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Here is today's Mancunian Way:
by BETH ABBIT - Thurs June 23, 2022
Hello and welcome,
It would have been Alan Turing’s 110th birthday today. The pioneering computer scientist was the father of modern computing and broke the Enigma code during the Second World War. He later joined staff at the University of Manchester and helped design and develop some of the world's first stored program computers.
But despite being a national hero, he was treated appallingly during his lifetime. In 1952, Turing was prosecuted for 'indecency' over his relationship with another man and given the choice between imprisonment or undergoing hormone treatment known as 'chemical castration'. He took the later option and took his own life two years later.
He was pardoned by the Queen in 2013 - something Didsbury West councillor John Leech had long campaigned for, slating the conviction as ‘a national embarrassment’.
Today a new £50 note baring the mathematician’s image will go into circulation. Jeremy Fleming, director of the GCHQ cyber and intelligence agency, says becoming the first gay man to appear on a banknote confirms Turing's status as 'one of the most iconic LGBT+ figures in the world'.
"Turing was embraced for his brilliance and persecuted for being gay. His legacy is a reminder of the value of embracing all aspects of diversity, but also the work we still need to do to become truly inclusive," he said.
Broken promises, second class answers
When George Osborne made his 'Northern Powerhouse' speech in Manchester, he proposed Northern cities could ‘take on the world’ with a high speed route between Manchester and Leeds and the second phase of HS2. But just eight years on, are those plans already dead in the water?
Business leaders have accused the current Government of plans that ‘run roughshod’ over the Northern Powerhouse promises. As transport reporter Charlotte Cox writes, local leaders fear current government proposals for a HS2 station at Manchester Piccadilly would turn the city centre into a building site, blight land with viaducts and fail to future-proof the rail network.
Locally, the option of an underground through-station is preferred. But rail minister Wendy Morton this week claimed the £5bn needed is ‘crazy’ money.
Henri Murison, director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, says losing an underground through-station would be a blow to both HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail - the east-west links which were downgraded in last year’s Integrated Rail Plan.
“We’ve had broken promises, second class answers,” he says. “Eight years after George Osborne committed to the Northern Powerhouse and a shared ambition between leaders, civic leaders, Government and businesses has been run roughshod over by this Government.”
Lou Cordwell, chief creative officer of Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership, says the North needs to invest in ‘a modern solution that puts us on a par with other leading European cities’.
On the picket line
Railway workers are on strike for the second day. Around 40,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at Network Rail and 13 train operators walked out again today after talks failed to resolve a row over pay, jobs and conditions.
Damon Wilkinson has been speaking to Steve Shaw, from Wigan, a striking worker who has explained why he’s taking action. He says it’s more about redundancies and conditions than pay.
"We currently work a 35 hour, four day week, they want us to do a 40 hour, five day week for no additional pay. They are looking at closing ticket offices. They want to bring Sunday within the working week for no additional pay. We get time and quarter for working Sundays at the minute. They're talking about the removal of guards,” he says.
Train guard Steve was on the picket lines outside Wigan Wallgate and Wigan North Western stations on Tuesday. He says many RMT union members are low paid guards, cleaners, back office staff and signallers.
“Lots of them are on the living wage, or just above - they're on about £20,000 a year. To suggest that these people are earning fortunes is just nonsense. We've been under a pay freeze throughout the pandemic.”
Steve says railway workers were frontline staff during the pandemic. "We worked every day getting people to work, getting doctors and nurses to work. We did our bit to help keep the country running. We were hailed as heroes and at the end of it all we felt like we should have got something for our efforts,” he says.
Glasto
Andy Burnham is set to appear at Glastonbury on Saturday. No, he’s not on the Pyramid Stage with Paul McCartney.
In fact the Greater Manchester Mayor will be at the Left Field Stage joining a debate titled State of the Nation: Politics in Crisis.
Weather, etc.
- Friday: Cloudy changing to light showers in the afternoon. 22C.
- Pollen count: High.
- Roads closed: Delph New Road, Dobcross, in both directions for roadworks between Wall Hill Road and Oldham Road until August 15. Eccles New Road westbound closed for gas main work from Stott Lane to Gilda Brook Road until June 28.
- Disruption expected to most train operating companies on June 26 due to industrial action.
- Today's Manc trivia question: What does the acronym NPR stand for in relation to trains?
Answer at the bottom of the newsletter
Truly shameful
Christian Wakeford says antisemitism is ‘rife’ even at junior level in football, with reports of seven-year-old Jewish players being hissed at on the pitch as a way to replicate the noise of gas chambers.
“I am sure we can all agree it’s truly shameful, shocking and abhorrent,” the Bury South MP said, during a Westminster Hall debate on antisemitism and racism in football, as Paul Britton reports.
"We see examples of antisemitism in football everywhere. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is of course home to a large Jewish population and rival supporters have used a pejorative term, as it has been mentioned in this debate already, with little consequences for doing so. West Ham fans find themselves banned from attending club games after they sang antisemitic songs on a commercial flight…"
He added: "We need to do much more to ensure that British football players can play the beautiful game without being subjected to unacceptable abuse. We need tougher sanctions against defenders, action by social media companies, better education about the plight of Jews. We need a zero tolerance policy which doesn’t allow for repeat offenders."
My most important job
Martin Lewis says he was recently turned down after applying to become a member of the House of Lords. The consumer expert, who was born in Withington, thinks his bid for a cross-bench peerage was rejected because he was ‘honest’ about the limited time he could commit to the role.
The founder and chair of MoneySavingExpert.com told the BBC’s Political Thinking podcast, that the House of Lords Appointments Commission turned down his application.
“I’m very busy with my job, but most importantly, I have a nine-year-old daughter and until she is 13, my most important job from 6.30pm until 8pm at night is to be with her and put her to bed,” he said.
Manchester headlines
Memorial: Vandal Anwar Hosseni, who damaged the Glade of Light memorial in Manchester city centre, has been banned from entering the area for two years. Hosseni, 24, from Salford, was handed a community order at Manchester Crown Court after a series of scratches were found on the Manchester Arena attack memorial in February. The damage cost £10,768.80 to repair. More here.
Meeting paused: “Look after my stuff,” ordered Inspector Shaun Flavell as he leapt from his seat in the middle of a council meeting to intercept a criminal. The inspector had to abandon the meeting at Woodley Civic Hall when a suspected shoplifter was spotted making off with goods from Iceland. Coun Lisa Smart, who was chairing the meeting, said: “I do not recall anything like that happening during a council meeting before.”
Hate crimes: Racially or religiously-aggravated offences recorded by Greater Manchester Police increased by more than a third over 12 months. Nationally, offences hit a fresh high in 2021, with reaction to England's defeat to Italy in the final of the Euros football championship said to have contributed to the rise. Police made a number of arrests in the weeks following the final, after abusive posts on social media targeted England players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, all of whom missed penalties. More here.
How things have changed
This, if you can believe it, was the main stage at Glastonbury during the first festival back in 1970. No Pyramid Stage, no BBC cameras, no Billie Eilish. Just a few sleeping bags, some open fires and an acoustic guitar.
In fact, it looks a bit like a scene from Nuts in May. "I want to see the zoo she said, I want to see the zoo..."
Worth a read
Neighbours in Moss Side have been speaking to Nicole Wootton-Cane about two dogs that have ‘changed the way they live’. Residents say they are on constant alert after a spate of violent dog attacks by two ‘big, angry’ Shar Pei dogs which roam Platt Lane.
“It’s frustrating because these dogs are angry. They’re vicious. It has changed how a lot of us live because we’re all getting our cats in late at night,” one woman told Nicole.
That's all for today
Thanks for joining me, the next edition of the Mancunian Way will be with you around the same time tomorrow and my colleague Damon Wilkinson will be taking over while I'm away for a week. If you have any stories you would like us to feature or look into, please contact me at beth.abbit@menmedia.co.uk
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The answer to today’s trivia question, NPR stands for Northern Powerhouse Rail.
