Comment: Race to the Top? Not In Manchester

April sees Bury City Council elect its new council leader Rishi Shori. He is the first Black Minority Ethnic (BME) leader [1] in the history of Greater Manchester. With this in mind, it’s worth looking at the current composition of Manchester City Council. Manchester City Council has 96 councillors [2]. All 96 are currently members of the Labour Party [3]. Labour has historically enjoyed solid support from the ethnic minority population of the city. Lets look at more numbers. The population of Manchester is approximately 500000 [4] The ethnic minority population is roughly 30 percent of this [5] Of the councils 96 representatives,...

Read Full Article >>

Green Candidate calls for Reversal of Cuts to Mental Health Services

 Green Candidate for Manchester - Hulme, Deyika Nzeribe called for the reinstatement of mental health services cut by the Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust (MHSCT). The cuts to services [1], which are mainly aimed at keeping its users healthy and out of hospital [2], were announced last autumn in a bid to save £1.5 million [3]. The Trust agreed to go ahead with the proposals at a heated meeting last month[4]. Green candidate, Deyika Nzeribe points out though, that in Greater Manchester the health landscape has completely changed. "As of the beginning of April, under devolution, Greater Manchester has complete control...

Read Full Article >>