Riots Backlash: Heavy handed sentencing will do more harm than good

Article published: Tuesday, August 16th 2011

If it was predictable that the conditions in England’s urban areas would lead to social unrest at some stage, it was also predictable that the authorities would react in a hysterical and short-sighted fashion when it arrived. One man in Manchester stands out in particular; District Judge Khalid Qureshi at the Manchester Magistrate’s Court.

After the Riots: The Council must face the ‘real Manchester’

Article published: Thursday, August 11th 2011

In Manchester on Tuesday night thousands descended upon the city centre: some to loot, some to fight the police, some for the thrill. What happened in Greater Manchester and across the country showed the ugly end-point of the political and economic project of the last 30 years. The Mule Editorial Team give their perspective on the Manchester riot…

Banking on crisis

Article published: Thursday, July 14th 2011

The austerity of the last year has thrown the UK’s housing crisis into sharp relief, with a leaked memo from communities minister Eric Pickles warning how housing benefit cuts may see 40,000 families lose their homes. Yet this crisis stretches far beyond the current government, with 22,723 households in Manchester alone trapped on the city’s waiting lists in 2009, and solving it is not on the political agenda. Lisa Ansell explains.

We may be working harder, but we’re not all living longer

Article published: Thursday, June 23rd 2011

When Danny Alexander announced plans to link the public sector retirement age to the state pension age in order to increase it to 66, he repeated a common myth: “We are all living longer, that means more years spent in work as well as in retirement.” The same myth was used to justify Tory proposals […]

Who killed Manchester’s chance of a steady-state economy?

Article published: Thursday, June 2nd 2011

Arwa Aburawa and Marc Hudson of Manchester Climate Fortnightly comment on the lack of progress in the steady-state economy report for Manchester.

It is our duty to protect Legal Aid

Article published: Wednesday, May 11th 2011

Ryan Bradshaw discusses the threat to legal aid and welfare benefits.

In Manchester, Labour should think twice before celebrating

Article published: Monday, May 9th 2011

Thursday night was grim for Manchester’s Liberal Democrats, losing all eleven of their seats up for election, including that of their leader, Simon Ashley. With a third of their councillors disappearing in one swipe, the ward constituency map has been painted red. Yet despite now running a city with a rump opposition, the Labour Party […]