Just over 200 years ago in the centre of Manchester, thousands of working men and women gathered in what is now St Peter's Square to make radical demands for parliamentary reform.
The meeting came on the back of war, spiralling prices and an economic slump and the events of that day sparked a debate that would ultimately lead to universal suffrage. Next week, a short walk from that site at the Friends Meeting House, policymakers and politicians will meet to make a series of fresh radical demands, again against a backdrop of war and a cost of living crisis.
The Basic Income North movement is calling on Westminster to be bold in the face of surging housing, food and energy prices, asking MPs to back a universal income (UBI). It would be similar to child benefit or the state pension, but it would be paid to all adults, regardless of their income.
