The Mancunian Way: The race to become mayor

Hello

Yesterday afternoon, the candidates bidding to become Greater Manchester’s next mayor piled into the M.E.N.’s headquarters to make their cases for the role.

Mayoral hopefuls from all five parties standing in the race were quizzed on everything from transport to policing, housing and health by M.E.N. readers, first time voters and campaigners.

Labour’s Andy Burnham, who is hoping to be re-elected for a third time next month, was joined at the hustings event by Conservative candidate Laura Evans; the Green Party's Hannah Spencer; Lib Dem Jake Austin; and Reform UK's Dan Barker.

They were each asked about the Clean Air Zone - the controversial scheme to charge some motorists in a bid to bring down pollution which is still under review.

Mr Burnham told the audience that no road charging would be introduced in Greater Manchester if he returns as mayor. But, unlike some of his opponents, he said he would keep the 400-plus ANPR cameras installed as part of the scheme as 'they are being used to solve rapes and murders'.

It came after the Conservative and Reform UK candidates said that, if elected, they would take the cameras down.

Candidates also faced calls to back a campaign for the creation of a new 'railcard for the north'. The most heated exchange, however, came after a question about how the candidates would tackle issues at GMP.

Mr Burnham defended his record as police and crime commissioner, citing the 'turn around' at GMP since the last mayoral election when the force was still in special measures.

Conservative candidate Laura Evans said poor management was the real reason GMP was found to be failing and accused the mayor of having 'offset' and 'abdicated' his role as police and crime commissioner, arguing he should 'lead from the front'.

Lib Dem candidate Jake Austin said trust in policing is at an 'all-time low' and needs to be rebuilt. He praised the 'good' police officers, of which he said there are many, but argued that there is a cultural problem that must be tackled with scrutiny by the mayor.

Meanwhile, Green candidate Hannah Spencer said that she would set up an independent body to look at complaints against serving officers, arguing that the force should not be 'marking their own homework'. She also pledged to reinstate GMP's serious sexual offences unit.

"On many issues - such as housing, transport and health - the candidates agree on what needs to be done," the M.E.N.'s politics writer Joseph Timan said following the event. "Where they differ is on how to achieve those goals."

Voters from all ten Greater Manchester boroughs will head to the polls to vote for the region’s mayor on May 2.

Urban roots

Now, from politics to pollination. Thousands of visitors have descended on the city centre for the first ever RHS Urban Show.

There were star guests, dazzling blooms and even a robot dog on display at the Royal Horticultural Society’s indoor gardening event inside the cavernous former railway depot Mayfield, opposite Manchester Piccadilly, yesterday.

The event, which runs until Sunday, seeks to showcase innovative creations and garden solutions for city dwellers, the charity said. It includes "compact designs for the smallest terraces, balconies and ginnels right up to a spectacular urban forest created inside the brickwork arches".

Music star Tinie Tempah was among the famous faces who attended the opening day, and hailed the show as “mind blowing”. You can peruse our photo gallery from the event here.

Licence stripped

It’s been a fixture in Altrincham town centre for almost a quarter of century, but Totties strip club has now been banned from hosting lap dances. The club, where women dance topless, has been told such practice was ‘no longer appropriate’ for the area.

The owner of Totties - Jonathan Dodd - had applied to Trafford council for the renewal of the club’s Sex Entertainment Licence. The venue, which opened in 2000, employed five full-time staff and more than 30 part-time dancers ‘making additional income’, according to Mr Dodd.

But one objector to the licence application said the alley where people gain access to Totties has become ‘much more gentrified’ with young families walking to and for day and night. “Having an establishment that is promoting sexual gratification seems very out of date,” she added. Read the full story here.

Homeless camp

Police and council bosses have explained why fences were erected around the site of the ‘red tent’ homeless camp in Manchester city centre. The camp, which organisers said started out as a protest, was set-up around the town hall last month.

Police and council officers have since been seen operating in the area after organisers said they would only leave the camp if Manchester council agreed to use ‘two buildings that are used for staff training’ as temporary shelters.

The council did not respond to that request specifically when approached by the M.E.N., but now says it’s moved 100 homeless people from the camp into temporary accommodation. The number of tents has now decreased from 37 to four. Ethan Davies has the latest on this one.

Chippy tea

It’s Friday and for many households across our region, that means a chippy tea. If fish and chips isn’t really your bag then just wait until you’ve read this review from Emma Gill, who recently paid a visit to the popular Green Lane Chippy in Leigh.

She found the award-winning chippy packed out with happy diners, who she says were “having a whale of a time”.

“I've never seen anything like it in a chip shop before,” she wrote. “The atmosphere coming from the lively restaurant was as strong as the smell of the fish and chips we were about to devour.” You can read Emma's review here.

Weather etc

Saturday: Sunny intervals turning cloudy by lunchtime. 12C.

Trains: Possible disruption on Northern at Manchester Piccadilly due to industrial action between April 15 and 20. Affecting services across the network.

Manchester headlines

• Death threats: A mum who was fatally stabbed in the street 'received death threats' days before the incident, the police watchdog has revealed. Kulsuma Akter, 27, was stabbed in Bradford city centre on April 6. The mum, from Oldham, died as a result of her injuries. The Independent Office for Police Conduct has now launched an investigation into contact Greater Manchester Police and West Yorkshire Police had with Ms Akter 'in the weeks before the stabbing'. Read more.

• Inquest: A mum from Oldham died after flying to Turkey for gastric sleeve surgery she 'so desperately wanted and needed', an inquest heard. Leanne Leary had an undiagnosed deep vein thrombosis which led to her having a heart attack on the operating table. The 38-year-old was resuscitated and rushed to intensive care, but suffered a second fatal cardiac arrest the following afternoon. Full story here.

• United ace in court: Manchester United footballer Brandon Williams has appeared in court charged with dangerous driving after a crash in Cheshire. The Audi A3 S Line he was driving was involved in a collision on the A34 Ainslie Way in Wilmslow, in August 2023. Mr Williams, 23, from north Manchester, is also accused of driving without insurance. Read more.

Worth a read

Setting foot inside one of India’s most notorious prisons, Barry Hulse could not have prepared himself for the “nightmare” he was about to face.

"It was almost like a slum; plastic bags and everyone's belongings were hung on the wall,” he recalled. "Each floor had over 200 prisoners even though the capacity was 80. People were lying on the floor in groups. A person was having a fit; I saw foam coming out of his mouth.”

Baz would go on to serve ten years alongside ruthless gangsters and terrorists before being acquitted and deported back to Britain in 2019. Damon Wilkinson has the tale of how the Salford dad survived ten years in India’s toughest jails.