Sufficient data worldwide now exists to conclude that, to date, the UK has the highest rate of excess deaths in the Coronavirus pandemic in the world
Free to read article with
@jburnmurdoch
1/
“Somebody’s murdered Manchester and not told me. Somebody’s taken it to the dogs — ripped from it a history” (Mark E Smith)
Me for
@tribunemagazine
on the rentier city.
"Anyone who lives under the shadows of Manchester’s towers knows exactly what’s going on, and we should listen to those people. They know better than anyone... It’s basically a form of class war because the developers want to get rid of them."
Thread/ Finished my term as chair of
@McrMomentum
last night. Am v proud of all the amazing work that we achieved over the 15 months. It was the product of a movement- hundreds of people devoting countless hours to fight for a better world. Here are some of the highlights for me:
As Khan assures journos he asked the Met if there were enough cells to hold XR protestors, McDonnell sends out this. Let the right or the melts get hold of Labour again & you can say goodbye to prospect of a gov ever taking climate breakdown seriously. It really is that simple.
Hey Jen—we'd love for you to join us on a campaign away day, so you can see for yourself the amazing energy, spirit and kindness that
@McrMomentum
is bringing to the doorstep. Be a better guide to your opinion than a couple of bitter anonymous 'sources'. See you this Sat in Alty?
Two different people relating broadly the same anecdote: Labour canvassers going out on the door in Bolton West (Con marginal, leave-leaning) and getting v low numbers back (one says around 25%, another 33%). One says Lab canvassers arguing w/ voters; voters not impressed
The first charter plane to attempt to deport people to Jamaica since the Windrush scandal set to leave Mcr in 2 days. On board are 50 people. This is appalling. Email your MP, sign and share. This plane can be stopped.
“The city centre has become a playground for the wealthy, and this had a detrimental effect on the local culture”
Good to speak to
@jamesdgreig
this week with
@Alex_Niven
for
@Dazed
on Manchester’s current malaise.
“Short-term letting can be viewed as a form of financialisation ‘from below’—introducing a new dynamic of accelerated rentiership into local housing markets, and disrupting communities in the process.”
Me and
@InvisibleMapper
in
@tribunemagazine
Amazing day. 200 out, we covered 25% of the constituency.
@McrMomentum
has no funding and no staffers—just a thick social base & an incredibly dedicated group of organisers who can see a better world coming. Which I'd take over a few professionals any day. Let's keep going.
Dark day for Manchester, whose local politics & Labour Party is in the grip of the property lobby.
This was *thrown out* at the planning meeting in April. Approved yesterday by extraordinary committee of 3, which included the council's (unelected) Chief Exec.
Chief Exec of
@ManCityCouncil
has approved controversial planning application in Hulme previously opposed by the planning committee - and despite "serious concerns" by the planning committee Chair who did not support it
This is so beautiful. A glorious day. Now let’s tear down the rest of the monuments to British imperialism that pollute our cities. Time for a proper reckoning with this country’s genocidal past.
really really don't think *momentum* should be retweeting this... a race to the bottom on policing is not socialist politics. again some questionable political decisions at momentum comms HQ ffs
Me in
@tribunemagazine
on last Friday's stunning verdict at the Court of Appeal and victory for
@TreesNotCars
.
The problems with Manchester's planning system run deep, but this might just mark a turning point in the struggle for a city that works for all.
So astounded by the level of organisation
@McrMomentum
. *SO* many legends. Today we have had: 6am banner drop; data crunching of 300 pledges & GOTV key marginal assignment; phonebanking of an extra 300 contacts; AND the establishment of a qual research team to archive this moment
Daily Mail ‘With a bag for life on each shoulder straddling his old Raleigh racer, Jeremy Corbyn gears up for a return to Parliament. The Labour Leader also wore a human rights T-shirt on a trip to local shops yesterday’
🦋🌈🦊🐝💗🌍🐞
It’s no secret that Rahman’s base included some of the worst slum landlords in Longsight; that he regularly lobbied the planning ctte on behalf of developers; colluded to do in one of the city’s few socialist cllrs & had designs on the leadership. Few tears being shed tonight!
Mapping public land in Manchester.
This interactive map, using data obtained through FOIs by
@t_a_gillespie
and
@InvisibleMapper
, shows public land assets & disposals in Manchester.
>>>
Ben was one of the few decent councillors in the city, an advocate for social housing who stood up against developers on the planning committee, stuck his neck out against the leadership over proposals to criminalise homeless & called out dodgy deals with Abu Dhabi. What a loss.
Been thinking about Josh all afternoon, feel totally blindsided by this news. The tributes that keep rolling in are clear testament to the impact he had on the world and the people in it, but also a sign of what a tragic loss this is. RIP mate, I’ll miss you.
Thinking of my comrade and friend Josh Shore: a brave, gentle person who risked everything to fight ISIS fascism, who never stopped thinking and organising towards a world better than this one, who will be missed very much at pubs & gigs in Manchester. Go well comrade.
The only solution to the housing crisis is council housing. The only solution to the housing crisis is council housing. The only solution to the housing crisis is council housing. The only solution to the housing crisis is council housing. The only solution to the housing crisis
This report is the outcome of nearly 2 years of work, tracking the impact of Airbnb on Manchester, with a particular focus on Moss Side and the Northern Quarter.
One of the first city-specific studies of its kind in the UK - will be of interest to many!
🚨 NEW
Over the past two years, working with researchers and our members in Moss Side, we've been tracking the impact of Airbnb and other short-term lets on Manchester's housing crisis.
Full report 👇
"Buy To Let landlords have played such a big role in inflating the current housing bubble, that serious attempts to rein in landlord extractivism would likely trigger a house price crash." –
@beth_stratford
The reason the gov has scrapped abolishing S21.
"Behind the project is the property development company of Gary Neville... RELENTLESS DEVELOPMENTS. It is saying the quiet part out loud. The Rentier City asks & answers: Relentlessly towards what, exactly? Relentlessly against whom?"
@La__Holt
@mcrmeteor
One for the diary! Isaac Rose
@_isaacrose
will be in Glasgow on *March 25* to discuss his book on neoliberalisation in Manchester: 'The Rentier City'. Hosted by
@Living_Rent
at the Unison offices, Bell Street. Registration details to follow. Please RT.
Absolutely awful news. Been saying this for a while, but venue closure needs to be politicised by the Labour left. It resonates with huge swathes of people and cuts right to the heart of the web of finance/ property speculation that is tearing up our cities.
Political education. Running two public lecture series with amazing speakers from across the movement + a monthly
@tribunemagazine
reading group that had 25 people attend on the regs.
The audio at Novara is imo their best output. It's really refreshing to see it take seriously the potential of radio (& sound more broadly) as a medium to work, communicate & experiment in. Remember: our ears' capacity to gather & process information vastly outstrips our eyes!
So, head on over here and support us, please, if you can. I'm going to tell you a little bit about what we've been up to, and what we're planning to get up to on the audio/radio/podcast side of things.
My full EOY report is here: . The work continues. Urgently we must get RLB elected, and keep this fight going. I wish the new committee the best of luck, and will keep playing my part in this brilliant movement. Still dreaming of a socialist moon🔴/End
In England would love to see the Pennines transformed into lush forests teeming with life: birds, deer, boar. Would stop flooding in places like the Calder Valley too, reduce risk of wildfires & draw down CO2. First step has to be mass planting of birch trees!
One of the reasons the CCC said Scotland could de-carbonise faster than elswhere is the capacity for rapid forestation.
One fifth of our landmass currently barren grouse moors
Insane whoosh of activity in the
@McrMomentum
universe in the last 24 hours. All that movement building--political education, party throwing, campaigns--has paid off. We have a robust, capable and large crew of activists primed and up for it. We are ready!!!
Shameful decision by
@ManCityCouncil
to approve the Anoacts car-park development, in face of inspiring campaign by
@TreesNotCars
& over 11k signatures. Total lack of ambition and contempt for democracy–& flies in the face of their own declaration of a climate emergency.
Excited to be kicking this off. Last Tuesday of the month every month till December.
We'll start with Engels, then move onto Manchester's gentrification, Stepney Tenant Defence League, the Kirkby Rent Strikes and more!
Sign up:
Incredible news. Campaigners win legal challenge to Manchester City Council's planning decision to build 440 space car park in the centre of Ancoats. Huge.
For more info:
Next week I'll be speaking to
@NeilGray00
in Glasgow on Monday, and
@eilidhwashere
&
@HamishKallin
in Edinburgh on Wednesday. Hugely grateful to be supported by Living Rent, Scotland's Tenants Union.
Something from me on the rent bidding wars which are returning to the private rented sector. Sign of a broken system, or the system working as it was designed to?
Between 1970 and 1973 over 350,000 tenants throughout Ireland withheld rent in protest against rent increases, poor housing conditions and a lack of facilities.
Our documentary, THE RENT STRIKE, tells this story.📽️
Screenings scheduled all around Ireland:
nu-Manchester, arise! o shining city full of folks who live in luxury towers, paying £1k a month rent, which they earn by... *check notes* going to the gym and drinking coffee from a steel tap. Really cool!!
Manchester, capital of the long-90s.
Something from me
@t_a_gillespie
and
@InvisibleMapper
on Manchesters urban entrepreneurialism, culture policy and contemporary housing crisis.
➡️
Huge coalition—from Shelter to Sisters Uncut—calling on Burnham to bring forward plans for a GM Land Commission along the lines of Liverpool's, which as
@MattWThompson
argues, will "democratise decision-making over land use and support the expansion of the urban commons."
57 organisations from across GM—including housing and climate groups, trade unions and charities—have signed an open letter to
@AndyBurnhamGM
calling for a democratic approach to managing public land in GM.
Full text and list of signatories on our site ➡️
Amazing demo in Manchester today by workers in the events industry.
Government needs to act now to support the workers in this sector which is facing annihilation.
The
#WeMakeEvents
march is now reaching the city centre.
Placards have messages asking for government support to protect the future of live events.
Many believe without it the industry will struggle to survive.
Northern Soul! A great bit of UK musical history we brought to the heart of the socialist movement. Will never forget the punter who said incredulously "is Labour running this night? Honestly amazing." Special thanks to
@poppyturntables
here for her role pulling it all together.
‘the myth of the good landlord’ by
@TomLavin13
with beautiful design by
@Cutwerk
has arrived.
Details on how to get your hands on one of these coming soon!!
Just finished. Masterful, sweeping history of the whole country, through the lens of the North.
If you want deeper context as to why the gov is shafting the North this week, read this. This country has been run by the financial-political nexus of the South East for generations.
RIP David Graeber — what a loss. Saw him give such a memorable talk on Rojava at Wharf Chambers many years ago. As well, this he wrote on GE19 was definitive imo.
Campaigning against detention centres, charter flights and the hostile environment. Working with others to stop Owen Haisley being deported to Jamaica. Running an incredible event last June on Labour's immigration policy.
“Rose brings into relief the crisis of democracy that frequently accompanies gentrification — the way that decisions about the use of space are wrenched out of the collective control of electors, becoming subject to the whims of investors.”
solidarity with RLB. what a disgrace. recent divergent positions between her + starmer over schools reopening (starmer backing the government's recklessness) will have been a key catalyst for this move.
Thinking about RLB this eve and how i hope she’s okay and having a Chinese with her fella in front of the telly. Can’t help but feel like she’s been let down and isolated in order to fulfil a heavy political duty when there was no one else who could. One of us x
Really pleased with this piece with
@joebilsborough
, and tool that
@gmhousingaction
put together to work out your 'freedom from rent day' - i.e. the day you stop 'working for your landlord'.
Use the calculator here:
The election. We were the biggest mobiliser in the region, and led hundreds of activists at campaign days, phone banks, manifesto reading groups and more. Our capacity to do this was built on our year-round movement building. Honestly too many beautiful moments to list here.
Responding to the climate crisis. In May we set up
@mcrLabGND
which has had significant success in the city shaping agenda around the climate. Nationally the GND is probably *the* most significant policy legacy of Corbyn's leadership and it was driven from below.
@helenpidd
honestly just such shoddy journalism. become buddies with a restuarant owner in leigh and then use them repeatedly to ventriloquise the 'view from the red wall' (which doesn't even exist). a joke
Thanks everyone who made it down last night in Glasgow. Fantastic discussions & great to think comparatively about the two cities. Cheers Ruth for chairing and
@NeilGray00
for your perceptive reflections! I’ll be in Edinburgh at 6pm tomorrow with
@HamishKallin
&
@eilidhwashere
🚩
Condemning the council's proposal of the PSPO, which tragically after a hard-fought battle today led by groups such as
@tenantsunionuk
@gmlawcentre
and
@gmhousingaction
was approved by Labour Group today. Manchester City Council at its ugly worst.
Doorknocking in Bolton today. Was weird, but the phrases 'Corbyn is Scared and Chicken' and 'he's Totally Spineless And Chicken' came up quite a few times. Labour strategists should be worried - dont underestimate our opponents.
In all we set an example- taking seriously the necessity to 'rebuild the red bases' and working hard to tear strips out of what Mark Fisher described as 'the grey curtain of reaction which has marked the horizons of possibility under capitalist realism'.