The increases have been linked to mounting unemployment, with the report voicing concerns that “the suicide rate increases and worrying prescribing trends will be difficult to contain” if “economic growth is slow and training and employment opportunities are limited.”

Prescriptions of the main drug treatment for anxiety and depression according to NHS guidelines, SSRIs, have shot up 8.5 per cent in the last twelve months. While the report argues the data should be treated with caution due to differences in prescription practices, it notes that NHS Manchester view GPs as reporting “increasing numbers of people presenting with mild to moderate health problems as a result of the recession.”

Deaths from suicide and self-harm have also risen since 2007, according to a November report authored by the local Director of Public Health David Regan. Although the report notes that the increase could be due to other factors, for example “poorer reported mental wellbeing” of middle-aged men, it notes that “there seems to be an underlying increase in self-harm deaths across the region.”

Physical and mental impacts

Past research by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has found links between unemployment and mental and physical ill-health. A major review carried out in 2008 uncovered associations with increased rates of mortality from heart and lung diseases, psychological distress and “minor psychological and psychiatric morbidity”, increased admissions to hospital and use of medicines and “much worse prognosis and recovery rates”.

Other key findings highlighted by the study were of the greatest impacts of unemployment on mental health being felt three to six months after the loss of a job, negative effects on healthy lifestyles and of poorer health for the families of those out of work.

In addition, the review found job insecurity to have “an adverse impact on health”, with symptoms such as rising blood pressure, and increased risk of diabetes and infections “classic consequences” of stress. The report to Manchester City Council noted how these effects “will be present in a significant proportion of the local population during the current economic downturn.”

MULE spoke to clinical psychologist Dr Steve Eccles, who explained that while links between unemployment and mental health are complex, loss of employment is “a very stressful life event” which can have “a profound effect on people’s identity” while increasing social isolation.

Dr Eccles advised people experiencing symptoms of stress, anxiety or depression to attempt to maintain a normal daily routine and to keep up social connections with family and friends as much as possible. He further said people with such symptoms should try to monitor drug and alcohol use, stay active and exercise, keep time for pleasurable activities and hobbies, and consider taking part in voluntary work, while those with more severe symptoms should access services via their GP, or A&E for emergencies.

Decent security

However, the report also noted that for employment to have real health benefits jobs would “need to be sustainable, offer a decent living wage, have opportunities for in-work development, have flexibility to enable people to balance work and family life, and protect employees from adverse working conditions that can damage health.”

And Alan Hartman, chair of Manchester Users Network, claimed the findings should not be used to neglect mental health care needs in favour of a “culture, which is dangerous, that if you’re in work you’re not mentally ill anymore”. Hartman also warned that cuts to welfare benefits for people with mental health issues, the loss of welfare rights officers and changes to legal aid for welfare benefit cases would leave people unable to secure support.

Hartman further labelled attempts to deal with poor mental health which would primarily aim at returning people to work “a con” given the lack of available employment. “If it was in the 1970s it’s be positive”, he argued, but said in recent years “there’s no jobs and people are being pushed off their benefits.”

Government welfare reforms include the highly controversial Work Programme, a taxpayer-funded but private sector-run project with the stated aim of moving people from benefits into employment through training, increased sanctions and unpaid and enforced “volunteering” for companies and other organisations. A DWP spokesperson claimed the scheme allows contractors to use specialist knowledge “to deliver individual tailored support to meet the needs of all out of work claimants – including the most vulnerable and hard to help.”

Although the Work Programme is delivered independently of Manchester City Council’s services, executive member for Adult Services Councillor Glynn Evans said the council would “support” the DWP and others to “assess what people can do – rather than what they cannot – to help them find the right kind of job that will improve their lifestyle and health, while reducing their dependency on public services and benefits.”

Similar “Welfare to Work” projects mentioned in the report have seen limited success however, with only two out of 70 Ardwick residents on one trial stream delivered by training provider Work Solutions, a “jobs broker” for private sector giant G4S, having entered “sustained employment” of longer than 13 weeks. While the report said this figure was expected to rise in the next month, it acknowledged that “not surprisingly, supporting people with long term mental health problems on the pathway to work in such a tough job market is impacting on these problems.”

Richard Goulding

The experience of Video Jam is as compelling as its premise: “an experimental night of short films with a variety of live musical accompaniment”. Filmmakers of any ilk submit silent short films to which a musician, band or poet provides a live audio accompaniment. The filmmakers have no say over what kind of score their pieces get and the films were chosen for the musicians, largely at random.

Sarah Hill is one of four organisers of Video Jam, a graduate from the University of Manchester and now an art foundation student at Manchester Metropolitan University. The original idea came to her from an opening she went to at the Whitworth Gallery, where an animation was scored live by two musicians. She told me how she had explained to another Video Jam organiser: “I know I want to do something with film and music, but I’m not sure what. I’m a filmmaker and he’s a musician, I thought ‘we can do something together’.”

The event was held at Antwerp Mansions, a large building just behind Rusholme’s curry mile. Originally a Belgian consulate, the imposing Victorian structure became a Conservative club in 1924, before being abandoned and then squatted. It’s now a licensed venue and a hangout for artists, musicians and others. Unlike the squat-inspired faux-eclectic aesthetic of commercially successful chains like Trof, Antwerp Mansions seems the real deal. Grand Victorian architecture and original mouldings – the period features remain largely intact – are now home to a mad mix of paintings, pornography, murals and a flea market-esque collection of furniture; the stage itself is made out of vast antique pool tables pushed together.

The team behind Video Jam had laid out tables and chairs with dark red table cloths and tea lights in jam jars were dotted across the room, giving the feeling of a speakeasy during prohibition, or the hideout of a revolutionary fraternity. I half expected maps detailing an upcoming siege to be projected onto the large white sheet that hung on one wall.

The night began with two short films by lecturer Dave Griffiths, the first a cigarette in black and white burning to the filter and the second a collection of white dots and scratches taken from the controversial 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and accompanied by sparse, atonal scratching on an electric guitar by Anton Hunter. From its highly experimental beginnings, the night unfolded as an exploration of film and music without restraint. There were highly abstract and graphically driven pieces, films with a narrative, featuring actors and there were films using found footage, spliced and edited to create new art.

The music was an energetic mix of instruments; guitars, wind, brass, strings, piano and instruments neither I, nor the music buffs I was sat with, could even name. While the majority of the scores worked well, I wished some had been a little more adventurous. In some cases it seemed as though the musicians were content to recreate the films in musical terms, rather than trying to add their own commentary or counterpoint.

The most successful collaborations were always when the music brought something unexpected, challenging and wonderful to the film. Anne Lister’s film The View From Jupiter accompanied by Sophie James was one such success. Although the film itself was beautiful – a series of orbs travelling across the screen – the musical accompaniment added a dimension, which was at once elaborate and captivating and gave the illusion of visual complexity.

Musician Adam Hart, who performed a rich electronic score for a short film of a car journey at night, explained that “when film and music mix together and the result is more than the sum of their parts, it creates an extra dimension. Music and moving image should complement each other”. He conceded that “it’s easier if [the film is] abstract- there’s less of a demand for synchronicity”.

Sarah Hill, whose own film Funes, the Memorious, scored by Michael Seal was another highlight, said “I have a particular interest in filmmakers and musicians who are working in a genuinely experimental way, who don’t worry about convention, and value improvisation; the idea of chance or happy accidents”.

Indeed, what gave the night its feeling of freshness and scope, was the sense of experimentation. When Helen Knowles’ submission was aired – found footage of an unassisted childbirth – it was played twice, once without music as “an experiment”.

The night was not without its hitches; technical errors interrupted a few of the screenings and at one stage, while I spoke to enthusiastic organisers Sarah and Sam Hughes they had to run off to replace the screen, which had been pulled down. But again, the crowd was supportive and their teething issues will no doubt be smoothed during Video Jam’s future at the mansions.

Lucy Allan

Lydia Besong. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

The couple arrived back at Bury late Wednesday night to the relief of supporters. Both had been detained and threatened with removal from the UK following the rejection of their claim for asylum.

The refusal provoked outcry among local and national human rights groups however, and deportation was averted when an application by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) to overturn Besong and Batey’s right to judicial review was refused by the courts less than 24 hours before their removal was set to go ahead.

The pair have testified that they were subjected to imprisonment and torture in their home country of Cameroon for their involvement with political movements which campaign for the self-determination of the country’s English-speaking minority.

On her return to Manchester Besong thanked her supporters, who fought a high-profile campaign lobbying the Home Office and appealing for her release from detention. “I call them my pillars. If I’m standing here today now talking to you it is because of them,” she said.

“They are like my pillars after the support I had. They are really my support and they lift my spirit up. They give me the strength to know I’m not fighting alone.”

“Greater care and clarity”

It has also emerged that the Home Office has since withdrawn the decision to refuse their protection claim, although it is still not known what the outcome of new considerations on their claim will be. Their solicitor, Gary McIndoe of the human rights firm Latitude Law, said the government’s treatment of the case “continues to baffle”.

In a statement, McIndoe said: “Having confirmed that they are to reconsider their decision on Bernard’s asylum claim, UKBA have today authorised Bernard and Lydia’s release from detention, only 24 hours after communicating to us a refusal to release them.” He added, “We hope the substance of the risks faced by Bernard and Lydia in Cameroon today can now be looked at with greater care and clarity.”

A UKBA spokesperson stated: “The UK has a proud record of offering sanctuary to those who need it, but where we and the courts have found they do not qualify for protection they must return to their home country… Our rules are clear [that] if you have no right to be in the UK you will be required to leave or you will be removed.”

Both Besong and Batey have a long record of working with human rights groups in Manchester including Women Asylum Seekers Together (WAST), the refugee organisation Revive and human rights charity RAPAR. Besong is also a playwright, with productions of her debut play How I Became An Asylum Seeker performed nationwide by WAST members.

Cameroon has received repeated international condemnation by international monitors such as Amnesty International and others for its human rights abuses. Critics include the US State Department, which has noted how “security forces committed numerous unlawful killings; they regularly engaged in torture, beatings, and other abuses, particularly of detainees and prisoners.”

Strong support

High profile support has been won for the campaign, with supporters such as actor Juliet Stephenson and War Horse author Michael Morpurgo speaking out against the couple’s treatment. Gillian Slovo, President of English PEN, which campaigns for the freedom of speech for writers worldwide, described the news as “fantastic”. She added: “Please pass on my congratulations for the campaign they have waged and my hopes that this will now allow the two some stability here.”

Besong told MULE she hoped her upcoming play, Down with the Dictator, would provoke discussion of dictatorships in the developing world and the treatment by the West of those fleeing oppression. She warned that many others who had not received the backing she has are in similar situations, and in need of support.

“I would like justice. Not only for myself, I would like justice for everybody”, she said. “I know it’s happening to other asylum seekers, like for instance those who are not outspoken. How they handle their situation I don’t know.”

She added, “If you see an asylum seeker in need of any form of support please, if you are able to offer anything please do, they really need the support. Because if not, without that support, I wouldn’t be standing here.”

Richard Goulding

Households in the UK are classed as being in fuel poverty when more than 10 per cent of their income is spent keeping warm. According to a YouGov poll nearly one in four people live in fuel poverty, which is mainly determined by the cost of energy, the energy efficiency of the house and household income.

Last year the Big Six energy companies, who provide the gas and electricity to the majority of UK houses, raised their standard tariffs between 18 and 22.6 per cent. Annual energy bills have hit record highs, averaging at £1,345. Between 2010 and 2011, there were 25,700 ‘excess winter deaths’, and according to the government-commissioned Hills Poverty Review 2,700 were directly due to those people being ‘Fuel Poor’.

Campaigners claim this is a conservative estimate, and groups such as 38 Degrees and Friends of the Earth have come out against price increases. Campaigning petitioners 38 Degrees already have more than 85,000 signatures to their e-petition calling the Big Six to “give your customers a fair deal – cut your prices and don’t cream off huge profits”.

In response to widespread criticism to their role in the spread of fuel poverty some companies are agreeing to 4 per cent or 5 per cent cuts in tariffs, with most to come into effect after the winter period. However, with the price of wholesale gas dropping a further 9 per cent in November, and record profits reported to be up to 700 per cent for members of the Big Six, this move has done little to stifle criticism.

Groups such as Fuel Poverty Action however want to take things a step further than just lobbying for price decreases: “We want to work towards replacing fossil fuels and corporate-dominance over energy with an energy system based on the democratic control of renewable energy.”

Manchester Climate Action say they agree with the need to take further action.

“We’ll be joining in the winter warm up weekend on 27-30 January and we encourage others to take action and look at local alternatives to corporate and unsustainable energy,” said a spokesperson for MCA.

For more information, to follow the campaign and to see how you can get, see Fuel Poverty Action and Manchester Climate Action. For information on Manchester’s own Carbon Co-op, see here.

]]> http://manchestermule.com/article/winter-warm-up-weekend-of-action-planned-to-highlight-fuel-poverty/feed 1 http://manchestermule.com/article/a-child-a-bleeding-anus-interrogation-by-the-uk-border-agency http://manchestermule.com/article/a-child-a-bleeding-anus-interrogation-by-the-uk-border-agency#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:17:05 +0000 richard http://manchestermule.com/?p=13278 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.

This article was originally published at Our Kingdom

Child B is apprehended after landing in Dover. He is subjected to something called a “welfare interview” and asked “Are you in any pain?” Yes, he says. The little finger on his left hand is in a splint. He is bleeding from his anus. His interrogator writes that Child B has been prescribed “Petadine” by doctors in Belgium. The boy is asked if he wants to see a doctor now in Dover. Yes, he says. But he doesn’t see a doctor. That was just a question on the form.

Despite the pain, the bleeding, the request for medical help (denied), the lack of sleep (he has not slept for more than 24 hours), and the fact that Child B has been prescribed Pethidine (that’s what it is), a drug known to be associated with “euphoria, difficulty concentrating, confusion and impaired psychomotor and cognitive performance”, Child B is subjected to a further interview and then a “Full Screening Interview” upon which the authorities may rely when deciding whether or not to grant him asylum. The interview is conducted through an interpreter by telephone. No legal representative is present.

Child B is asked dozens of questions about how he came to this country, about his biodata and his documents, then a mandatory declaration is read out to him: “I am aware that it is a criminal offence to fail to provide a document establishing my identity and nationality at a leave or asylum interview and/or seek to obtain leave to remain in the United Kingdom by deception. I understand that my fingerprints will now be taken and examined against existing immigration and police databases. I declare that the information that I have given is correct and complete.”

He must sign. When all this concluded, Child B is sent for medical attention to the accident and emergency department of a local hospital.

Let’s stop here. This is not fiction, but real life — as designed by the UK Border Agency — for vulnerable children who may have fled war zones or been trafficked for sexual exploitation. All the quotes are from a new report by Adrian Matthews, Policy Adviser at the Office of Children’s Commissioner for England, published this morning: Landing in Dover, The immigration process undergone by unaccompanied children arriving in Kent.

Why the rush to interview?

Why not wait until an interpreter can be present?

Why doesn’t the child have any legal representative given the fate that might await him if he is sent away?

Here is one reason: if children are interviewed immediately on the day of arrival, those who fail to register a claim for asylum straight away can be sent to France under something called the “Gentleman’s Agreement” that was signed by France and the UK and is dated April 1995.

Gentlemen indeed.

The Gentleman’s Agreement has only now, after 15 years, been exposed by Adrian Matthews.

The Children’s Commissioner, Maggie Atkinson, congratulated the Border Agency’s new chief executive Rob Whiteman on agreeing to stop applying the “Gentleman’s Agreement” to children once it had been “brought to his attention”. But the agreement — which has no legal basis — has been in full view of Border Agency executives for years and still applies to adults and to children deemed by officials to be adults.

Article 3(1) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states: “in all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration”.

Landing in Dover makes one key recommendation: “Interviewing, beyond the gathering of basic identity data, should be postponed until after a child has had a period of some days (or longer if deemed necessary by a childcare professional) to recover from their journey and the opportunity to instruct a legal representative.”

In 2010 (the last full year where data is available) across the whole of the UK there were 1,717 applications for asylum from unaccompanied children. Nobody knows how many children have been returned under the Gentleman’s Agreement nor what became of them.

First published in 1914, the production of Tressell’s work provides a picture of social, political, economic and cultural life in Britain prior to the First World War and advocates a socialist society through scenes depicting social injustice and the failures of capitalism.

Howard Brenton’s adaptation premiered at the Liverpool Everyman in 2010 and returns to the stage as part of the Pandora’s Box Festival. Aspects Theatre Company, the group behind the production, is part of The School of Media, Music and Performance at the University of Salford, which gives a staggering 300 public performances each year at venues locally and across the country.

The company is using Brechtian techniques, including mask work and song, for this performance, which relates closely to the themes of the original novel. Brecht was a committed Marxist who explored the idea of theatre as a forum for political ideas. Rather than cause audiences to experience emotional connection or identification with characters, Brecht wanted his audiences to view works of theatre with a critical mind, open to recognising social injustice and be persuaded to leave the performance space and affect political change in the world outside.

By using unfamiliar or surreal elements – such as bare lighting, masks or speech directed at the audience, Brecht aimed to communicate the idea that the audience’s reality outside the theatre was equally constructed and therefore just as open to change.

These techniques relate interestingly to a novel which, at points, heavily criticises the working classes for being unable to perceive the possibility of change, and should make for an insightful piece of theatre.

Lucy Allan

The performances are at 7.30pm on Thursday 19th and Friday 20th January, with a matinee at 2.30pm on Friday at The University of Salford, Allerton Building, Frederick Road Campus, Salford, M6 6PU.

Tickets: £4 (£3 concessions). Tel 0161 295 6120 for ticket reservations.

An anti-cuts demonstration in January 2011. Photograph: Roxallison

The report’s authors, Professor Colin Talbot and Doctor Carole Talbot of the Manchester Business School, expect unemployment across the area to “easily go above 100,000 by the end of next year with the effects of public sector job losses alone”, calculating a “reasonably conservative estimate” of 15,000 – 16,000 positions under threat.

Lost council services such as Sure Starts, libraries and adult social care make up “only a relatively small part of the overall picture” according to the study, although the authors warn their figure of £234 million in cuts to local government “is almost certainly an underestimate”. A rough figure of an 8 per cent reduction in spending for all other services aside from health and education, which have been ‘relatively’ protected by the Treasury, heaps an additional £762 million onto the total taken from the area.

Although the authors admit this is a somewhat “crude” calculation, they argue it errs on the side of caution considering some areas of spending such as economic regeneration have been wiped out by as much as 80 per cent. While Greater Manchester is less reliant on public sector employment than comparable cities such as Liverpool, Leeds or Birmingham, 23.4 per cent of the county’s workforce is still employed in that sector and in 2008/09, prior to the cuts, total public spending in the city region amounted to £22 billion, or 44 per cent of the region’s economy.

Tipping point?

To fill the gap left by David Cameron’s axe, the government hopes private sector investment will expand and create jobs once the state is “rolled back”. In response the study warns that as of yet there is “no sign of this happening”. The public sector cuts come on top of what the authors term a “substantial” private sector recession, with 34,100 jobs and £1.5 billion in value already lost from Greater Manchester between 2008 and 2010.

The report notes how even prior to the recession Manchester suffered from a growth in “under employment”, defined as “people working part-time who wanted full-time work and people who were clearly over-qualified for their jobs”. Additional research by local think tank the Commission for the New Economy has found this issue to have worsened since the recession, with employers exploiting a “flexible labour market” to squeeze wages and reduce hours.

On the upside, this has kept unemployment lower so far than in past recessions such as the 1980s or 1930s. However, the Commission noted that any upturn would result in a “jobless recovery” as firms make greater use of the staff they retained, while continuing economic stagnation – which appears likely – risks a “tipping point” of “pronounced” increases in redundancies if firms decide they can no longer afford to maintain their workforce.

Mixed resilience

As previously reported in MULE real incomes for those in work have been slashed as wages failed to keep pace with inflation, and the report expects further benefit cuts to the unemployed and people on low incomes to kick-in over the latter half of the current Parliament. The worst of the crunch in living standards as purses and wallets empty and businesses feel the knock-on effects is still to come, as “the full impact of these cuts will not yet have been felt across the Greater Manchester economy” only nine months in to austerity now planned to continue up until 2017.

On the plus side the report argues that Manchester and its surrounding area is faring “slightly better” on average than the rest of the UK, with a “fairly diversified local economy” compared to the factories and manufacturing of the 1970s. Looking beyond the bare statistics to how different parts of the region are coping reveals a grimmer picture however. Out of the 11 local authorities in the Manchester city region only three – the wealthier suburbs of Trafford, Stockport and Warrington – are in the top half of rankings of “resilience” against the impact of cuts and economic downturn as calculated by the BBC’s Newsnight.

Of the other eight authorities Bury, Manchester and Salford are in the bottom half of “resilient” areas with the remaining five councils in the former mill towns of Rochdale, Oldham, Tameside, Wigan and Bolton in Northern Greater Manchester in the bottom quarter of the country for resilience. The ultimate impact of the various remaining or repackaged schemes for blunting the downturn in these areas remains to be seen, although interesting local responses include Manchester City Council’s decision to increase its level of purchasing spend from £87 million to £154 million in the most deprived nearby neighbourhoods.

How more standard regeneration wheezes such as Salford’s MediaCityUK are to benefit the majority of the city’s residents appears less clear, with figures first reported in the Guardian revealing that just 154 of the 529 jobs made available through the site’s “jobs bank” going to applicants from either Manchester or Salford. Of those, only 24 were from Salford according to the Manchester Evening News. The sad fact that 26,400 young people in Greater Manchester before Christmas were on the dole gives some indication as to the scale of the hole the city is in.

Richard Goulding

So how did the collaboration between you and Skeptical come about?

We’ve worked together for a little while now. We’ve done a few things on Ingredients, we did a “12 on dispatch and we did some stuff on Critical. So we’ve probably worked together for nearly 2 years: Skeptical is my partner in crime though we’ve only actually been in the studio together once – we’ve made about 20 tunes together – but we’ve only actually sat together once.

What we usually do is one of us will start a tune and send the other the parts. So he might send me five folders and I’ll send him five with the beginnings of a tune – a bit of bass, a bit of drums etc – and it’ll go from there. We’ll take the parts we like, change a few parts, and it progresses like that.

With this tune he sent me a file and it sat there for a bit. Then one night I was in the studio with Johnni and we started working on it. He put the bar on and it was about a four-hour session in the end.  The thing I’ve always liked about working with Skeptical is that if I send him any of my parts, I know the tune is going to come back better than I sent it. He’s gonna add bits, change bits around and all that and it will always improve it. It’s nice working with someone who inspires you and you can trust 100 per cent to make it better.

What inspired Marka?

Nothing specific. On my part, it was just listening to the parts Ash [Skeptical] sent me – the half speed part and the ragga clap – Johnni had the bar and we went from there. We’ve always had one eye on doing something different, but without being too contrived about it. At that point, we thought “this hasn’t been done so let’s try that.” Obviously the lyrics are clash talk so there’s the inspiration for that.

People often make links between your music and film soundtracks. What do you think about the comparison?

Yeah, you’re trying to paint a picture with the music. Not consciously, but, I watch a lot of films and film music is sometimes the best music. It’s not trying to be cool or anything but is purely there to set a mood, and that’s the best kind of music, where you’re trying to generate some kind of feeling, or set a tone. Sometimes it comes from the oddest shit. There’s actually some atmospheric sounds from Marka that come from a weird old Polish film called Seven Days of Night.  I got about half way through and thought, “This is weird but the soundtrack is great!” So I recorded the whole thing in.

What do you think about the reception to Marka?

It’s been mad. It’s more than we could ever imagine could happen. Obviously it’s been great and we’re absolutely over the moon. When we finished it we thought it was just weird and some people might like but a lot of people would probably hate it. The response has been absolutely overwhelming though. We didn’t think you could make a tune with that kind of reach anymore. In a sea of mass promotion where anyone can make something it’s so hard to get noticed so for a tune to take over social media for a day like it did was just mental. It’s all a bit odd because you think that if and when it happens it’ll never happen to you.

It’s like when you talk to older people about how they got their job – they just turned up and asked for it – and it seems like that with some older bands: they just play a couple of shows and they get signed. It seems like a lot more work today.

I used to read that kind of stuff – ‘cause I’ve been doing this 11 years – so I used to think, “How have you done that?” To me that doesn’t seem possible. I’ve been in the same places where you said you’ve been and got a job and I didn’t get a job…am I just shit? But I guess you’ve got to just live with that. I’m quite proud of the fact that I stuck to my guns, I’ve been here all this time, doing it, and finally gotten somewhere.

What do you think about the scene in Manchester?

For me, Manchester is the most inspiring place in the world to be.  We’ve got everything here from musicians, producers, DJs, MCs, graphic designers, great clubs, video people, web designers, press people, PR people, clothes designers. You name it, we’ve got it. The problem is, at least not since the days of Madchester, has the whole of Manchester come together and said “right, let’s get together and do this” probably.

We’re outside of London where all the industry has traditionally been, and being a little city in the North it’s very hard for us to be on that circuit. The only way we’re going to get anywhere is by having our own circuit. Obviously there are some great things up here but now we’re all working together and it’s starting to be a bit more conducive. We’ve got the Estate UK thing, originally Broke N’English’s label, but now it’s a group thing with Skittles, Chimpo and Fox, T man, Sparks, Ellis Meade, myself and James from Example Media at the helm– there’s a really strong little unit there where it’ll be a great thing if we do it properly. At the moment it’s just a bunch of mates trying to support each other but hopefully it could be something bigger if we work hard enough.

What was interesting was that the last mixmag had myself, Skittles, DRS, Strategy, Hit and Run and a few other bits. Someone tweeted something about how strong Manchester was looking at the moment. It’s great that people are saying that but we were thinking “wait ‘til they realise that we’re all the same crew”.

What is it about the city that inspires that sort of thing?

It’s the size partly. Everyone knows everyone. But it’s got a strong musical identity and a rich heritage. The people, the place, the rain, everything – it’s an inspiring place to be. We’ve got so many people as well, so many creeds and cultures, it’s so culturally rich.

Is there much conflict between staying independent versus going with big labels?

I don’t think major labels are something you can turn down because at the end of the day we’ve all got to put food on the table and they can guarantee that. But there’s a certain romance to staying independent. With Marka we didn’t use any of the usual channels. We just put it up on YouTube. I’m quite proud of the fact we didn’t get a remix of a big name, we didn’t go to a massive PR company, didn’t pay tonnes of people to push it in all these different places. It was just a natural thing.

What do you think of the Warehouse Project?

It’s cool for what it is and it puts the city on the map. Some of the acts they have I think are wicked but it’s not totally my kind of thing. I’ve only been there once – make of that what you will…

What should we expecting from you this year?

I’m all over this year. Pretty much every city in the UK, quite a few European dates, festivals over the summer. Check out the fanpage for all the listings. Release-wise is a “12 on Critical Music called Codec with Never beenft Fox on the other side. After that there’s a “12 on Samurai which is a collab’ with Skeptical. One side featuring T Man, the other featuring Sparks. There’s also a number of remixes due and some stuff at different tempos. Again, check the fanpage for details on those as and when.

So who haven’t you mentioned that we should be keeping a look out for at the moment?

For me, Chimpo and Fox are two of the most underrated musicians about. Do yourself a favour and check them out.

Joseph Ritchie

Batey is being held at Morton Hall Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) while Besong, detained by the UKBA for the fourth time since she arrived in the UK in 2006, has been taken to Yarl’s Wood IRC in Bedford. Campaigners have accused the UK Border Agency (UKBA) of contravening their own procedures by failing to alert the couple that removal papers had been issued to them.

Besong was first to be detained after arriving at the UKBA Dallas Court Reporting Centre in Salford on Tuesday morning. Batey was later detained near his home in Bury. Despite letters from the Home Office stating both the refusal of Batey’s protection claim and their right to appeal from within the UK being dated 23 December, neither the couple nor their solicitor Gary McIndoe received this information until the letter was handed to them in custody on 10 January.

Their legal representatives Latitude Law were still awaiting a Home Office decision on the protection claim at the time of the detentions. In a campaign statement, McIndoe said that “further materials have been sent to the Home Office, including the report of an expert witness, and so I am surprised that the decision to detain has been made before their legal representatives have been informed in any way.”

When questioned, a UKBA spokesperson said: “Where individuals seek to frustrate their removal through the courts it can delay the returns process, however we will continue to pursue removal in these cases.”

Campaigners have expressed concerns regarding Cameroon’s treatment of government critics, and fear Besong and Batey’s political activity in the country with the Southern Cameroon National Congress (SCNC), a peaceful organisation which campaigns for the independence of Southern Cameroon, could cause them further persecution were they to return.

The government of Cameroon has been condemned by the human rights watchdog Amnesty International, which has previously found the government to have “continued to curtail the activities of the [SCNC], a non-violent secessionist group, whose members faced arrest and imprisonment”. Besong and Batey, as members of the SCNC, say they have been victims of imprisonment and torture in Cameroon, including the rape of Besong by a uniformed guard.

The US State Department have also been critical of Cameroon’s human rights record, noting how “security forces committed numerous unlawful killings; they regularly engaged in torture, beatings, and other abuses, particularly of detainees and prisoners.”

The UKBA refused to answer specific questions on this case. However, a spokesperson claimed that “the UK has a proud record of offering sanctuary to those who need it, but where we and the courts have found they do not qualify for protection they must return to their home country.”

Along with fears for the couple’s safety if the deportation is successful, campaigners are also concerned for the couple’s health and feel it should impact on the decision to remove Besong on an Air France flight at the end of next week.

A spokesperson for the Manchester-based human rights charity RAPAR said: “Lydia has recently undergone an emergency eye operation and had been prescribed a number of medicines to aid her recovery… it is essential that she continue to take them and remains under supervision until a follow up consultation with the specialist in two weeks time.”

Besong and Batey’s long running case has previously won the support of artists including the actor Juliet Stevenson, and organisations such as Women Asylum Seekers Together (WAST) and English PEN, the charity which campaigns for the international freedom of speech for writers.

While living in the UK both Besong and Batey have been involved in helping refugees and asylum seekers in situations similar to their own. Speakers on behalf of the refugee charity Revive, whose meetings Besong attended every Friday, said they were “deeply saddened and angry that our good friend Lydia and her husband Bernard have been detained in this dehumanising and immoral way.

“Lydia is an inspiration to society and to her community- she is such a talented woman and playwright and is an extremely valued member of many refugee organisations including Revive Action Group. Please, we call on all members of the community to come together and fight for their release and safety.”

Besong’s first play, ‘How I Became an Asylum Seeker’, has won praise from many and was hosted by Stevenson in London. Her second piece, ‘Down with the Dictator’ is currently being produced and is due to be performed at the International Community Theatre Festival in Bristol in March.

Katy Tolman

Campaigners are requesting supporters to email the Home Secretary Theresa May at mayt@parliament.uk and Privateoffice.external@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk and express your support for the couple to remain in the UK.

More details can be found here.

Please cc your correspondence to RAPAR via admin@rapar.org.uk.

For those who don’t know the history of Manchester Mule (which to be honest, will probably be most of you) the idea came out of the G8 anti-capitalist protests in Gleneagles in 2005. Those who went to Scotland that year from Manchester largely organised themselves out of The Basement Social Centre on Lever Street, and this is where the first incarnation of ‘The Mule’ developed and took shape.

The Basement sadly closed in 2007 after severe flood damage caused by a fire in the building upstairs. Since then Manchester has sorely missed having a radical social centre – a place we can meet, talk, eat, organise, fundraise and generally get to know each other in a safe space which is ours. And as you all know, this is more important than ever at the moment.

After a lot of work from a few dedicated people, especially over the last few months, it looks like we may have one again in the relatively near future, but they need a bit of extra cash get off the ground. Here’s a message from the MCR Social Centre crew:

Right… We have a plan! We want a social centre, you need a social centre and Manchester lacks a social centre…

Some of us have been involved with various squatted social centre projects which have been amazing for us and hopefully those who’ve visited. The problem is not having a permanent space means we can only get on it part time. The community, the friendships and the love we have found could continue into infinity if… we raise some money.

Here goes, we have some start up capital which we have raised, we have a lot of crew who are up for it, but we need a way of raising some money fast so we can get into a place as soon as.

If anyone can lend us a pound or two, it would be massively appreciated… Think of it as an investment. We will have our own place, where we can get a cheap brew, some good vegan food, a locally brewed beer, some decent bands, a radical library, a place to organise, exhibit and find each other. Anything could happen… seriously.

We promise that your money will be spent on renting a place in Manchester as soon as we have the cash. If you share our vision and would like to see a place like this, follow this link, we need to raise around a thousand pounds, 50p, a quid, anything would be grand.

Come get involved, donate and let’s make this happen, we have a deadline (which ain’t long away!) so if you are able to donate, please do it soon. It sounds like a faff but it’s going to be well worth it. Honestly.

FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW TO DONATE!

http://www.manchestersocialcentre.org/donate

Thanks! MCR Social Centre

Who knows if we’d even exist if it wasn’t for The Basement, and all the people who put so much work into that wonderful place. There’s a lot of support, check out the Facebook event, and if you want to get involved, there will be jobs that need a-doing going up on their website in the next few days.

They’re legit, we promise, so go on, give ‘em a quid and help make it happen!