In the Running

"Devolution"[1] for Greater Manchester has many things wrong with it. There is

• a lack of transparency
• no democratic mandate from the people
• an almost sole focus on 'growth'
• a lack of practical focus on social issues
• a lack of focus on the climate change and environmental issues

Green Candidates

So why run to be the Green candidate for Mayor?

Because its an opportunity to put all of these issues on the agenda for Greater Manchester.

The role of the Mayor should be a campaigning one for the people.

In addition, 35% of constituencies in Greater Manchester are amongst the most deprived in the North West. [2] (Deprived areas have strong indicators of poverty, poor health, unemployment, poor or a lack of housing. [3] [4])

Manchester itself is stark in its levels of inequality. Whilst there is great wealth [5], its high levels of homelessness [6] is plain to see and it has some of the worst health in the country [7].

Although the Labour candidate for mayor [8] has a respectable record as an MP, in Manchester he is the 'status quo' candidate. That is not good enough.

We should be doing something different. 

BRT Rally

On housing

Instead of accepting £300 million to build private accommodation [9] is the end of the story, why don't we ask government for an additional £300 million to stimulate social housing construction all over Greater Manchester?

It would

• provide jobs and training
• provide lower cost housing for those in need
• support social landlords
• enable young people to get on the property ladder
• give a boost to ALL areas of region not just Manchester and Salford.

On health

The situation is bordering on disastrous. To deal with some of the worst health in the country

• we should renegotiate the deal with government to get back the estimated £2 billion budget shortfall [10] 
• fight to be given a free hand to organise its health systems instead of implementing government plans [11] . It should be devolution not delegation.
• support the growth of the voluntary sector to provide additional support for health and social services
• 'hand back' health devolution if the additional help requested is not forthcoming

Whilst health doesn't come directly under the Mayors remit, it such a huge issue, it MUST be on the Mayor's agenda.

On the economy

Instead of just competing for 'cherry on the top' events like Expo2025 [12], the region should also be fighting to bring in Green industry, providing long-term work as part of a new Green Deal [13].

Greater Manchester is home of the industrial revolution, and as such is also a parent to the beginnings of climate change [14]. As a region we have a responsibility to effectively fight climate change, to fight for a Greater Greener Manchester.

That is what I think.

So as a Greater Manchester Green Party member, I'm asking for your vote.

If you don’t already have a link to vote contact the Elections Officer. [15].

Thanks.

Notes

1. http://devolutionmanchester.max20.com/introducing-devolution/what-is-devolution/
2. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/areas-greater-manchester-named-among-11841499 
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_deprivation_index
4. https://www.manchestercommunitycentral.org/news/gm-devolution-health-and-inequality-infographics
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Manchester#GDP
6. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/special-report-shock-rise-manchester-9363644
7. http://healthierlives.phe.org.uk/topic/mortality/area-details#are/E08000003/par/E92000001/ati/102/pat/
8. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-37020186
9. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/300m-housing-fund-designed-unlock-9570783
10. http://clahrc-gm.nihr.ac.uk/2015/11/helping-to-understand-health-and-social-care-devolution-in-greater-manchester/
11. https://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/2014/aug/07/manchester-hospital-reform-plan-failure
12. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/expo-2025-greater-manchester-ashton-11825036
13. https://www.greenparty.org.uk/archive/news-archive/3493.html
14. http://hulmegreenparty.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/a-sense-of-history-and-responsibility.html
15. Email: northwest.greenparty.ero@gmail.com 

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Manchester Green Party praises Labour MPs willing to oppose damaging Welfare bill

The majority of Manchester’s Labour MPs have failed to oppose a bill this week that is expected to make life more difficult for the city’s most vulnerable people. The Manchester Green Party welcomes the decision by two MPs to rebel and is calling on other local MPs to do more to combat the city’s growing poverty.

Manchester has some of the highest levels of child poverty in the country. The Welfare Reform and Work Bill, which passed its second reading by 308 to 124 votes, has been heavily criticised by academics, charities and campaign groups who say that if the bill becomes law, it will have a detrimental affect to children and families in poverty, young people out of work, and ill and disabled people.

Rather than voting against the bill, the Labour leadership instructed its MPs to abstain on the vote. The bill passed with a majority of 184, precisely the number of Labour MPs who abstained.

Manchester Green Party welcomes the decision taken by Gorton MP Gerald Kaufman and Blackley and Broughton MP Graham Stringer to rebel against the Labour line and oppose the bill.

Unfortunately, Manchester’s other MPs, Lucy Powell, whose constituency has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the UK, and the newly elected Jeff Smith, were among those who followed their party leadership and abstained on the vote.

Deyika Nzeribe of the Hulme Green Party said:

“If more Labour MPs had rebelled against their party and joined other opposition members in the SNP, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party, the bill would have been defeated and Manchester’s families in poverty protected from yet more government’s cuts to tax credits, welfare benefits and public services.

“It’s astounding and depressing that the majority of Manchester’s Labour MPs refused to stand up for their most vulnerable constituents. Manchester Central has one of the worst rates of child poverty in the UK and we have an opposition MP apparently afraid to oppose this toxic Tory bill.

“The Manchester Green Party calls on Manchester’s Labour MPs to listen to their constituents, to look at the evidence that these cuts are hurting our most vulnerable citizens and to join the growing opposition in parliament, which is currently being led by the smaller parties. The poor and in need should not be paying for the mistakes of past governments or the financial sector.”

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, who voted against the bill, said:

“It's now down to MPs from all parties to look beyond the politics of today’s debate and focus instead on the devastating impact that this piece of legislation will have on people up and down the country.

"Our crumbling social security system is on the brink – now is the time to take a stand.

“George Osborne is playing politics with poverty. Failing to stand up to this regressive Welfare reform would be an utter betrayal of the principle which says that those in need deserve support.”

More than half a million people in Greater Manchester are believed to be living in poverty, with a further 1.6 million at risk. Many are working for low wages and rely on working tax credits to lift them out of fuel poverty and food poverty. The bill will make it harder still for these families to thrive and survive.

The benefit cap is to be lowered to £20,000 and the bill contains a clause that gives the government the right to lower this yet further without consulting parliament. This will plunge large families with high rent costs further into poverty.

The bill also abandons the UK’s commitment to eradicating child poverty by 2020 and goes so far as to redefine poverty so that it no longer relates to people’s ability to afford essentials such as shelter and food.

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Manchester Green Party Calls for Targets to Combat Child Poverty - Levels in City highest outside London

The Green Party is challenging Manchester City Council to set Child Poverty Reduction targets and dedicate resources to reducing the number of families living in poverty to the national average within 5 years.  The city has the highest levels of childpoverty outside London.

Deyika Nzeribe, Co-Chair of Manchester Green Party said "This should be the minimum aim if Manchester City Council wants to show its commitment to tackling child poverty seriously.  Following the elections, we now know we have a purely Conservative government in place for the next 5 years. We can expect deeper cuts causing far more hardship. Labour council leaders must act now! We can't leave this issue to be dealt with by foodbanks."

He added:  "While council leaders are in the news being photographed with topTories like George Osborne, in the much spoken about race for a Greater Manchester Mayor and devolution from central government, these incredible levels of child poverty must not be forgotten."

EndChildPoverty [has reported that 39% of families with children in Manchester live in poverty, which is nearly 10% more than every major city in the North of England. This is despite Manchester being the third wealthiest city in the country. Moreover, the figure of 39% of families with children in poverty is just the average across Manchester. In Hulme it is 47% and Moss Side its 49%, with Rusholme, Longsight and Ardwick suffering similar deprivation.

The Greens say that though politicians in the city frequently point to the government as being responsible, other Labour councils in the North have notably lower levels of child poverty. Following this year’s elections, Manchester has a 100% Labour Council and the MP for Manchester Central, the constituency where child poverty is worst, is the shadow minister for Children and Families.

Deyika Nzeribe stated: “Even if some people or politicians were to feel no moral urgency to act, it should be recognised that lowering poverty and inequality also improves health and reduces crime within a population, reducing the cost to the state It should be an aspiration of a healthy, growing city to be reducing and eradicating child poverty."

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Well, I 'heart' Manchester too…

The ‘I Y Manchester’ logo is everywhere you look in Manchester City Centre - posters, bus stops, bags, clothing, mugs, even baby-grows.

The campaign, on the surface, is a call for unity after the shocking riots of August 9^th, a call for the community spirit that led100’s of people to help with the clean-up the morning after.

The notion was great but there is something wrong.

The under-current of the campaign is sour, with a proportion of the city irritated and aggrieved by it.

There are a few of reasons for this but one of the most prominent is the naked attempt to get the local population to spend money, to the backdrop of unprecedented cuts to local services and an increasingly poor economic environment.

The excellent article ‘I YCorporate Manchester’, in the Manchester Mule points out that “with an initial 20 per cent drop in visitors to the centre the Saturday after the disturbances, [Richard] Leese told businesses he needed their help in “getting the message out that Manchester is open for business as usual””.

Of the campaign, Manchester City Council’s Head of Communications Mark Lawrence wrote “ There are a number of events and initiatives going on in the city to encourage people to come into the centre and make the most of the shops, restaurants and bars and show their love for Manchester ”. This was supported by free parking, free tram transport, and ‘spectacular’ outdoor events (including a ‘Manchester Moment’).

Running alongside ‘IYManchester’ has been the lower profile, ‘Shop a Looter’ campaign by the Greater Manchester Police, aimed at tracking down the individuals involved in the rioting.

Following the government's lead, the Council took a tough stance with the rioters, the legal system intent on heavily prosecuting those involved, those in council property threatened with eviction and bans from the city centre.

The Council’s angry tone in response to the riots not only condemned the law breakers in strong terms, it constructed in new terms, the idea of the ‘real’ and the ‘true’ Mancunian.

Pat Karney, council spokesman spoke several times in the absence of Council Leader Richard Leese, saying “We want to send out a strong message that Manchester’s business community is standing together and those that disrespect our city are not welcome and will not be allowed to enjoy it” and in an interview references ‘normal working people’ and ‘thuggish kids’.

There has been no strong lead from the Council on the causes of the riots in Manchester and what it aims to do about it.

Whether or not you are ‘True/Real Manc’ or not, ‘good’ or ‘bad’, how you see yourself described or find yourself defined depends on your social and financial situation.

The Council’s decision to lay off thousands of its staff at the beginning of the year was a blow to the city.

The Mule article states ‘Unemployment in the North West rose 13 per cent in the last three months’, with the source of that information also stating that this increase ‘compared with 1.8 per cent nationally’.

The North West, including Manchester, is being hit hard on the employment front.

In addition, cuts to funding from the Coalition government forced the Council to make controversial decisions about its staffing and services. It moved to cut 2000 staff, and withdrew funding to services like advice centres, youth services and Sure Start. Those moves, coupled with cuts to national support programmes (Job Centres, Connexions, NHS etc) have severely eroded the social safety net for the unemployed, those on low income and those who expect to be made redundant in the coming year.

This is important as Manchester already has some of the highest levels of deprivation in the country (4^th most deprived). The city constantly features in these national indices.

All this indicates that many more people in Manchester are moving towards low income and the poverty line than is publicly admitted.

In light of this however Manchester City Council priorities seem misplaced. In fact it makes great play of the investment coming into the city with the development of Eastlands football complex, the renovation of the Town Hall, its new First Street offices and the NOMA development, while unapologetically cutting back on support services (which not all Councils have done). Council Leader Richard Leese, when asked by MULE editor Richard Goulding whether it would be more sensible to spend money on services like Sure Start and social services rather than continue investment in large regeneration projects he replied: “If you want to create Manchester as the welfare capital of the world that’s a good route to go down.” This is an amazing stance given that Manchester is currently the child poverty capital of England.

The council is unintentionally bringing these differences to the fore with its ‘I Y Manchester’ campaign.

Maybe it is no coincidence that a significant proportion of those arrested in the riots come from areas of high deprivation. A significant number of those arrested were young people, whose avenues for employment, further education and higher education are being curtailed at the same time as their support services.

As the numbers of unemployed grow in Manchester, and the services that normally support those in need dwindle, the implied line that defines who are ‘good and bad’ Mancunians will get closer for a lot of people.

Commenting on these issues Hulme activist Deyika Nzeribe said “The ‘I Y Manchester’ campaign has been a huge disappointment. Instead of using all that energy to pull the city together, to support the people, defend services and yes, support business, it has just been used to encouraging people to shop. And its not a lack of leadership from the Council, they just care more for its businesses and buildings than its citizens. They act and think like 1980s Tories these days.

Manchester isn’t just a place, it’s a people. We pull together. Mancunian. Union isn’t in the name but it should be.

I seriously wonder how much this ‘I Y ’ operation has cost.

And as for ‘shop a looter’, that campaign really gets under my skin. They should have found a way of calling for information on and the arrest of looters without using a guy in a ‘hoodie’. It just adds to the demonization of our young people. They are our young people. Whoever thought of that campaign, whoever signed off on it, is causing bad feeling on top of a bad situation. They should re-do it or get rid of it.”

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