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Here's the Mancunian Way for today:
Hello
Cop27 kicked off with a stark warning from UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres this morning. The world is 'on the highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator', he told world leaders at the start of the climate summit in Egypt.
I apologise for the doomy introduction to today’s newsletter, but things are that serious.
Rishi Sunak arrived in Egypt and promised to ‘deliver on the legacy of Glasgow and protect the future of the planet’. But he has been criticised for a ‘screeching U-turn’ after he initially planned to stay at home to work on domestic financial issues.
Of course, there is plenty we as individuals can do to be more environmentally friendly. But it’s not always that easy - no matter how hard we try.
New research today reveals that Bolton is the worst area in the UK to own an electric vehicle (EV). The borough has the lowest number of accessible charging points per population with only 8.3 per 100,000 available, according to research by the International Drivers Association.
Stockport, Wigan and Oldham don’t fare much better with 12.2, 12.4 and 14.3 charging points per 100,000 respectively.
Another recent study found that the government’s decision to end the two-year energy price guarantee will have a ‘detrimental impact’ on electric vehicle sales. The survey of 1,400 in-market car buyers by WhatCar? found that 30.9 per cent were looking to buy an EV, with those remaining opting for petrol, diesel or hybrid models instead.
Of those not looking to purchase an electric vehicle, 24.4 per cent said that the scrapping of the two-year energy price guarantee had influenced their decision to opt for something other than an EV.
Transport for the North says the region currently has just five per cent of the 161,000 charging connections needed by 2030 to support drivers switching to electric.
Meanwhile, commuters using the trains struggled to get to work this morning, despite planned rail strikes being called off. Most train operators, including Avanti West Coast, are running reduced timetables as the unions’ decision not to go ahead with their walkouts was only announced on Friday.
A lack of driver availability pushed many commuters onto roads, leading to a surge in traffic jams. TomTom said road congestion at 9am in Manchester was up from 62 per cent to 78 per cent over the last seven days - meaning journeys took 78 per cent longer today than last week.
Even the Bee Bikes - a scheme which allows people to rent out a bike or e-bike for a small charge per minute - is not without its problems.
In August, the M.E.N revealed that a quarter of them have gone missing and not been found since the launch of the scheme last November. And there have been 306 incidents of damaged and subsequently repaired bikes since the start of the scheme.
'Paint over it'
The pictures from inside Awaab Iskak’s Rochdale home, taken just days after the toddler’s death, are shocking.
They show black mould covering the walls of the bathroom and kitchen of their home on the Freehold estate.
An inquest which is currently exploring the circumstances around Awaab’s death has been hearing evidence from his father Faisal Abdullah - who first reported mould in his kitchen in Autumn 2017, more than a year before his son’s birth.
Rochdale Coroners' Court heard that Mr Abdullah was told to 'paint over it' by a member of staff at Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), which manages the estate where the family live.
He was never told to use anti-mould paint, and had not experienced damp and mould before when it first appeared, two years after his arrival in the UK from Sudan, the inquest has heard.
The mould returned by autumn 2018 in the kitchen and bathroom. Mr Abdullah complained and first applied for a new home for his family in May 2019.
Awaab was admitted to Rochdale Urgent Care Centre in the Autumn of 2020, transferred to Royal Oldham Hospital, treated for croup and discharged on December 20. He was taken to hospital again the following day, where he sadly died.
Stephen Topping has been following the case and you can read his latest report from the inquest here.
Benefits aren't enough
Reporter Paige Oldfield - who has been documenting the cost of living crisis by speaking to those living through it - has been chatting to people in Bolton this week.
There she met Mavis and Thomas Lavin, who have been married almost fifty years and are now in ill health.
“It’s colder now and we’re freezing,” 91-year-old Mavis said. “We don’t have the heating on in the morning anymore, we put it on for an hour in the evening. We’ve both got bad health; I have arthritis and it’s making it worse in both of my legs and my wrists – it never stops.
“They’re all for the rich – and they won’t tax the oil companies. We’re getting old, it’s the other people we feel sorry for. I wouldn’t like to be here in the future.”
Thomas, who served in the Royal Air Force, said the couple have to buy cheaper food and budget. “It’s like life is not worth living. I’ve worked all my life and I’m getting nowt,” he said.
Levelling Up...with opera
The English National Opera (ENO) could relocate to Manchester from London.
The prestigious national institution said it was considering moving its headquarters to the city as Arts Council England (ACE) diverts grant money away from the capital, as Tom George reports.
While some institutions will see their grants reduced, The ENO has been removed from the ACE’s portfolio entirely.
Instead, the company will receive a £17 million grant over three years to develop a ‘new business model’, which has led bosses to consider Manchester as a new home.
"The ENO has vision and purpose and we aim to support the levelling up agenda by reimagining opera for future generations across England,” they said.
Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan said people living in areas ‘from Wolverhampton to Wigan’ will now get to benefit from ‘the deep economic and social rewards culture can bring’.
'You don't have to go and take the Qatari's money'
Gary Neville has described hosting Have I Got News For You as one of the most nerve-wracking moments of his life. And it's not hard to see why.
Team captain Ian Hislop left the former Manchester United footballer laughing nervously into his cue cards when he appeared on the BBC show on Friday night.
Hislop was quick to ask Neville to justify his role as a pundit for beIN Sports, which is owned by the Qatar state, at this month's World Cup.
“My view always has been that you either highlight the issues and challenges in these countries, and speak about them, or you basically don’t say anything and stay back home. I’ve always said we should challenge,” the pundit said.
But Hislop said: “There’s another option. You stay at home and highlight the abuses. You don’t have to go and take the Qatari's money.”
The former England defender vowed to ‘highlight’ the issues during commentary on matches at the tournament.
'Support the nurses'
As nurses prepare to strike in the first ever national action over a pay dispute, M.E.N readers have been sharing their views on the upcoming action.
Working at a crisp factory could earn you more than being a nurse, according to Lorraine Dawkins, who commented on Facebook: "I once collected an item from Facebook marketplace and the lady somehow left a payslip inside! I honestly could not believe the pittance that she was paid monthly for being an on call theatre nurse!
"I worked in a crisp factory at the time and let's say I earned £8,000-a-year more for 48-hours a week! This lady had worked a lot more and I did four on, four off. They even have to pay to bl***y park their cars at the hospital to work! Shocking… if a strike is what it takes to be given their worth then so be it"
While Steven Hardwick said his family rely on bank shifts to make ends meet. “My wife works as a neonatal intensive care nurse. Her basic is poor so we have to rely on the bank shifts,” he wrote.
Counting is still under way, but Royal College of Nursing officials believe enough members have voted for industrial action, possibly before Christmas.
Andy Burnham is among supporters, tweeting: “Support the nurses.”
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Weather etc
- Tuesday: Cloudy changing to heavy rain by late morning. 12C.
- Trains: Amended services on Avanti West Coast and Northern due to planned strike action for today that has now been suspended.
- Trams: Revised service on Manchester Metrolink due to overrunning engineering works at Piccadilly Gardens. Some Metrolink services are operating with changes until the end of November when the works can be finished. Bury and Altrincham services are not operating into Piccadilly station. Ashton services are operating to Crumpsall via Victoria. Eccles services are only operating to Deansgate.
- Trivia question: Bez has been the Happy Mondays 'vibesman' for decades. What's his real name?
Manchester headlines
Radio jobs: BBC Radio Manchester presenters have been told they will need to ‘re-apply for their jobs’ amid a major shake-up of local radio. A total of 139 jobs are expected to be axed across the country after the BBC announced plans to cut staff and programming. All jobs at BBC Radio Manchester will close under the new plan with all presenters forced to go through a re-application process for new positions, the M.E.N. understands. More here.
Bridge: Delays to opening a new footbridge over train tracks in Stockport are down to a ‘cock up’ between rail and council bosses, it has been claimed. The replacement bridge, which connects Thomson Street and King Street West, is a key part of a Bee Network Scheme to improve walking and cycling links connecting Edgeley and Stockport town centre. The structure has been in place since September - but has remained boarded up ever since. Network Rail chiefs say delays in designing and installing the lighting on the bridge - as well as the impact of railway strikes - are behind the setback, but they hope to have the crossing open next month. But Edgeley councillor Matt Wynne says there has been ‘a cock up here between the council and Network Rail’. Story here.
‘Reckless’: Oldham Council chiefs have defended a £3 million cost of living support package for residents after a Tory councillor called it a ‘reckless use of money’. The cabinet agreed to invest millions in its response to the unfolding cost of living crisis, which has seen funding provided to Oldham Foodbank and the creation of ‘warm banks’ in all of the borough’s libraries. But at a meeting of the full council, Coun Brian Hobin, leader of the Failsworth Independent Group, said: “I disagree on how the funds are being used, and whether the leader’s idea of what residents require is being met.”
Worth a read
This profile of Bez - the Happy Mondays’ long standing ‘vibesman’ - is a thoroughly entertaining read from Ben Arnold.
While promoting his new book, Bez chatted about doing some ‘in-depth searching of my memory banks to remember some of the stories’ from his life.
“The 58-year-old is blissfully happy, and looks in staggeringly good nick for a man who was very much in the room when the notion of ‘24 hour party people’ was conceived. So as a result, remembering some of the stories for the book was, shall we say, a challenge,” Ben writes.
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: Mark Berry.
