News of the devolution deal [1] between the 10 Greater Manchester Councils
and the Coalition Government took most people in the region by surprise.
Also surprising was the news that the Devolution was conditional on the
region accepting an elected Mayor as part of the deal.
Though the agreement, negotiated out of view of the public, brings some
services under local control [2] there are no additional resources that would
not likely come to the region anyway. In fact, Manchester Council is facing an
additional £60 million in cuts. [3]
Laura
Bannister, Green Party general election candidate for Manchester Gorton, said, "When
Scotland...