Category Archives: Greater Manchester

Thames Water should be nationalised, says Andy Burnham

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Exclusive: Labour’s Makerfield byelection candidate advocates public ownership of water companies as he prepares for potential leadership bid

Thames Water should be nationalised, Andy Burnham has said, revealing public ownership of water companies would “absolutely be an option” under his potential leadership of the Labour party.

Burnham, Labour’s candidate in the Makerfield byelection, has previously called for “greater public control” over the companies. In an interview with the Guardian, he has confirmed this could mean nationalisation.

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Burnham steps back from past calls to end immigration benefits restriction

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Labour’s Makerfield byelection candidate understood to have changed stance on no recourse to public funds policy

Andy Burnham has rolled back from his previous calls for ministers to scrap a restriction on immigrants claiming benefits as the Makerfield byelection places greater scrutiny on his policy positions.

As Greater Manchester mayor, Burnham has called several times for an end to the rule known as no recourse to public funds (NRPF), which since 1999 has prevented new arrivals getting access to benefits or public housing before they are granted settled status.

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The Campaign Diary of Robert Kenyon Aged 41 and Three-Quarters (as imagined by John Crace)

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What’s Carol Vorderman moaning about? All I said was how fit she was … must be going through the menopause or something

Another sweltering sub-Saharan summer’s day in late spring. If this is global warming, I say: “Bring it on.” I go outside to the van, turn on the engine and leave it running. This is the kind of day you want to burn as many fossil fuels as possible. Back indoors, I turn on the radio where Tony Blair is talking. There’s a politician who talks sense.

Bollocks to net zero. That’s what I say. It stands to reason. I mean, think back to the ice age. Let’s face it, there weren’t that many international flights a day while the Neanderthals were alive – five or six at most – and the world still got a whole lot hotter. So it’s all just woke nonsense. Make a note in my diary to ask if Tony is free to come up to Makerfield to do some door-knocking.

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Brexiters peddled ‘nationalistic pish’, said Reform UK’s Makerfield candidate

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Robert Kenyon castigated Brexit as an economically self-harming project on rugby league forum in 2016

Reform UK’s candidate for the Makerfield byelection has castigated Brexit as an economically self-harming project promoted by politicians who “peddled the nationalistic pish”, raising more doubts about his commitment to Nigel Farage’s signature achievement.

The comments by Robert Kenyon, unearthed on a defunct rugby league forum and first reported by the Telegraph, follow the emergence of another post in which he said people would be wrong to assume he had voted for Brexit.

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Burnham allies warn against quick ‘coronation’ of Streeting if Starmer quits

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Assurances being sought that Greater Manchester mayor could stand for byelection, though MP Marie Rimmer says she will not stand aside

Allies of Andy Burnham have warned against a “coronation” for Wes Streeting as the next prime minister and called on Labour’s ruling body to allow the mayor to stand for the leadership.

As Keir Starmer attempted to face down mounting calls for his resignation on Tuesday, sources close to Burnham demanded immediate assurances from Labour’s national executive committee (NEC) that he would not be blocked from contesting a parliamentary byelection.

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Most Labour members think Starmer cannot revive party fortunes, poll finds

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Exclusive: Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham is preferred choice of new leader for 42% of those surveyed

The majority of Labour members say they do not believe Keir Starmer can turn around the party’s fortunes, while 45% say the prime minister should step down.

The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, was the first preference for 42% of members, who were asked to rank their preferred successor.

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Andy Burnham has plan to return to Westminster ‘within weeks’, allies say

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Exclusive: Greater Manchester mayor said to have identified seats where MPs would step aside to allow leadership bid

Andy Burnham has a credible plan to return to Westminster “within weeks”, his allies have said, with the Greater Manchester mayor expected to use a byelection fight to set out a new agenda for government.

Burnham, who was blocked by Labour’s ruling body from running in February’s Gorton and Denton byelection, has identified several seats where MPs are prepared to step aside for his leadership bid.

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Cultural venues in England to share £130m under Arts Everywhere scheme

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Galleries, theatres, museums and libraries to benefit from largest cash injection into the arts for a decade

More than 100 cultural venues, museums, and libraries will share £130m extra funding as part of the largest cash injection into the arts for a decade, ministers have announced.

The investment forms part of the Arts Everywhere Fund, a £1.5bn package to support cultural infrastructure projects over the course of this parliament, which was announced by the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, earlier this year. The fund aims to save more than 1,000 arts venues, museums, libraries and heritage buildings across England.

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Poorly regulated clinics in England are putting children with ADHD at risk, warn doctors

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Private providers accused of prescribing powerful stimulants without examining young patients properly

Children with ADHD are being put at risk by poorly regulated private clinics that prescribe powerful stimulants without key physical examinations, doctors have warned.

A surge in remote-only assessments has led to what one clinician described as “widespread and unsafe practice”, where children are being diagnosed and medicated via video link. The clinical warnings have now forced health authorities in Greater Manchester to overhaul prescribing rules, mandating face-to-face checks to protect the safety of children.

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Green party wins Gorton and Denton byelection, pushing Labour to third place in blow to Keir Starmer

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Hannah Spencer elected as party’s first MP in northern England, as Labour sees a 25.3% drop in vote compared to 2024

The Green party has pulled off a landmark victory in the Gorton and Denton byelection in a significant blow to Keir Starmer.

Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and Green party councillor, was elected as the party’s first MP in northern England after overturning Labour’s 13,000-vote majority.

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Green party wins Gorton and Denton byelection, pushing Labour to third place in blow to Keir Starmer

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Hannah Spencer elected as party’s first MP in northern England, as Labour sees a 25.3% drop in vote compared to 2024

The Green party has pulled off a landmark victory in the Gorton and Denton byelection in a significant blow to Keir Starmer.

Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and Green party councillor, was elected as the party’s first MP in northern England after overturning Labour’s 13,000-vote majority.

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Foreign Office denies minister’s claim the Chagos Islands deal has been paused – UK politics live

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Minister told MPs the deal had been been paused, but that was immediately denied by the Foreign Office

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has published figures showing that local authorities in England dealt with 1.26m flytipping incidents in 2024/25 – 9% increase on the previous year.

And there was an 11% increase in incidents involving a “tipper lorry load” amount of rubbish. There were 52,000 of these, up from 47,000 in 2023/24. Defra said these alone cost councils £19.3m.

These figures show the equivalent of 142 monster landfills a day took place, confirming what communities across the country know all too well – our beautiful countryside is being used by criminal gangs as their personal landfill.

For far too long, waste gangs have pocketed millions in illegal earning, poisoning our environment and our health without consequence. The Liberal Democrats are demanding an end to this environmental vandalism.

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Manchester-London 7am ‘ghost train’ to carry passengers after outcry over regulator’s decision

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Avanti service was to have been axed from mid-December but would have still run because of needs out of Euston

The express Manchester-London 7am Avanti service will take passengers after all, after the rail regulator conceded defeat in the face of public outcry over a ruling that would have left it running as an empty “ghost train” each day.

The 7am train, the only service linking the cities in under two hours, was set to be axed from the passenger table from mid-December – but would, as the Guardian reported on Saturday, have kept running empty from Piccadilly each day so it could run morning trains back out of Euston.

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Wife of synagogue terrorist says he showed no signs of extremism

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Exclusive: Wife of Jihad al-Shamie says he was ‘intimidating, aggressive and controlling’ but did not seem radicalised

The Manchester synagogue terrorist was “intimidating, aggressive and controlling” but showed no sign of extremism before carrying out his lethal antisemitic attack, one of his wives has said.

The woman, who married Jihad al-Shamie in an Islamic ceremony in 2021, said the 35-year-old was “glued to his phone” watching Arabic news channels but did not appear to be on the path to terror.

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Rabbi who confronted Manchester synagogue attacker vows community will not be defeated

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Daniel Walker helped worshippers hold doors shut as Jihad al-Shamie tried to force his way inside

A rabbi who looked into the face of Jihad al-Shamie as he mounted a deadly attack on a Manchester synagogue has vowed not to allow the “evil” and “hatred” he saw to triumph.

Rabbi Daniel Walker helped others to hold the doors of Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue shut as Shamie “body-charged” them during Thursday’s attack, throwing “heavy plant pots” and “doing everything he could to get in”.

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Manchester synagogue victims named as home secretary criticises pro-Palestine marches – latest

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Two men were killed when an attacker used a car to ram into the grounds of a synagogue, then stabbed worshippers

The home secretary has urged pro-Palestine protesters not to carry out demonstrations in the wake of the terror attack in Greater Manchester.

Speaking on GB News, Mahmood said:

As far as I am concerned, I would have wanted to see people in this country step back from protesting for at least a few days, just to give the Jewish community here a chance to process what has happened and to begin the grieving process as well.

I am very disappointed that some of the organisers haven’t heeded the call to step back.

In terms of the attacker, this individual was not known to the security services.

He has obviously been shot dead at the scene, but the police investigations will now continue at pace.

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Manchester synagogue attack: what do we know so far?

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Attack at Heaton Park synagogue that killed two people has been declared a terrorist incident

At 9.31am on Thursday a member of the public rang the police saying they had witnessed “a car being driven towards members of the public, and one man had been stabbed” outside Heaton Park shul, a synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, where people had gathered to observe Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish faith.

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London homes 500 metres from station ‘command £42,700 premium over those 1,500 metres away’

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Nationwide survey in London, Manchester and Glasgow shows pandemic trends may be reversing as more people return to office

People buying homes in London 500 metres from a tube or railway station pay £42,700 more than buyers of similar properties 1,500 metres away from transport hubs, according to new data.

The figures indicate that despite the reshaping of the housing market sparked by the coronavirus pandemic and dramatic changes to working patterns, the traditional estate agent mantra of “good transport links” continues to wield its power over buyers.

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Doctor who left patient during operation to have sex with nurse allowed to practise

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Medical tribunal rules ‘very low risk’ of Suhail Anjum, who had been dismissed by hospital in Greater Manchester, repeating behaviour

A doctor who left a patient midway through an operation to have sex with a nurse is at “very low risk” of repeating his serious misconduct, a medical tribunal has ruled.

Dr Suhail Anjum, 44, and the unnamed nurse were caught in a “compromising position” by a colleague who walked in on the pair at Tameside hospital. The consultant anaesthetist had asked another nursing colleague to monitor the male patient, who was under general anaesthetic, so he could go to the bathroom.

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Senior Labour figures tell Keir Starmer to stop making mistakes

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Prime minister faces criticism from Emily Thornberry, who highlights risk of ‘handing country to Farage’

Keir Starmer has been warned by senior Labour figures to stop making mistakes, before a battle over the party’s deputy leadership and amid fears the government could row back on workers’ rights.

As candidates began to jostle to replace Angela Rayner, the prime minister faced public criticism from Emily Thornberry, a potential contender, who said further mistakes from Starmer could lead to having to “hand our country to [Nigel] Farage”.

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