Unemployment across Greater Manchester (GM) is above the national average and is contributing to increasing levels of inequality across the region, despite official data showing unemployment dropping to a new 11-year low nationally. Office for National Statistics figures for October 2015 to September 2016 show the unemployment rate across GM at 5.8% was higher than […]
Spending £110m on The Factory arts centre is wrong while cuts to public services continue
The Factory arts centre, predicted to cost £110 million, being given the go ahead by Manchester city councillors provides a high profile expansion of Manchester’s cultural opportunities that will no doubt produce, perform and exhibit excellent work. However at a time when the region is experiencing austerity driven shortages in social care, health and housing […]
Government support for hard working families leaves record levels in poverty
Despite a government that continually expresses its support for hard working families, a recent report on poverty shows that a record 55% of people in poverty are from working households. The report also highlights the disproportionately high level of disabled people living in poverty and the increasingly severe effects of the housing crisis on poverty […]
Manchester City Council want devolved power: shame they’re giving it away to unopposed trade deals
Manchester City Council (MCC) decided to reject a proposal for a TTIP/CETA Free Zone, despite the fact these trade deals could seriously undermine the additional powers that the region is pushing for under devolution. MCC declared they would revisit this issue if it re-emerged on the global stage, which seems pretty contradictory given that CETA […]