Cameroonian playwright returns to Manchester
Asylum-seeking playwright Lydia Besong and her husband Bernard Batey have returned to Manchester following a dramatic eleventh-hour battle against deportation.
Winter Warm Up weekend of action planned to highlight fuel poverty
Fuel Poverty Action are planning a weekend of action in the last weekend of January to highlight growing concern around fuel poverty in the UK, and is being supported locally by Manchester Climate Action and nationally by the Coalition of Resistance.
Cuts take at least £1 billion from Greater Manchester – and there’s much worse to come
At least £1 billion in public spending was cut from the “city region” of Greater Manchester and Warrington over the last year, according to University of Manchester researchers. The study, carried out for Radio 4, anticipates a total of £10 billion to be slashed from the area over the next four years as part of the government’s austerity drive.
Lydia Besong and Bernard Batey under new deportation threat
Cameroonian playwright Lydia Besong and her husband Bernard Batey were unexpectedly detained earlier this week. Both have been issued with removal orders and now face the immanent prospect of deportation on Saturday 21 January.
Vigil to be held for disabled asylum seeker
Campaigners in support of disabled asylum seeker Manjeet Kaur’s fight to remain in the UK will hold a solidarity vigil outside Manchester Civil Justice Centre this Monday.
Manchester suffering from highest rate of repossessions outside London
Research published this week by homeless charity Shelter suggests Manchester is suffering from the highest rate of repossessions in England outside of London, at a level nearly double the national average.
Unilever staff strike for pensions
Striking Unilever workers shut down the Manchester factory which packages PG Tips and Brooke Bond tea last week as part of a national dispute to defend pensions. Thousands of employees took part in the walkout, prompting the company to retaliate by cancelling Christmas parties and staff bonuses.
A child, a bleeding anus, interrogation by the UK Border Agency
In 2010, the last year for which figures are available, just over 1,700 unaccompanied children claimed asylum in this country. A new report from the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, released just this week, exposed a shadowy deal between Britain and France where for 15 years often sick or traumatised children were subjected to instant interrogation once they hit the UK border. Clare Sambrook explains.
Report reveals North West employers are axing jobs and ignoring trade unions
A new report from the Manchester Business School’s Fairness at Work research programme sheds some light on the way employers in the North West have been responding to the recession. Read on to discover what’s happening to our workplaces…
Return of a desperate urban policy?
Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership (GMLEP) is set to receive £24.7m from the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) as part of a £500m ‘Growing Places Fund’ package launched this week by Secretary of State Eric Pickles. In a seeming hark back to the policies of the dying Labour government, the scheme is designed to “get Britain building again” and kickstart stalled housing and infrastructure projects across the country.
Pay cut sparks electricians protests in Manchester
Electricians from across the North West this week again took part in the latest nationally coordinated protests against plans by employers to reduce pay and worsen working conditions. For the second week in a row the building site for the new Carrington Paper Mill, operated by the construction firm Balfour Beatty, was picketed by around 50 workers, with many of those employed on site choosing to turn away rather than cross the picket line. Similar actions have taken place in Newcastle, Glasgow and London over the past fortnight.
Fairtrade but not fair conditions
Marks and Spencer are keen to flaunt their fair trade credentials. But is it fair that the company who supply their cakes is undermining new employment laws designed to protect agency workers?
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