Motion passed by teachers union condemns plans for school-based officers and says evidence supporting their use is ‘non-existent’.
‘Carry on asking questions’ Andy Burnham tells primary school reporters ignored by Boris Johnson
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and children’s commissioner of England answered Manchester Media Club mini-reporters’ questions in live press conferences and encouraged them to keep trying to have their voices heard. Mini-reporters from Greater Manchester interviewed Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester mayor and Anne Longfield, children’s commissioner for England, about their post-pandemic future. The six […]
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 […]
Sir Richard Leese says ‘we are open to working with anybody’ – we asked campaign groups what they thought (pt.3)
In response to a recent blog post by Sir Richard Leese, we’ve been asking local groups to share their experiences of working Manchester City Council. Sir Richard Leese says the council are open to working with any parties interested in environmental and development issues. The following article by Pete Abel of Manchester Friends of the […]
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 […]
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 […]
Greater Manchester’s social and solidarity economy revealed
Transform GM – an action research project looking to understand, map and promote ‘alternative’ economic activity in Greater Manchester (GM) – have just launched a new website mapping the social and solidarity economy (SSE). The SSE is made up of initiatives which prioritise other values over the economic bottom line and, unlike many charities, are […]
Developers are turning our heritage into profit, and we’re paying them for the pleasure of it
Flats at Crusader Works, one of the largest surviving textile mills and new luxury property venture by Capital & Centric where one bedroom apartments are going for heady sums upwards of £189,000, are on sale again. Since the project began the MEN has released a slew of articles gushing about how the development, on Chapeltown […]
Manchester is putting Housing First – and the results look good
This article is part of ‘The Meteor Explores: Homelessness in Manchester‘ series. Decadence, procrastination and occasional nudity. It would be tricky to explain some of our private domestic activities to an imagined third-party observer, but anarchic indulgence is for many the wholly necessary backend to the economically functional front which the aforementioned observer would probably wish […]
Mayoral candidates for Greater Manchester on the fire brigade
Our innate fear of fire is justified: it can kill and maim with frightening speed. Since 1826, when Manchester first adopted a local authority provided fire brigade, there has been a steady increase in the brigades effectiveness in fighting fires and saving lives. But now the fire brigade’s advances appear to be heading in the […]








