Manchester council met in the chamber of the historic town hall for their latest meeting, with a huge array of items on the agenda
Celebrating women, ridding the area of unclean air and ousting Palantir from the NHS were all discussed at the latest town hall meeting in Manchester, alongside some swipes at Reform UK.
There was tension in the historic town hall building as the Labour group took direct aim at the seven Reform UK councillors in the chamber. Coun Tim Whiston tabled a motion that called to reject the ‘divisive politics of Reform UK’.
The Sharston councillor highlighted Reform-run councils in other parts of the UK scrapping net zero goals, closing care homes for the elderly and removing Pride flags from public buildings.
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Coun Whiston reaffirmed that Manchester is a city ‘where everyone is welcome’, whilst Coun John Flanagan asked ‘why Reform are so resistant to a rainbow flag’. Manchester’s Reform leader Sian Astley called the motion ‘a word salad of woke’.
Coun Astley refuted claims they were against Pride or pushed divisive politics. She felt this motion was ‘disrespectful’ to the 21,455 people who voted for Reform in Manchester.
Despite Reform, the Greens and Lib Dems suggesting this motion didn’t really do anything but highlight Labour’s dislike of Reform politics, the motion was carried by the Labour majority.
This fierce debate came just after the council unanimously voted in favour of supporting the celebration of women in the build up to the 2028 centenary of women securing the vote on equal terms with men. The town hall agreed to support a government petition for a fund to celebrate the century.
Coun Andrew Simcock explained that the Emmeline Pankhurst statue in the city centre was part-funded by the £5m created to celebrate the centenary of women first securing the vote in 2018. He wants another government fund worth £10m.
Highlighting why this celebration is needed, Coun Simcock pointed out: “There are more statues of men called John than there are of women. There are more statues of animals than women.
“Up until the installation of the Emmeline Pankhurst statue in 2018 there was only a single other female statue in our city and that was of Queen Victoria.”
If funding could be secured the Council would suggest a number of Mancunian women who have left their mark on the city. The list includes Louise da-Cacodia, the anti-racism campaigner from Moss Side; Ellen Wilkinson, from Ardwick, the former city councillor and leader of the 1936 Jarrow March; and Emily Williamson, who founded what is now the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds at her home in Didsbury.
The matter of unclean air in the city-region was later raised in the town hall. This came in the wake of the heatwaves and wildfires that left a haze of smoke over the Greater Manchester area during the summer.
Coun Ross Steven recalled his ‘eyes burning’ and many councillors having to leave the chamber because of smoke-induced coughs. His Green Party colleague Coun Ati Zafar spoke of being fearful of smoke in the air, due to his cystic fibrosis.
The council agreed to develop an Air Quality and Extreme Heat Emergency Response Plan, to be better prepared for a similar event in the future.
Councillors also agreed to write to health bosses at the government to break the contract with technology company Palantir and the NHS; welcomed the UK’s recognition of the State of Palestine and called for support for a ‘just and lasting peace’; and agreed to include new guidance to help protect vulnerable children who arrive in the country without their family.
Also at the meeting, Coun Thomas Robinson was officially appointed as the new co-deputy leader of the council.
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