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Here's the Mancunian Way for today:
Hello,
If you’re at the tailend of a long Easter break, enjoy those last couple of days. And if you’re due to take part in the Manchester Marathon this weekend - good luck! I am hugely impressed by anyone who even attempts it, so make sure you enjoy that massive carb-loaded meal at the end of the day on Sunday.
In weather news (we’re British after all) it’s supposed to get quite a bit warmer next week with more sunshine expected as Spring continues.
On to the news. In today's newsletter, we’ll be discussing the Whatsapp group that has landed a group of police officers in a lot of trouble, the eye-watering cost of rent and the Greater Manchester councillor standing for election in the Cotswolds. Let’s begin.
Two more disciplined over ‘racist’ police Whatsapp group
Another two police officers have been disciplined following an investigation into a 'racist' police WhatsApp group. As John Scheerhout reports, the officers were members of a WhatsApp group titled 'The Dispensables' and subtitled 'the gods of north Manchester who risk their lives every day to f*** jobs off'.
As John reported last week, racist and homophobic language was used on the group. It was said to be dominated by PC Aaron Jones, who left the force in disgrace last year. Two other officers were sacked and a third was handed a final written warning following a public disciplinary hearing.
A ruling by chairman Paul Forster prevents the reporting of any names other than Jones and the three officers who appeared before him, despite a challenge by John. Others, including the two cops who faced internal disciplinary action, cannot be named.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct has confirmed the sanctions but hasn’t named them either. One was handed a written warning after they were found to have breached professional standards, including those concerning 'equality and diversity' and 'reporting improper conduct'. While the second was given 'management advice' for failing to 'challenge or report improper conduct', said the IOPC.
The watchdog also investigated three other officers, two for allegedly failing to challenge or report improper conduct and a third over an allegation of drug use. The watchdog found they had 'no case to answer' and so they did not face disciplinary meetings.
Following last week's public disciplinary hearing, PC Rebekah Kelly was dismissed without notice while PC Ashley Feest was told he would have been sacked had he not previously resigned and was barred from returning to police work. A third police officer, PC Graham Atkinson, was handed a final written warning. All three were found to have committed gross misconduct.
PC Feest this week he told the M.E.N. he had been a 'silly silly boy' but he said he wasn't racist.
Less affordable than London
With the average property in Manchester costing £875 a month to rent, some homes in the city are less affordable than parts of London.
The average income, meanwhile, works out at £2,008 a month before tax. That means on average, people spend 44 per cent of their income on rent.
Data journalist David Dubas-Fisher has been looking at the latest figures from the Valuation Office Agency and found Mancunians spent the highest proportion of their income on rent compared to any area outside of London and the South.
In fact, the rent here is either equal to or higher than six London boroughs - Bexley, Hillingdon, Bromley, Croydon, Haringey and Kingston upon Thames.
Rent to income ratio in our city is also at least eight percentage points higher than any of the surrounding Greater Manchester boroughs - 11 points higher than Leeds, 12 higher than Newcastle, and 17 higher than Liverpool.
David found that Kensington and Chelsea is the least affordable place to rent a property in the whole of England with an average monthly rent of £2,300. That’s compared to an average wage of £3,132 before tax, giving a rent to income ratio of 73 per cent.
Meanwhile, Middlesbrough is the most affordable place to rent in England with properties costing an average of £450 a month - 21 per cent of the average salary in the area.
‘Much ado about nothing’?
Salford Chris Twells will not face an election battle in his Ordsall seat on May 4. However his name will appear on ballot papers in the Cotswolds.
The Lib Dem councillor took the Ordsall seat from veteran Labour rival John Walsh last year and is not due for re-election here until 2026. But as Nick Jackson reports, he is standing for his party in Tetbury with Upton, in the south of England, next month.
In an open letter, Salford Labour Mayor Paul Dennett says he is ‘dismayed and disappointed’ to hear Coun Twells has a permanent address registered in the Cotswolds and is standing as a candidate there, as well as acting as election agent and coordinator for the LibDems.
But Coun Alex Warren, leader of the Lib Dems on Salford city council, says Coun Twells ‘it’s a technicality, and perfectly legal’. “Chris works privately as a professional contractor organising elections. That's his job,” he says. “He’s their agent because he’s highly skilled at what he does, but he still lives in Salford. His name is on the ballot paper as a paper candidacy because the Lib Dems were struggling to fill their slate. He will not win.”
He has declared Mayor Dennett’s concerns ‘much ado about nothing’ and says Coun Twells deserved to win his seat in Ordsall.
Deadline for voting
You’ve got until 11:59pm on Monday to register to vote, if you haven’t already done so. The deadline for postal or proxy votes - which doesn’t require photo ID - is Tuesday.
Don’t forget, you’ll need a valid form of photo ID if you want to vote in person. You can register to vote online here.
Rail bosses back Burnham
Rail union bosses have backed Andy Burnham's calls for train services run by TransPennine Express to be brought under public control.
The mayor told a Trades Union Congress event that a decision is 'imminent'. He claims almost a fifth of train services operated by the company were cancelled last week.
Northern Labour mayors first called for an end to the company's contract at the Convention of the North in January. Since then, Avanti - which is partly owned by TransPennine Express parent company FirstGroup - has had its contract extended by the government.
RMT union boss Mick Lynch this week told the TUC conference FirstGroup 'have got to go'.
TransPennine Express says cancellations are down by around 40 per cent since a recovery plan was introduced and they are trying to secure an overtime pay deal with ASLEF for drivers who want to volunteer for additional shifts.
The Department for Transport says no decisions have been made yet in relation to the TransPennine Express contract.
Shudehill apartment block rejected
Plans for a big block of 175 flats near Shudehill tram stop have been rejected.
Manchester Council planners say the development is 'too big' and 'not good enough' for the city centre.
As Joseph Timan writes, the scheme would have reached 19 storeys at its highest point. The listed building, 29 Shudehill, would have been restored to accommodate a boutique restaurant and the Rosenfield Building's façade would have been retained.
Neil Lucas, of Avison Young, told planners at a meeting this week the nearby Glassworks tower - dubbed the 'Shudehill Shard' - is a similar height. But planners said that that was 'irrelevant'.
Planning chief Dave Roscoe said the development is too big, ‘too damaging in terms of heritage and the design is just simply not good enough for such a prominent site as this’.
‘Monday could be even worse’
Around 47,000 junior doctors are staging a fourth day of strike action in England over an increasingly bitter dispute over pay.
They are asking for a full pay restoration which the Government says would amount to a 35 per cent pay rise. The BMA is urging ministers to get round the table to try to break the deadlock.
The government says talks cannot take place until junior doctors drop their demand for a ‘35 per cent pay increase’ and end the strike. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he wants to find a ‘reasonable compromise’.
Meanwhile, the Royal College of Nursing is set to announce the result of a ballot over a Government pay offer. Members have been voting on a proposed deal which includes a 5 per cent pay rise this year and a cash payment for last year. Voting ended at 9am today but the result had not been announced at the time of publishing.
NHS leaders have voiced concern that the sheer volume of patients needing help following the bank holiday would outstrip the number of consultants covering those on strike.
However, Helena Vesty reports that Greater Manchester’s NHS appears to be relatively stable as the strikes continue. Multiple senior sources have told her that enough consultants have been available to cover the majority of shifts, despite worries of the strikes coinciding with Easter holiday annual leave.
One A&E consultant in Greater Manchester says the situation has been ‘really challenging’ and patient flow continues to be an issue, but morale is a big problem. “Things are regularly so difficult with overcrowding that the holidays are all you’re looking forward to, now that’s been taken away, there’s not a great deal of good morale,” they said.
There are also concerns about what could happen when the strike ends. “We’ve got some vacant shifts towards the end of the week, especially night shifts, we’ve got some people but not full numbers,” explained another consultant at a different hospital.
They added: “The next normal day won’t be until next week now. Weekends have reduced staff anyway. We’ve effectively had two bank holidays back to back, Monday could be even worse.”
‘Joy on a plate’
Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, was in Manchester to open The Hallé’s renovated hall yesterday. The Royal met dignitaries as she officially opened The Oglesby Centre - an extension to Hallé St Peters, the historic former church which overlooks Ancoats’ Cutting Room Square.
Hallé St Peters opened as a rehearsal space in 2013 before The Oglesby Centre extension was built six years later, with additional practice and performance rooms, plus a café.
The Duchess, who is a patron of the Hallé, toured the revamped building and enjoyed a performance from the Hallé Ancoats Community Choir which she described as 'joy on a plate'. “It's yet another demonstration that the Hallé - over so many decades and generations - has been the most wonderful, outward-looking orchestra and body in society,” she said.
Martin Glynn, Hallé venues director, told reporter Stephen Topping the company is ‘delighted’ to be in Ancoats. "It gets a lot of press now, but when we came here it hadn't been redeveloped and I think the Hallé's presence is definitely part of that. We had the confidence to come here and I think that gave developers confidence to come here too,” he said.
You can view pictures from the visit here.
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Weather etc
Saturday: Sunny intervals changing to cloudy by lunchtime. 14C.
Road closures: M67 Eastbound entry slip road closed due to long-term roadworks at J2 A57 Hyde Road (Denton). Until December 1, 2025.
Trivia question: Which Greater Manchester town is home to what is believed to be the oldest brass band in the world?
Manchester headlines
Resignation: Neil Thwaite, chief executive of Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust, is resigning following claims that patients were being abused at a care facility. The news follows months of independent and internal investigations into the trust's operations. Staff unequipped to be in senior management, a ‘combative management’ style and a trust ‘believing its own propaganda’ were listed among reasons for shocking staff behaviour towards patients at the Edenfield Centre, ‘exposed’ by a BBC Panorama programme. Mr Thwaite, who has led the trust since 2018, will continue as CEO for the next few months, serving out full notice. He says the ‘awful failings’ highlighted at Edenfield and other challenges have made the last six months ‘incredibly difficult’ and it’s time to ‘hand over the reins’.
Rejected: A barber shop in Manchester city centre has been blocked from becoming an off-licence after councillors said they did not have confidence in its boss. HQ Hair by Design, on Swan Street, was set to be turned into Sam Off Licence, but Manchester Council's licensing panel has rejected its application to sell alcohol. It comes after licensing officers visited the premises last month and quizzed its boss Bereket Amanuel. They said that Mr Amanuel could not answer some of their questions and described his knowledge of licensing rules as 'weak'. More here.
Modern slavery arrests: Police have made arrests and seized drugs and cash following dawn raids. Five men were arrested on suspicion of modern slavery offences and conspiracy to supply class B and C drugs. Three men and a 14-year-old boy were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to supply class B and C drugs. Another man has been arrested on suspicion of possession of class C drugs. The raids, at ten properties, were carried out as part of Operation Vulcan - aimed at tackling serious and organised crime in Cheetham Hill and Strangeways. The arrests follow an investigation into the distribution of drugs and the exploitation of minors. Police found 'large amounts’ of Class B and Class C drugs and approximately £60,000 in cash.
Worth a read
I’m sure you’ll all feel like experts on the situation at Strangeways yesterday given our extensive coverage. But for those in need of a history lesson, crime reporter John Scheerhout has been looking at the incidents that have taken place at HMP Manchester over the years.
As he reports, the prison roof has been the stage for compelling drama. “From lone actors to a whole cast of protesting malcontents, those tiles have seen plenty of spectacles, some comedy and even tragedy,” he writes.
You can read all about it 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: Stalybridge
