Local Democracy Reporter covering Manchester city council and the Greater Manchester mayor for
@MENNewsdesk
with
@BBCNews
. Own views. DMs open, ask for my email
🐝New year, new me, new job 🎇
From today, I'm the Local Democracy Reporter covering Manchester City Council and the GMCA for
@MENnewsdesk
in partnership with
@BBCNews
So, as ever, I'm all ears for tips and info.
📩 My DMs are open - feel free to ask for my email or number
This is Harri. He’s Welsh, lives in north Wales, couldn’t get tickets to a fan zone at home so came here. Here he is belting out his anthem while being booed
@mennewsdesk
And this is the unexpected - but lovely moment - the Prince joined in with a happy birthday sing song for his Private Secretary, which was started by Wendy Simms
@MENnewsdesk
Upstairs now, and William is chatting to Wendy Simms again. She’s showing him some of the culturally-important food from her food bank (like breadfruit). We’re told the Prince has made a donation to it
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Some maths: if the Sky News HS2 report is right, then it could mean it’s slower to go from Mcr to London via HS2
Current Mcr to Ldn: 2h6m
Ldn to Birm via HS2: 52m + Current Birm to Mcr on WCML 1h20m-ish = 2h12m-ish
So ironically, for speed, you’ll NOT want to get HS2
“That’s a proper blender,” the Prince says as he sees juice being made. He’s now having a look at the food, and jokes he’s trying to restrain himself
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Delighted to say that after 8 years in Manchester, I’ve finally passed my Manc citizenship test 🐝
I’ve just walked into the Arndale, known exactly where I was going, then taken the most direct route possible.
No laps around the shops. No unnecessary escalators. Bliss.
This is the really sweet moment the Prince received his special gift from Keeping It Real - a custom t-shirt
“You spelled my name right so that’s okay!,” he joked
@MENnewsdesk
This is the moment Prince William arrived in Moss Side - “hooray”, came shouts from the crowd.
The Prince said “I remember you, Wendy” as he greeted Ms Simms, who invited him
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We’re now chatting about football, with the Prince asking which team we support. There is an even split of City and United fans, which is good for harmony
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The Prince is now talking about micro plastics to the children, explaining how they can be mistaken by marine life which can cause death. He’s also asked them what their favourite kind of fish are, given they’re making under-the-sea crafts
@MENnewsdesk
We’ve also got arts and crafts here, and one young man to greet the Prince got down on one knee, which William assured him was unnecessary. A nice moment
@MENnewsdesk
🪐DREADED JOB NEWS KLAXON🐝
I've got a new role at
@MENnewsdesk
- from this week, I'm the Manchester city centre reporter.
So people living, working, volunteering, or doing politics/public sector in town - I am all ears. DMs are open 📨
I’m at Manchester Magistrates’ Court for the first day of
@nightanddaycafe
’s appeal hearing over the noise abatement notice they were served on Nov 18, 2021. This could be the final twist in a saga.
I’ll tweet updates periodically throughout the day when I can
@MENnewsdesk
And this is the moment Andy Burnham accepted the role and began his acceptance speech, saying he will “adopt a place first rather than party first approach”
HRH is now speaking to Lisa Samuels, the CEO of Moss Side Millennium Powerhouse. They are talking about existing stigmas in men’s mental health
@mennewsdesk
'Just how did the Handforth clip come to light', I hear you cry - well, wonder no more.
Meet the pair who unearthed it -
@shaanthepenguin
and
@janinemas0n
Here she is! Welcomed by Wigan, loads came out despite the awful weather. You can see her in Rochdale on Tues and Castlefield Bowl on Weds
@MENnewsdesk
🚝Andy Burnham and Steve Rotherham, mayors of GM and LCR, are now unveiling a plan to launch a railway board that will oversee a potential new rail line between Liverpool-Warrington-Mcr Airport-Manchester
Updates to come ⬇️
🐝personal/professional *news*🐝
I am absolutely delighted to say that from next month, I'll be joining
@MENnewsdesk
as part of the district reporting team, looking at the non-Manc bits of GM.
Until then, Cheshire still has my heart & I'll be LDR-ing for a few weeks yet
Some very self-indulgent professional news: I’ve been nominated for young regional journalist of the year. A big thank you to everyone who helped me get to where I am today :)
IT'S OVER*: Night & Day's case has been decided - the noise abatement notice is upheld.
But crucially, it will can open until 3am at the weekend and have DJ nights, with new restrictions it proposed to the court
@MENnewsdesk
(*subject to an appeal)
On to the next table, where it looks like we’re making egg parachutes.
“It’s all very clever,” HRH says, as the kids show him how their protective cardboard egg holders work
@MENnewsdesk
I’m here at
@msmpowerhouse
this afternoon for the visit of
@KensingtonRoyal
, The Prince of Wales. William is here because he was invited by Wendy Simms, founder of Keeping It Real 24/7, at Buckingham Palace in spring
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NEW: Visitors to Manchester city centre will pay a 'tourist tax' from April 2023 - but the money won't go to the govt or a council.
It'll fund a new Manchester Accommodation Business Improvement District (ABID). Guests will pay an extra £1 per room per night
STC
@MENnewsdesk
This your 30-minute warning for
#HandforthParishCouncil
, I'll be doing live tweets and reports on the night
If you're wondering what's going on in the clip which went viral, read more below
I’ve come back to the Glade of Light, where in 20 minutes - 10.31pm, the moment the attack occurred- there will be a bell tolling and minutes silence
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It's my last day as the
#LDReporter
for
#Cheshire
today!
I can safely say I've loved every second of covering the county - it's an absolute goldmine (& I don't just mean Handforth Parish Council).
Thanks to everyone who has read my copy these past months, it's very appreciated
🚊 NEW: Andy Burnham has confirmed plans are in place for trams to run to Stockport, Heywood and Middleton under Metrolink expansion plans for two new lines
He was speaking to media in Stockport as Rachel Reeves visited
@MENnewsdesk
General feeling from Mayfield is that it’s brilliant (and it is) - but it needs to just be the start of a wave of building green space across Manchester City centre. Full report later this eve on
@MENnewsdesk
BREAKING: Co-op Live - Manchester’s new £365m, 23,500 seat arena - has been granted a licence.
That came after objections from councillors, residents, and notably, the AO Arena.
More to come.
Today's my first day covering
#Stockport
- if you've got a story, get in touch via:
📩DMs - open to all
📭ethan.davies
@reachplc
.com
📞 Ask for a phone number
🪐DREADED PERSONAL ACHEIVEMENT KLAXON🐝
I'm now a senior journalist, which to everyone's surprise (especially my own) involved me passing some exams.
Thanks to everyone who's helped me along the way 🥳
Another week, another sad update from Bracken House. Residents are moving out, and don't know when they'll be allowed back
Most renting think the return date will be after their tenancy ends - so now, a search to find a home begins for them
@MENnewsdesk
NEW: Manchester has declared its results. Burnham clear winner.
Jake Austin — LD: 4613
Dan Barker — REF: 4213
Nick Buckley — IND: 5843
Andy Burnham — Labour: 79631
Laura Evans — Conservative: 4914
Hannah Spencer — Green: 11514
Remember these are for only one borough out of 10.
Understandably, this will get lost today. But if you can spare a minute to read, that’d be nice: 200 years on from the first railway, we could be on the verge of rail revolution
THREAD: Greater Manchester's life expectancy gap, explained.
You can of course read the full piece here, but if you're short of time, here's the TL;DR version as to why the gap is 17 YEARS (1/n)
Understandably, this will get lost today. But if you can spare a minute to read, that’d be nice: 200 years on from the first railway, we could be on the verge of rail revolution
This is what the new park, set to be built on the former Central Retail Park on Great Ancoats Street, could look like.
It's been released after the council confirmed the hoped-for size of the park, and started a public consultation on it
@MENnewsdesk
Do you like it? (poll ⬇️)
NEW: The Lib Dem candidate for the Manchester Central seat at the GE has been named - it's Chris Northwood, current Ancoats & Beswick councillor
@MENnewsdesk
He’s been asked by workers if leasehold will be abolished in the first parliament.
“We have to end it, whether we can do it in the first Kings Speech I’m not sure, but we’ll do it as soon as we can,” Mr Starmer replied
This raises another question - if Mcr to Ldn via Birm HS2 is slower, there will be demand for the existing service. So are we going to run existing service alongside HS2 & WCML trains - therefore putting more pressure on the old line?
Surely that negates any capacity gains?
Handforth Parish Council: Everything you need to know, including answers to:
*Who's in the vid?
*What's the argument about?
*Why's it so heated?
*The long running saga that is HPC
I imagine this will not be the last story I write like this. Residents undergoing cladding work can only open their balcony doors by 10cm - so can't get cool air in during the heatwave
@MENnewsdesk
I'm in Macclesfield - in a very fetching green windbreaker - trying out some recumbent bikes and trikes.
It's all part of a campaign to get more of these kinds of bikes to be Vat exempt
A very happy belated birthday to Greater Manchester, which turned 50 yesterday.
Safe to say its existence has been completely uncontroversial and no-one has ever wanted to go back to Lancashire, or Cheshire, or Yorkshire*
I sat down with
@cnorthwood
recently and we spoke about what it means for her to be the city’s first trans councillor, and how she became a poster child of Mcr Lib Dems - despite joining Labour first
@MENnewsdesk
NEW: The full list of candidates for the 2024 Greater Manchester Mayoral Election has been confirmed.
They are:
Don Prof Reis Abraham Halliwell Prf — Ind
Jake Austin — Lib Dem
Dan Barker — Reform UK
Nick Buckley — Ind
Andy Burnham — Lab
Laura Evans — Con
Hannah Spencer — Green
I’m outside the GMCA offices on Oxford Street this evening where a crowd is gathering to protest after a video emerged showing a GMP officer kicking someone in the head during an incident at Manchester Airport
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