Keep up to date with all the big stories from across Greater Manchester in the daily Mancunian Way newsletter. You can receive the newsletter direct to your inbox every weekday by signing up right here.
Here's the Mancunian Way for today:
Hello,
Today in Manchester, Michael Gove and his counterpart Lisa Nandy are setting out their visions for Levelling Up in what might just be the biggest battle of the North since the Battle of Winterfell in Game of Thrones.
The Conservative Levelling Up Secretary and the Labour shadow secretary acknowledged the vast disparities in health outcomes, productivity and growth here in Greater Manchester and the wider North. But both have different ideas as to how to tackle them.
Speaking at the Convention for the North here in Manchester, Mr Gove held London's Docklands up as a beacon of Levelling Up success. He also praised Manchester and Midlands' mayors Andy Burnham and Andy Street for using the 'mayoral model powerfully and effectively'.
Most significant for Greater Mancunians was the announcement of £30m for our region and the West Midlands to start making improvements to social housing following the tragic death of Awaab Ishak. Though the exact sum for each region was not clear at the time of writing.
Mr Gove said there is a need to ensure 'all homes are warm and safe as we know poor housing kills'. He added: "The tragic death of Awaab Ishak rightly reinforced the need for action and improving the quality of homes in which every citizen lives is not only a Levelling Up mission but also a personal mission for me."
Ms Nandy promised local leaders powers to drive their own growth if Labour were to win the next election. As the Mancunian Way went to press, she was due to tell delegates at Manchester Central Convention Centre - Gmex to you and me - that our political system ‘must change or die’.
Accusing the Conservatives of ‘writing off’ areas that once fuelled the UK economy, Ms Nandy was due to say how the government had failed to deliver on the 2019 manifesto pledge to create opportunities outside of London and the south-east of England.
“Ambition is everywhere in the towns, villages, and cities that were once the engines of Britain, for too long written off and written out of our national story,” she was expected to explain. “For 15 years, since the global crash, the failure of running an economy like this has been plain to see.
“But every time the public has sounded the alarm, hitting our politicians with tsunami after tsunami of discontent, our creaking political system has done nothing.
“This is the collective task facing our generation of political leaders: to respond to that siren call or face obsolescence. To change or die.”
The conference comes at the same time as the publication of a report which found that the North of England receives one of the lowest levels of investment among advanced economies, lagging behind nations like Slovakia, Poland and Hungary.
In fact, if the region were a country, Greece would be the only member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) group of nations to see less public and private investment than Northern England, identifies the Northern Agenda’s editor Rob Parsons.
The State of the North report by the IPPR North think-tank found that the UK and the North are being held back by ‘vast inequalities’ and a ‘systematic underinvestment’ in research and development, social infrastructure and transport.
In response, a government spokesperson said the report "fundamentally misrepresents the clear steps we are taking to level up the region and we are committed to spreading opportunity across the whole of the UK, including the North of England".
Lessons from Germany
Following the publication of the IPPR's report, Manchester’s own leaders said they believe the government could learn lessons from Germany by 'hard-wiring' levelling up into UK law.
Northern mayors, council leaders and business representatives want the central government to move away from current competitive bidding systems, like the Levelling Up fund awarded last week, and instead opt for a financial settlement where all regions have access to the funding they need to close the gaps in living standards and help grow the nation.
It's something that has already proved successful in Germany. Speaking ahead of today’s conference, Carsten Schneider, minister for east Germany and equivalent living conditions, said: "Regional structural policy has long been a cornerstone of German politics.
"The goal of creating equal living conditions everywhere in Germany can even be found in our constitution. There are good reasons for it. If regions are drifting apart, it is bad for everyone, including for the growing regions.
"If a variety of regions flourish, the whole country will prosper."
Ready for take-off
New images of what Manchester Airport’s Terminal 2 building will look like following the completion of a £440 million transformation project have been unveiled.
The new building, which is set to open in 2025, is expected to create thousands of new jobs and unlock billions of economic value for the region. Alongside 27 new shops, bars and restaurants, the new T2 will also feature a new pier and security hall with ‘state-of-the-art’ 3D security scanners.
Airport owners MAG said: "The investment will transform the passenger experience at the UK's third largest airport, with new spacious facilities, state-of-the-art technology and equipment, and an exciting array of shops, bars, restaurants and airport lounges.”
Bosses said the project would help to further Manchester Airport’s role ‘as the UK’s global gateway in the North’ by connecting the region to even more international destinations.
Independent experts have already predicted the economic benefits of the project will lead to around 16,400 extra jobs by 2040. More than 500 jobs will be created in the construction phase alone.
The transformation of T2 will be the final phase of a £1.3bn programme, which was first announced in 2015, to ‘revolutionise’ the customer experience at the Airport.
The completion of the project will also ultimately mark the beginning of the end for Terminal 1, which first opened in 1962. Airport bosses said that work to decommission T1 will get underway once the T2 transformation has finished as more passengers (around 80pc) will be using other parts of the airport.
Sheona Southern, Managing Director at Marketing Manchester, said of the T2 project: "This year Lonely Planet and National Geographic have named Manchester a must-visit city, so it is great to hear about Manchester Airport's investment to strengthen its position as a major international hub for the city, and gateway to the North.
"As the volume of international visitors to Greater Manchester increases, it is reassuring to know Manchester Airport will be ready to handle demand and offer visitors a warm welcome and a positive travel experience."
The M.E.N's Paul Britton has looked further into what the £440m plans will entail here.
Our Gail
Gail Platt has been a staple character on Coronation Street for almost 50 years now. Over the years, she’s faced love rivals, dealt with family drama, and even survived murder plots. Gail is even the soap's most married female character, having been married six times.
Actress Helen Worth swapped the Weatherfield cobbles for Windsor Castle yesterday as she collected her MBE for services to drama from Prince William. The actress said the recognition was ‘absolutely wonderful’ and a ‘very special’ moment for her.
Helen said: "He (William) was so lovely, so easy. He asked all the right questions. He was very complimentary."
The actress, 72, added: "To have had a job and one that I love, and to be able to work in it is quite extraordinary. And then to get an award for it is just the icing on the cake."
'Gross waste of money'
A Manchester councillor has slammed a mix-up by the city council as a ‘gross waste of taxpayers’ money’ after road markings for a bus stop and loading bay were mistakenly painted in the pedestrianised Stevenson Square.
The new road markings caused confusion to local residents as vehicles are no longer allowed in three-quarters of the Northern Quarter square. A day after they were painted in error, council workers had already tarmaced over the markings.
“It’s a gross waste of taxpayers’ money,” Piccadilly ward councillor Jon-Connor Lyons told the M.E.N. “It’s incredibly frustrating and I am angry. I have lodged a complaint and I will go through that process because highways need to understand the issue.”
Coun Lyons said he believed the mistake occurred after a mix-up between two different council teams. He explained that the authority is now ‘trying to find out’ who is to blame for the error.
Speaking of the error, Coun Lyons added: “The paint itself is quite cheap, but what is expensive is the orders for a bus lane or delivery bay. None of that has gone through because the bus stops do not exist, regardless of what the lines are.
“I am thankful that did not start. Essentially it’s a waste of their time, and even people on social media’s time, just to look at it.”
Sign up to The Mancunian Way
Has a friend forwarded you this edition of The Mancunian Way? You can sign up to receive the latest email newsletter direct to your inbox every weekday by clicking on this link.
Weather etc
- Thursday: Partly cloudy changing to sunny by late morning. 7C.
- Road closures: One lane of the Mancunian Way closed due to roadworks eastbound from A6 London Road to Hoyle Street until January 26.
- M56 Eastbound exit slip road to the A34 closed due to roadworks at A34 Kingsway until 7am on February 5.
- One lane closed due to carriageway repairs on M56 in both directions between J7 A556 Chester Road (Bowdon) and J5 (Manchester Airport) until 6am on February 18.
- Trivia question: Coronation Street is the world’s longest-running TV soap opera, but what year did it first air on our screens?
Manchester headlines
Most pathetic motorway: The A635(M), tucked away as a small part of the Mancunian Way, is officially the shortest motorway in England. Measuring just 0.3 miles, its short length has seen it dubbed one of the most 'pathetic' motorways in the country. You can read more here.
Chip cup: The owners of a chip shop in Prestwich have said they're 'gutted' to have missed out on a top ten spot in the 'Chippy world cup'. But Chips @ No 8 have told M.E.N's Ben Arnold they still have their eyes on the prize.
- Fined: Parents and carers at a school in Bury have been warned they could be fined £5 for every half hour they're late for picking their children up. The message has not gone down too well. Read more here.
- Love event: This Valentine's, Manchester will be hosting a 'love festival' featuring music, poetry and Insta-worthy hangout spots. The event will run across four days in Spinningfields. More here.
Worth a read
An 'innovator, teacher and gadget man' who was one of the founding fathers of modern-day hospital care has died at the age of 89.
The name of Dr David Morrison - and all of his many life-saving achievements and innovations - still proudly adorn a brass plaque on the wall of a corridor at North Manchester General Hospital, reports Paul Britton.
Dr Morrison, who was described as a clinician of 'national significance', first laid the origins of intensive and critical care medicine as we know it today at the hospital. He once even convertd his Volvo into a make-shift ambulance to transport patients to the hospital's ICU ward.
Another report said Dr Morrison, who worked at Crumpsall Hospital from 1951 and was Clinical Director from 1969 to 1989, once saved a woman's life by massaging her heart after she suffered a cardiac arrest as she lay on the floor of her bedroom.
Professor Matt Makin, medical director of North Manchester General Hospital, paid tribute to him by saying: "He was a character of national significance, but very much north Manchester in terms of his passion.
"He was passionate about north Manchester as a place and was one of the founding fathers of modern intensive care. He first came to north Manchester in 1951 and he was one of the first doctors to use penicillin to treat pneumonia."
You can read more about the inspirational clinician 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.
If you have enjoyed this newsletter today, why not tell a friend how to sign up?
The answer to today's trivia question is: 1960.
