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 […]
Boycott Puma to stop its sponsorship of the Israeli apartheid regime
Global sportswear manufacturer Puma is involved in violations of international law and human rights, due to its sponsorship of the Israeli Football Association (IFA). Puma is the main sponsor of the IFA, which includes teams in Israel’s illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land. Manchester Palestine Action demonstrated last Saturday at the Puma department of Sports […]
Levenshulme Market makes the final of BBC Food and Farming Awards 2019
A thriving and vibrant market set up to rejuvenate the high street, provide jobs, and benefit the Levenshulme community by providing good quality produce, has won a place in the prestigious BBC Food and Farming Awards 2019. Levenshulme Market will contend against two other shortlist nominees for the accolade of winning the Best Shop or […]
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 […]
Deliveroo strike Manchester: ‘the money we make per delivery is decreasing’
Deliveroo riders took to the streets of Manchester yesterday for the second time in two weeks to demand better pay and conditions. The strikes in Manchester are co-ordinated with a series of walk outs across the UK and Europe demanding better treatment of workers by the multinational food delivery service. Riders covering the Manchester centre […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Low income families in Manchester face a £1,000 ‘poverty premium’
Low income families in Greater Manchester could be paying over £1000 a year more for goods and services such as energy, credit and insurance compared to those on middle and higher incomes, according to new research by Greater Manchester Poverty Action. This higher cost for poor people is known as the ‘poverty premium’, where low […]