Greater Manchester to control its local funding

[Oliver Hardy]

Manchester and I think West midlands have been given more control of the budget they get.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-6...

So Andy Burnham is now free to do the things he always wanted?

Edited by Oliver Hardy on Friday 17th March 00:55

[allegro]

God help us! That man is so corrupt he makes Donald Trump look like a good Samaritan

[silvagod]

allegro said:

God help us! That man is so corrupt he makes Donald Trump look like a good Samaritan

I'll second that as a resident of said area. Frightening.

[Fusion777]

allegro said:

God help us! That man is so corrupt he makes Donald Trump look like a good Samaritan

How so? Not saying he isn’t, just interested in what he may have done.

[shed driver]

Corrupt as in giving public money to allow his mistress to go on official trips with him? Or corrupt in him having a different political point of view?

SD.

[andyA700]

I am apolitical, used to be a Labour voter, now I just have given up. However, to the posters on here who think Burnham is useless, the first time he was voted in he won 63% of the vote, the second time in 2021 he won 67% of the vote.
So, what exactly has he done to hoodwink that percentage of the people?

[sociopath]

shed driver said:

Corrupt as in giving public money to allow his mistress to go on official trips with him? Or corrupt in him having a different political point of view?

SD.

I'll go with the second as a random guess

[Ivan stewart]

Khan mk 2 !! Looks like the greater Manchester LEZ is going to be back and on the same scale !!

[Electro1980]

sociopath said:

shed driver said:

Corrupt as in giving public money to allow his mistress to go on official trips with him? Or corrupt in him having a different political point of view?

SD.

I'll go with the second as a random guess

See also Sadiq Khan. Lots of anger from some people. Often the same people who want to deny Johnson or Trump were anything other than upstanding political giants.

[Quhet]

Whenever I've heard Burnham speak I've been impressed, what's he supposed to have done?

[sugerbear]

shed driver said:

Corrupt as in giving public money to allow his mistress to go on official trips with him? Or corrupt in him having a different political point of view?

SD.

I see what you did there. very good

[StevieBee]

Electro1980 said:

sociopath said:

shed driver said:

Corrupt as in giving public money to allow his mistress to go on official trips with him? Or corrupt in him having a different political point of view?

SD.

I'll go with the second as a random guess

See also Sadiq Khan. Lots of anger from some people. Often the same people who want to deny Johnson or Trump were anything other than upstanding political giants.

The term 'corrupt' is big word and globally a big problem. In my view, it's the biggest problem there is; the cancer of the world which if it were removed from existence would cure everything that's wrong in the world; Ukraine, Terrorism, Covid....

But it's a term bandied around when debating UK politics to such an extent you would think we're no different to a tin-pot African nation.

My company works near exclusively for public sector clients. If I meet one for a coffee, they have to buy their own coffee. I was once hauled over the coals for bringing a tin of chocolate biscuits to a meeting, having to sign a form to confirm they were not intended as an inducement for trade (and then received a cheque for their value; £4.99). I was going to stand as a Parish Councillor for my local village but by virtue of my company being a framework vendor for the county council, it was deemed unwise due to appearance of collusion.

Corruption does occur in the UK but is exceptionally difficult to enact, exceptionally difficult to hide and the consequences are exceptionally severe.

It's worth keeping in mind that the in the UK, by orders of magnitude, the vast majority of those in public office make decisions on what they believe is right for their constituents and society. We may disagree with those decisions but they are made with all good intent.

I can point to any number of other nations where those in public office make decisions on the basis of what's in it for them. This is corruption, so when you consider whether Andy Burnham or any other politician is corrupt, you need to ask which of these two camps the sit in.

[greygoose]

Fusion777 said:

allegro said:

God help us! That man is so corrupt he makes Donald Trump look like a good Samaritan

How so? Not saying he isn’t, just interested in what he may have done.

Seems to be a deafening silence rather than any evidence for this claim

[FredericRobinson]

Ivan stewart said:

Khan mk 2 !! Looks like the greater Manchester LEZ is going to be back and on the same scale !!

Wasn’t it a case of Andy Burnham stopping the scheme which central government were insisting went ahead?

[Carl_Manchester]

Oliver Hardy said:

So Andy Burnham is now free to do the things he always wanted?

I would not make it a personal issue against Andy B. the issue should be about accountability, the problem being that 95%+ of all elected roles are held by one political movement.

whatever they are about to do must be accompanied by an appropriate level of scrutiny and challenge. I don't see how that is going to be achieved in the current changes.

after all, Andy B is passing traffic , he will be gone eventually and he might be replaced by someone less likeable and less level headed.

[glazbagun]

FredericRobinson said:

Ivan stewart said:

Khan mk 2 !! Looks like the greater Manchester LEZ is going to be back and on the same scale !!

Wasn’t it a case of Andy Burnham stopping the scheme which central government were insisting went ahead?

Pretty much how I remember it. And he hit trucks and busses first I think.

[andy43]

FredericRobinson said:

Ivan stewart said:

Khan mk 2 !! Looks like the greater Manchester LEZ is going to be back and on the same scale !!

Wasn’t it a case of Andy Burnham stopping the scheme which central government were insisting went ahead?

This is what Burnham keeps repeating in the hope people will believe him.
Govt were forced by ClimateEarth court case to improve air quality, govt told councils to sort it, here in sunny Manchester the local councils came up with what I’ve read is the biggest congestion zone in Europe.
Boris described it as “unworkable”. We’ve spent millions, £78 million was one figure I’ve seen repeated but it could be more if you include the five year monitoring and billing/fining contracts we’ve been signed up to.
Once the councils (2 of the 10 councils weren’t even required to be included as their air wasn’t a problem but they signed up anyway for the lolz) realised they’d be losing elections and trashing the economy they caved and we now have what’s eloquently described by Burnham as a non-charging congestion zone. The “under review” stickers put over all the new signs cost £110,000 alone. A non charging congestion zone means what we had before, but with less trees, more signs, hundreds of cameras, those long term contracts and 78 million quid less in the bank.

Interesting fact : the chairman of net zero north west is also CEO of Siemens. Ten zero carbon points for guessing which German electronics company made all our shiny new cameras.

Burnham is better than some (Mr Kahn I’m looking at you) but there’s some serious hate for him in Manchester from some quarters.

[W124Bob]

FredericRobinson said:

Wasn’t it a case of Andy Burnham stopping the scheme which central government were insisting went ahead?

It hasn't been stopped, just paused I suspect he's watching very carefully what happens in Greater London.

[andy43]

W124Bob said:

FredericRobinson said:

Wasn’t it a case of Andy Burnham stopping the scheme which central government were insisting went ahead?

It hasn't been stopped, just paused I suspect he's watching very carefully what happens in Greater London.

It’s paused. “Under review”. To be clear, the zone was selected, designed and built in Manchester by Manchester. By Burnhams councils. No charging, size, method or implementation was mandated by government.

[Blue62]

There’s been an accusation of corruption, can anyone back it up?