Sian Astley for Reform UK

Got a daughter loving football during this World Cup season and fancying having a go herself?
During my Councillor day today, I came across Northenden United, an all female football programme of training and teams covering my ward of Baguley but also across wider Wythenshawe, Northenden, Withington, Sale and Chorlton. Designed to engage 8-16yr olds on a football pathway, they train three times a week Tues, Wed & Thurs, with everything accessible to all, as it's completely free. Love it - best of luck to them!

https://www.facebook.com/p/Northenden-United-FC-61588832006488/

Cool spaces : If you’re struggling when out shopping in these temperatures, you need some water whilst out and about or just need respite from this heat, then drop into one of these cool spaces around the city wards:

Abraham Moss Library
Arcadia Leisure Centre Levenshulme
Avenue Library and Learning Centre
Barlow Moor Community Library
Brooklands Library
Burnage Library
Central Library
Chorlton Library
City Library
Didsbury Library
Fallowfield Community Library
Forum Library Wythenshawe
Gorton Hub
Hulme High Street Library
Longsight Library and Learning Centre
Miles Platting Community Library
Moss Side Powerhouse Library
New Moston Community Library
Newton Heath Library
North City Library
Northenden Community Library
Withington Library

https://www.manchester.gov.uk/health-and-wellbeing/cool-spaces-to-beat-the-heat-in-manchester

Apparently the MEN have run a poll, and there’s just 3 points between Reform and Labour, with a 3% margin of error. The poll was run by Hope Not Hate who are basically the extreme left of the Labour Party, who I used to vote for. So there’s nothing in it. Neck and neck.

Will our GM voters go for continuity candidate Bev with all that entails :

• Growth but only ever in the shiny city centre.
• Zero transparency on the subjects which matter to so many people like the grooming gangs, the luxury flat property scandals and the homes across the region being filled with people with no right to be in the UK.
• Declining high streets full of money laundering v**e shops and barbers where only charity shops can afford the rent and rates.
• Fly-tipping and w**d filled streets.
• A region where housing is a Wild West of shoddy and uncaring landlords (both private and social) going unchallenged, their dire properties spiral downwards. where many residents live in awful conditions and councils do nothing about it.
• Drug dealing proliferating on our streets, accompanied by the inevitable violence and stabbings and intimidation for residents.
• Poorly managed lumps of money thrown at communities as electoral bribes, with no proper structural organisation as to how it’s to be spent, on what and with what checks and balances.

Or do we get honesty and change?

Respecting all that’s positive about this amazing region and its people, but being honest about problems and facing them, dealing with them effectively and efficiently. Continuing with the good initiatives, decisions and projects, whilst ensuring good value for money, transparency and the involvement of communities. Trumpeting Manchester and all it stands for, whilst ensuring Greater Manchester stops being left behind.

That’s the direction I’d want the Reform candidate to take when they’re picked, and it’s a direction I feel many voters, not just past Reform voters, would want our candidate to take.

Whatever the voting system, I reckon we could do this, do you?

Poll shows just three points in Greater Manchester mayoral election Exclusive: A new Greater Manchester mayoral election poll reveals Labour is facing a major battle, as Reform UK pulls close. Rob Williams reports

The outgoing GM Mayor Andy Burnham did precious little to investigate and resolve this issue. Let’s hope the incoming Mayor, of which ever party, will make every effort to put things right.

The national grooming gangs inquiry is finally investigating Oldham but Labour and their allies spent years in full denial, downplaying the industrial scale grooming, drugging and gang r**e of vulnerable white working class girls by organised Pakistani Muslim gangs in taxis, takeaways and sh**ha bars.

They knew. Reports existed. Whistleblowers spoke. Yet they blocked, deflected and smeared.

Arooj Shah, former council leader, branded concerns about grooming “social media lies” poisoning Oldham and claimed the town had become a “target for the far right.” She resisted stronger national scrutiny while painting critics as extremists.

Amanda Chadderton, another ex leader, dismissed the scandal by claiming grooming gangs “haven’t ruined their lives” for survivors. She called campaigning leaflets mentioning CSE a “conspiracy theory,” labelled critics “groomer” and “paedo protector,” and slammed parts of the push for truth as “overtly racist” and “dog whistle politics.” She repeatedly insisted “there was no cover up.”

Sean Fielding (former leader) labelled allegations of grooming cover ups “bare faced lies.”Other Labour councillors joined the denial. A Royton Labour Councillor declared an independent inquiry would be “a waste of money.” Labour as a group blocked calls for a full independent inquiry seven times before finally losing control. They voted against or obstructed stronger probes in council meetings, prioritising damage control.

Jim McMahon, Oldham MP and former leader, backed limited reviews, attacked “disinformation campaigns,” and focused on defending the process rather than exposing the full ethnic patterns and failures.

Debbie Abrahams, Oldham East MP, condemned “toxic, racist, misogynistic” leaflets from critics.

Elaine Taylor and others in the Labour group helped shut down demands for transparency.

These are the people that keep this town toxic and divisive. They didn’t just fail they actively shouted down whistleblowers, turned down multiple chances for proper inquiries, and branded concerned residents “far right racists” and conspiracy theorists while British girls were being systematically abused. They put “community relations,” political votes, and fear of “Islamophobia” above the safety of Oldham’s daughters.

Now the statutory inquiry with real powers is here, and the denials are crumbling. To Arooj Shah, Amanda Chadderton, Sean Fielding, Jim McMahon, Debbie Abrahams, Elaine Taylor, the Royton councillors and every Labour apologist who denied, deflected and demonised: your words and votes are on public record. You enabled evil through cowardice and cultural capture.

The truth is coming. No more excuses.

No more smears.

Britain’s daughters deserved far better than your rotten ideology.

Never forget. Never forgive. Never again.

Reading articles like this makes my blood boil. Anyone who starts, runs or owns a business which exploits the vulnerable or elderly should be banned from being a company director for life and serve prison time. Well done to the team who nailed this company and shut it down, but I’ll bet another one pops right up. Until the punishment is so financially severe it dissuades conmen from trying it, it’ll keep happening.

Manchester company fined £300k for bombarding people in debt with over 5.5 million unlawful texts Nuisance texts led to over 60,000 complaints about KRA Consultancy to Information Commissioner

Has Cllr Bev Craig, the newly announced Labour candidate for the GM Mayoral, been taking her inspo from Reform UK?

“While Westminster left places like ours behind, Greater Manchester has taken control of our own future and we’ve started building our own success. Working alongside former mayor Andy Burnham, we have achieved so much over the – bringing buses back under public control, creating jobs, attracting investment, and pushing Greater Manchester forward as a real powerhouse of the North West. But for too many people, who work hard and do the right thing, life still feels too hard and unaffordable. As mayor I will apply a simple test: will it make life better?"
I distinctly recall Reform UK Lancashire Leader Stephen Atkinson repeating over the last year that his and his team's guiding principle in the county would be to judge each policy move by asking the question: “Does the decision we are taking make life better for the residents of Lancashire?”

Isn't that great, that Bev is such a fan of our guiding principles!

Labour announces candidate to replace Andy Burnham as Greater Manchester mayor Bev Craig will contest the by-election next month

As we head into this ridiculous Saharan heat dome, and rely on icy water and lollies to keep us cool, please spare a thought for our feathered and furry friends. A couple of shallow bowls of fresh and regularly topped up water, one left at ground level for foxes and one up higher for birds will help them survive these mad temperatures ☀️🥵💦

We see this across Greater Manchester where everyone knows that much needed housing is being taken up by economic migrants, who have illegally crossed into the UK. No idea who they are, where they’re from, what their intentions are. We are being taken for mugs, absolute mugs. British families, young couples, the elderly, all at the back of the queue for housing. With 20,000 on the Manchester Housing Register, why is this still happening? Not to mention the proven dangers and risks to women and girls.