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Hello,
In the latest string of leaked WhatsApp messages, Matt Hancock has been accused of ‘weaponising disabled children’s care’ after his aides discussed whether to withhold funding for a learning disability centre in Bury if a local MP rebelled against Covid restrictions.
The messages, obtained by the Telegraph as part of its Lockdown Files series, saw political aide Allan Nixon suggest to Mr Hancock that they needed to ‘dangle our top asks’ over some of the newest MPs who entered Parliament in 2019.
The conversation, which came ahead of a vote on December 1, 2020 regarding the introduction of new Covid restrictions in England, then mentioned Bury North MP James Daly as a possible example of this. Mr Nixon suggested: “James wants his Learning Disability Hub in Bury – whips call him up and say Health team want to work with him to deliver this but that’ll be off the table if he rebels.”
“These guys’ re-election hinges on us in a lot of instances, and we know what they want. We should seriously consider using it IMO,” he wrote. Mr Hancock’s response was “yes 100%”.
Mr Daly said he was ‘appalled’ over the messages and was ‘disgusted’ that the disability hub was being discussed as a way to coerce him into voting with ministers, but said the threat was never made to him.
Mr Daly told The Northern Agenda this morning that he had discussed wanting to create integrated support services for children with special educational needs and disabilities to stop thousands "falling through the cracks".
A spokesperson for Mr Hancock said: "What’s being accused here never happened, demonstrating the story is wrong, and showing why such a biased, partial approach to the evidence is a bad mistake, driven by those with a vested interest and an axe to grind. The right place to consider everything about the pandemic objectively is in the public inquiry.”
Speaking to Times Radio this morning, Jake Berry, the former Conservative party chairman, called for the former Health Secretary to be ‘dragged’ before Parliament over his comments.
“What he has effectively said is that he wants to weaponise provision of care to disabled children to try and force MPs to vote in a certain way,” he told the radio station.
“I mean politics is full of sort of arm twisting and leverage and cajoling. But I actually think once you get to the point that you are weaponising the provision of care to disabled children I think you have crossed the line.
“As a local MP and a father with a son with additional needs I know how desperately provision of this sort of care is required in this sort of area. I just think it's an absolutely despicable and appalling way for Matt Hancock and his advisors to behave.”
'Not enough'
Bury North MP James Daly has also been in the news this week after describing M15’s apology for not preventing the Manchester Arena bombing as 'not enough'.
M15’s director general, Ken McCallum, issued an apology following the public inquiry into the May 2017 atrocity which found that it may have been prevented if MI5 had acted more swiftly on a piece of intelligence received in the months before.
Mr McCallum said he 'deeply regrets' that MI5 did not act on information about the bomber, adding that he was 'profoundly sorry' the agency had failed to stop the attack.
Speaking in the Commons after Home Secretary Suella Braverman delivered a statement on the report, Mr Daly said: “Today we have the third volume of the report, where it says there was a significant missed opportunity to take action on the part of MI5.
“We also have highlighted previously the shocking failures of the venue’s owners, the security contractors and emergency services. Some of these people could still be alive today and I would like to know about accountability.
“Too often in this place, an apology from an organisation seems to be enough when it’s not. People died as a result of the actions of not only this bomber, but the gross negligence of some of the bodies that I have been talking about.
“Who is being held accountable? Who is going to be responsible? And will this information be passed on to the families?”
Andrew Roussos, the father of Saffie Roussos who tragically died aged just eight, previously said he believed 'most of the blame' for the attack lay on M15.
You can read the full piece here.
'A recipe for disaster'
Residents at a Northern Quarter apartment block say their building is being ‘treated like a hostel’ after people have gained access due to a faulty door.
Ian Roberts told reporter Ethan Davies that, due to the front door ‘degrading’ over time, the building has become easy for non-residents to gain entry and he has discovered rough sleepers in water meter rooms and the basement.
“It's the same door that has been there since the late 1990s,” Ian said of the faulty access point. “The connecting door broke and we were without a front door, really. The magnet they have fitted keeps falling out. I'm on the 3rd floor, and I find rough sleepers on my floor now.”
He added: “I opened my front door on Saturday morning to a lad who refused to leave. It feels like a recipe for disaster. [Rough sleepers] are interested in the basement. They are treating it like a hostel.
“I have sympathy for them, but it's obvious the building's got a reputation in that community as 'we can go in at 3am'. One of them told me he came in to charge his phone.”
Riverside, the company which manages the block, said it is ‘aware’ of the issue and was working on repairs.
Moving traffic forward
Drivers in Stockport could be fined by the council for ‘moving traffic offences’ after a major change in law.
Stockport Council says it is considering applying for powers in five problem areas that would allow them to fine drivers for violations such as driving through ‘no entry’ signs, blocking yellow box junctions and going the wrong way on a one-way street.
It comes after the law was changed last year to allow local authorities outside of London to issue penalty notices and fine motorists for such offences, Local Democracy Reporter Nick Statham reports. The powers were previously only held by police.
An online consultation reads: “The purpose of the new powers is so councils can manage specific road locations where there may be issues with persistent moving traffic offences.
“Currently enforcement of moving traffic offences can only be carried out by the police under criminal law and a penalty notice issued.Stockport council will be looking to apply for the new powers to expand the work we already do to improve road safety and tackle congestion.”
If the powers are granted, the council says it would take a ‘consistent and measured approach’ when considering new sites for enforcement.
'An incredibly pressurised position'
With the NHS in crisis, there is an immense pressure on those working in Greater Manchester’s hospitals right now.
A huge demand for beds, along with ongoing industrial action from staff and an ‘unusual seasonal peak’ in Strep A infections are just some of the many reasons why services were overwhelmed in the winter. And health bosses say they expect these unprecedented levels of demand to only continue.
“We’re seeing more patients come through our A&E departments and we’re seeing sicker patients coming through our A&E departments," Darren Banks, the group director of strategy for Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), tells the M.E.N's Helena Vesty.
"It’s an incredibly pressurised position to be in. We know we’re not where we want to be.”
Helena has spoken to leaders in the NHS as part of an in-depth look at how services in Greater Manchester’s hospital services are coping, from the wards and operating theatres to ambulances and Covid clinics.
Covid continues to be a major concern with hundreds of patients still in hospital with the virus, whilst ambulances reported losing 8,313 hours due to waiting outside hospitals between April and January.
Elsewhere, waiting times for planned surgeries, such as joint replacements, shot up over the course of the pandemic with thousands still on waiting lists today as surgeons desperately try to play catch up.
“The starkest position to understand was that we had to take a decision, and there was a national decision as well, to stand down planned and elective operations in order to move our workforce to deal with Covid patients, and the sickest patients that we were facing,” Mr Banks said.
“That was a really difficult decision to take. Roughly, in excess of 1,300 patients every week were therefore not being treated and, as a consequence, were being added to a waiting list.
“Even if we get back to those numbers there is a significant volume of patients that have been added to a waiting list. We have to deliver significantly more operations than we were doing pre-pandemic in order to eat into that.”
You can read the full report here.
Dinner with Rayner
What happens when you take a food critic with a fierce reputation to one of Manchester’s eating grounds? Well, it turns out you actually end up having a nice conversation about jazz and the great food on offer in the city.
The M.E.N’s What’s On editor Jenna Campbell treated Jay Rayner to lunch out at Erst in the city centre and - to the relief of the kitchen staff - described his beef fat flatbread as ‘outrageous, but in a good way’.
In just a few weeks, the weekly columnist for the Observer will be taking to the stage at the Albert Hall to perform as part of a jazz sextet (yes, really). It will feature jazz classics alongside takes on 80s hits, all squeezed together with anecdotes on his life, his critical career and growing up with a sex columnist for a mother.
Whilst heaping praise on many venues, Jay has also had the misfortune of having to deliver some harsh realities to some restaurants not quite up to scratch. Ultimately, he tells Jenna that he always thinks long and hard about the impact of his reviews.
“When it comes to reviews, do not be casual about it,” he warns. “Be absolutely clear that what you're saying - even if it doesn't feel fair to them - is right. The one thing that has changed post-Covid is this feeling that smaller places are not fair game, if they’re small and failing leave them to be small and failing.
“But then you have to put yourself in the diners' shoes too. If you've been to a restaurant and it's shocking and they’re charging you money, you should say something. Sometimes people ask how I get normal service given my face is slapped all over TV and in newspapers, but even if I book under a pseudonym, pay my own way, some places are still shocking.”
You can read the full piece right here.
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Weather etc
Wednesday: Cloudy. 5C.
Road closures: M67 Eastbound entry slip road closed due to long-term roadworks at J2 St Annes Road (Denton). Until 1st December 2025.
Trivia question: What is the tallest building in Manchester?
Manchester headlines
- Soccer Aid: Celebrity charity football event Soccer Aid is returning to Old Trafford this year, with the likes of England's Jill Scott, Sir Mo Farah and Paddy McGuinness all taking part. More here.
- City Tower: One of Manchester’s original skyscrapers is set to undergo a makeover in order to help reduce the risk of Covid-19. Construction work will see the City Tower building, which looms over Piccadilly Gardens, improved with additional ventilation.
- Relief road: A new road in Stockport has opened for the first time. Costing a whopping £53 million, the Poynton Relief Road runs from Woodford in Stockport to Adlington near Macclesfield and alleviates the need for traffic travelling between east Cheshire and south Manchester.
- Manchester Pride: Tickets for this years Manchester Pride will go on sale at 12pm wednesday. Six of the seven events will be free to attend, with the Gay Village Party only requiring tickets.
Worth a read
A Salford woman who left school at the age of 16 says she is now a millionaire with a lavish mansion in Cheshire, a stunning home in Cyprus and a string of luxury vehicles to her name. Maxine McCarthy first found success in professional boxing before going on to create Cosmetic Couture, which is now one of the biggest aesthetic training providers in the UK.
Speaking to Paige Oldfield, the 43-year-old mum-of-two said her business career came after first seeing an advert on Gumtree for botox and dermal filler courses.
“I’ve created millionaires," she boldly confesses. "I’ve gone on to become very successful. When people see my story, it’s inspiring. I fought against all odds.
“It’s a lot easier for people now – I took the brunt. I get called the queen of aesthetics and that’s because I am.”
You can read Maxine's story here.
That's all for today
Thanks for joining me. If you have stories you would like us to look into, email beth.abbit@menmedia.co.uk.
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The answer to today's trivia question is: Deansgate Square South Tower |
