UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Northern/Central England

  • Boris Johnson – 2021 Comments on Scrapping HS2 East Link

    Boris Johnson – 2021 Comments on Scrapping HS2 East Link

    The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 18 November 2021.

    We’re trebling capacity between Liverpool and Manchester. And, of course, there are going to be people who, you know, always want everything at once. And there are lots of people who’ll say, ‘look, what we should do is carve huge new railways through virgin territory, smashing through unspoilt countryside and villages, and do it all at once’.

    The problem with that is those extra high-speed lines take decades and they don’t deliver the commuter benefits that I’m talking about. We will eventually do them.

    ….

    This is the biggest investment in rail, at least for 100 years, and it’s a fantastic thing. What it does is it delivers the types of commuter service that people have been expecting, people have got entitled to, in the south-east of the country. And it will deliver that. And it will deliver better services for places that weren’t on the original plan. Huddersfield, Wakefield, Leicester – all sorts of places will benefit from what we’re doing in ways that hadn’t been foreseen. In virtually every case you will find that journey times are shorter and capacity is going up. This is a much, much better plan.

  • Andy Burnham – 2021 Comments on Government Announcement of Scrapping Rail Projects

    Andy Burnham – 2021 Comments on Government Announcement of Scrapping Rail Projects

    The comments made by Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, on 18 November 2021.

    We’ve been given a second class plan here. And that’s been the story of our lives. We’ve always had put up with second best as northern people, ourselves and our residents.

    And I guess what we’re saying is we’re not having it. Because we were told that we were going to be levelled up, and we were told it was going to be different. And different to me means coming to the front of the queue, and not always being told that the money’s run out and has been spent somewhere else. But that, I’m afraid, is implicit in what’s been announced today.

    And this is not politics. This is about the future of the north of England for the next 100 or 200 years. That is the significance of the decisions that are being announced today. And we are not prepared to consign our grandchildren, great grandchildren and beyond to being second class citizens still when it comes to transport in this country.

    We have got to fight for better for them and we have to do it together. We have to stand together as one north. If Bradford loses, Leeds loses out, Liverpool loses out and then we lose out as well.

  • Andy Burnham – 2021 Comments on Olympic Athletes from Manchester

    Andy Burnham – 2021 Comments on Olympic Athletes from Manchester

    The comments made by Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, on 9 August 2021.

    All Team GB athletes who competed in Tokyo achieved something historic. They battled through the challenges of the pandemic to participate in an Olympic Games unlike any other.

    Athletes from the North West won more medals than any other region – we are this country’s sporting heartland, and Greater Manchester’s world-class training facilities helped develop the talents of so many of our British superstars.

    Olympians from Greater Manchester were the engine room of Team GB. They gave the performances of a lifetime, built on years of hard work, exceptional commitment, and the unfailing support and belief of families, communities, teachers, and coaches right across our towns and cities. We’ve witnessed legends break records, seen young stars rise to the top, and some of us may even have gained an appreciation for some new Olympic events.

    To all the athletes from our city-region: you did us proud – thank you. You brought it home. Now it’s the turn of our Paralympians to do the same – we’re backing you all the way.

  • Andy Burnham – 2021 Statement on Greater Manchester Police

    Andy Burnham – 2021 Statement on Greater Manchester Police

    The statement made by Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, on 29 July 2021.

    We had planned, at today’s meeting of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, to hear from our new Chief Constable on his improvement plans for GMP.

    Alongside that, I was planning to provide more detail about how we intend to take the force into a new era of greater openness and strengthened accountability.

    Following the cancellation of today’s meeting, I thought it was important to set out these next steps in a written update.

    The Chief Constable will now attend a meeting of the GMCA on 10 September. On the same day, his forward plan for GMP will be published together with the full analysis provided by PwC.

    We will aim to publish the independent review into Child Sexual Exploitation in Oldham by November or, at the very latest, by the end of the year.

    We will publish the independent review into CSE in Rochdale early in the New Year, with the aim of February.

    We will hold our first Greater Manchester Police Public Accountability Meeting for elected members across GM in Oldham on 26 November. The event will be live-streamed and will follow the meeting of the GMCA. Details of how elected members can apply to attend will be issued shortly. From now on, there will be two public accountability meetings every year.

    These steps towards more transparency and accountability build on the publication earlier this week of the first Achieving Race Equality report, which from now on will be updated quarterly, and the introduction in January of a named and contactable police officer and PCSO for every ward in Greater Manchester.

  • Andy Burnham – 2021 Statement on Housing in Manchester

    Andy Burnham – 2021 Statement on Housing in Manchester

    The statement made by Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, on 12 July 2021.

    Greater Manchester is setting out a clear and ambitious vision for new homes, enhanced green spaces and revitalised town centres. Linked to our plans for a zero-carbon future and good jobs and growth, this vision represents a major milestone as our city-region maps out its recovery from the pandemic.

    If we want to build back from the pandemic in a way that brings everyone with us and strikes at the root of inequality, we need a plan that strengthens our economy and our society against future challenges, and puts us in the best position to take advantage of new opportunities.

    We are already using our unique devolved powers and transforming our towns and cities so that they’re fit for the future. Through the pioneering Mayoral Development Corporation in Stockport and Oldham’s Mills Strategy, work is well under way to transform our urban centres by delivering good quality homes, sustainable public transport, and regeneration of the kind that will genuinely ‘level up’ our places.

    By building more low-carbon homes and equipping people with new retrofitting skills, we can also help to meet our goal of carbon neutrality by 2038 and lay the foundations for investment in green industry and innovation.

    We can no longer accept that the car is always king, and Places for Everyone will set out where inclusive growth can take place in areas well connected by an accessible, affordable, high-quality public transport infrastructure – our Bee Network.

    We all share the same priorities: we want to see better homes, better jobs, and better transport for everyone in our city-region. Everything we do is driven by that vision, and whether through Places for Everyone or other projects like the Homelessness Prevention Strategy and our plans for a world-class integrated transport network, we will continue to work together right across Greater Manchester to create a place where we can all succeed.

  • Andy Burnham – 2019 Comments on Rough Sleeping in Manchester

    Andy Burnham – 2019 Comments on Rough Sleeping in Manchester

    The comments made by Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, on 9 September 2019.

    In 2017, I made a firm commitment to do everything I could to end the need for rough sleeping by 2020 and it remains my top priority. With this strengthening of A Bed Every Night, I believe we have a plan that honours that pledge.

    People gave us honest feedback on Phase 1 and these new plans seeks to respond to it. It is not perfect but it is getting better all the time. Today Greater Manchester is going up yet another gear in its response to the homelessness crisis.

    I am hugely grateful to all of our partners for answering the call to action and rallying round. I am particularly indebted to our colleagues in the NHS whose greater input into A Bed Every Night will make a huge difference.

  • Peter Kyle – 2021 Comments on School Absence Rates in the North West

    Peter Kyle – 2021 Comments on School Absence Rates in the North West

    The comments made by Peter Kyle, the Shadow Minister for Schools, on 8 June 2021.

    Today’s shocking new data demonstrates the government once again failing to keep our children learning in school, with those in the North West hit the hardest.

    Over the last year the Conservatives have ignored Labour’s calls for Covid security measures in schools – from proper testing to Nightingale classrooms, and the resources to make schools COVID-secure. Now it’s children and families in the North West who are paying the price.

  • Andy Burnham – 2021 Comments on the Williams-Shapps Plan for the Railways

    Andy Burnham – 2021 Comments on the Williams-Shapps Plan for the Railways

    The comments made by Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, on 20 May 2021.

    I broadly welcome these reforms and believe they could bring some much-needed sense and stability to what has felt in recent times like a chaotic railway. Rail privatisation as we have known is over and there won’t be many tears shed in Greater Manchester about that. But we do have concerns that this move back to a centrally-controlled railway could weaken the powers of the North over our railway and we are seeking reassurances from the Transport Secretary that this will not be the case.

    It is important to remember that Northern Mayors and Leaders led calls for change following the timetable chaos in May 2018. We said enough was enough, demanded a better rail service here and this is a significant response to that call. While these changes are clearly a sizeable step in the right direction, they do appear to fall short of what the Prime Minister promised at the Convention of the North in 2019 – notably devolved control of services and stations. In Greater Manchester, we want that local control so we can deliver a London-style public transport system by the end of the decade. We hope that these proposals will not cut across that vision and want to work with the Transport Secretary and the new Great British Railways to deliver it.

  • Tracy Brabin – 2021 Comments on Buses in West Yorkshire

    Tracy Brabin – 2021 Comments on Buses in West Yorkshire

    The comments made on Twitter by Tracy Brabin, the Mayor of West Yorkshire, on 11 May 2021.

    Second day in job as West Yorkshire Mayor and heading to work on the bus. Timetable online doesn’t match actual arrival/journey times, no information at bus stops (bus number would help). 15 min drive 1hr+ on the bus. We must be able to do better than this. @arrivayorkshire

  • Andy Street – 2021 Comments on HS2

    Andy Street – 2021 Comments on HS2

    The comments made by Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands, on 11 May 2021.

    First day back as Mayor with hundreds of new HS2 jobs secured.

    The £570m contract to build Curzon Street is a major investment, and we’ll run training courses so local people can get the skills they need to get to work.

    All part of my plan for 100k new jobs in two years.