchester poll results show
As the Greater Manchester mayoral office deliberates on how best to organise bus services across the region a poll has shown that 76% of those questioned would prefer bus services to be re-regulated, on a model similar to London’s. The poll also showed that 82% agreed that local authorities “should have more control over bus […]
Is Burnham’s A Bed Every Night scheme enough?
On the first day in his role as mayor of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Andy Burnham pledged 15% of his £110,00 salary (£16,500) to his newly created Mayor’s homelessness fund. He had soared to victory in the election with 63% of the vote on the back of a pledge to end rough sleeping in Greater […]
Bus franchising: a route to cleaner air for Greater Manchester
“Levels of air pollution in Greater Manchester(GM) are lethal and illegal”, states a new analysis by King’s College London, estimating that 1.6 million life years will be lost in GM in the next century due to poisonous air. The equivalent is reducing the life expectancy of all current residents by six months. A recent World […]