| Just over 200 years ago in the centre of Manchester, thousands of working men and women gathered in what is now St Peter's Square to make radical demands for parliamentary reform. The meeting came on the back of war, spiralling prices and an economic slump and the events of that day sparked a debate that would ultimately lead to universal suffrage. Next week, a short walk from that site at the Friends Meeting House, policymakers and politicians will meet to make a series of fresh radical demands, again against a backdrop of war and a cost of living crisis. The Basic Income North movement is calling on Westminster to be bold in the face of surging housing, food and energy prices, asking MPs to back a universal income (UBI). It would be similar to child benefit or the state pension, but it would be paid to all adults, regardless of their income.  The Peterloo Masscare memorial in St Peter's Square Manchester, just yards from the Friends Meeting House (Graphic: Carly Holds)
The idea has been suggested as a way of giving people more economic security and opportunities and has been trialled in countries including Finland and the Netherlands. University of Salford lecturer Dr Dave Beck, who has helped to organise the conference, told the Northern Agenda podcast that the Government's current levelling up agenda is going "absolutely nowhere" and UBI would provide the North with a better path to becoming "financially sustainable". Explaining the concept, he said: "UBI has got three core tenets, so it's universal, everybody's entitled to it. There's also no conditions attached to it, which is what we see with the universal credit system. "What's also really important about UBI is that it's non withdrawable. With the universal credit system people's income can be withdrawn from them or suspended, that plunges people into poverty almost immediately, whereas UBI has none of that. It's a right of citizenship." Dr Beck said the amount paid would ideally be set by an independent body, similar to that which sets the national minimum wage. But he pointed to the UBI trial in Wales, where the Labour Government in Cardiff started paying 500 people £1,600 a month in March as an example of the kind of cash figure people could expect. He said: "Look, we've seen over recent years how levelling up has gone absolutely nowhere in the North. Really that's what this conference is about, it's about addressing how the North needs to find a different way in order to be financially sustainable for the people." Dr Beck said he believed we are around 10 years away from such a policy being adopted, he said: "I do think that we are going to see more research being done on UBI over the next 10 years. If you take the NHS, which was founded after the Second World War - I think we're at about 1935, around 10 years away from something really substantial changing. But the momentum is growing."
 Harrowing Manchester suicide pact case prompts public debate  Graham Mansfield pictured at his home in Hale after being convicted of the manslaughter of his wife Dyanne (Image: Kenny Brown)
A harrowing case of assisted suicide has prompted widespread public debate and has led the Crown Prosecution Service to issue guidance on how such cases are considered. It comes after Graham Mansfield, 73, walked free from court yesterday after being convicted of the manslaughter of his 71-year-old wife Dyanne. He slit her throat in March last year then unsuccessfully tried to kill himself. In an interview with the Manchester Evening News at his home in Hale, Mr Mansfield told how his wife was informed she had stage four lung cancer in October 2020, just weeks after they'd celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. Following the case, Martin Goldman, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West said: "This was a tragic case where Dyanne Mansfield lost her life at the hands of her husband. As prosecutors we carefully weighed the evidence in this case, including the lack of any evidence to confirm Dyanne Mansfield's wishes, and using our legal guidance determined that a prosecution was in the public interest. "The CPS produced evidence at court in the form of witness testimony, forensic evidence and exhibits to show the planning involved in the death of Dyanne Mansfield. Mansfield failed to convince the jury that this had been a lawful killing." The CPS is currently in the middle of a public consultation into the public interest factors prosecutors should consider when deciding whether or not to charge a suspect with murder or manslaughter, where the suspect believes they were acting wholly out of compassion for the deceased.
Mayor urged to take airport into public ownership  Nick Fletcher talks levelling up and his hopes for Doncaster Sheffield Airport on the Northern Agenda podcast (graphic: Lisa Walsh)
Meanwhile South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard is being urged to consider taking Doncaster Sheffield Airport into public ownership. Tory Don Valley MP Nick Fletcher has said local leaders must do "whatever it takes" to ensure the airport remains open after owners, Peel, failed to give assurances on jobs during a "difficult" meeting with local leaders this week. The airport is facing closure with Peel saying it "may no longer be commercially viable". The firm has blamed the ongoing impact of the pandemic and the "fundamental issue" of a shortfall in passenger numbers being exacerbated by Wizz Air pulling out. Mr Fletcher, speaking to the Northern Agenda podcast, pointed to the action taken by Teesside Mayor Ben Houchen to save his local airport. In 2018 Mr Houchen agreed a £40million deal to take Teesside International Airport, which was also threatened with closure, into public hands. Mr Fletcher said: "I've had a meeting with Ben and he's explained how things have evolved up there and the success he's making of it. It's in the mayor's powers and I think this time we've got to use them." He added: "We need to do whatever it takes to keep that airport open, whether that's public ownership, whether it's an external investor or whether it's a part ownership, but whatever it takes." The Tory leadership contest has been anything but calm in recent weeks, with angry briefings and counter briefings regularly going ahead behind the scenes. So it was a little awkward in the Commons yesterday when former hopeful Penny Mordaunt came face to face with her boss, Berwick MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan - who just days ago suggested Ms Mordaunt was workshy. Ms Trevelyan had said of her junior minister: "There have been a number of times when she hasn't been available, which would have been useful, and other ministers have picked up the pieces." Ms Mordaunt, speaking from the despatch box at international trade questions yesterday, quipped: "I'm amazed to find myself here this morning given my reported work ethic." Yikes!.
Vladimir Putin targets....Scarborough?  Scarborough Council has seen a surge in cyber attacks since the launch of Russia's war in Ukraine (graphic: Carly Holds)
The war in Ukraine has apparently resulted in an increased number of attempted cyber attacks on Scarborough Council, reports Local Democracy Reporter Anttoni James Numminen. The council's head of ICT Greg Harper told a meeting this week that there are now hundreds of cyber attack attempts on "a daily basis". "The reality is that a threat of a cyber attack is ever present, even in the most cyber secure organisations. We are never going to be cyber attack risk-free, we can only reduce them and minimise them," said Mr Harper. He added that the council will "no longer plan for 'if' we get a cyber attack, we plan for 'when' we get one", clarifying that there was a difference between a successful attack and an attempted breach. He said there had been an "upsurge" in the number of attempted cyber attacks on public sector bodies "at the onset of the situation in Ukraine, and many were from Russian domains", adding that the two could be tied together "with some analysis".
Cost of Covid fraud laid bare in Leeds  Leeds City Centre
Around £1m worth of Covid support grants were claimed fraudulently in Leeds during the pandemic. Local councillors were told this week that 74 cases of fraud had been identified by the authorities, reports Local Democracy Reporter David Spereall. Leeds City Council issued around £300m in grants to businesses and charities across multiple periods of lockdown. But the need to issue the cash promptly left the council, as with other authorities across the UK, vulnerable to claims from people who weren't entitled to it. The figures were revealed by local Labour councillor Gohar Almass, who sits on the authority's audit and governance committee, which has been scrutinising Covid fraud. Speaking at a full council meeting, Councillor Almass said: "74 cases of fraud totalling just over £1m have been identified. "That's £1m out of £300m administered by the council. Nearly £700,000 of that has been recovered." Coun Almass' Labour colleague, Coun Mirelle Midgeley, described that as "a gut-wrenching amount of money to lose, at a time when inflation is rising at its fastest rate for 40 years."
Smoking ban in Manchester city centre  Smoking could be banned in Piccadilly Gardens (Image: ABNM)
Some public spaces in Manchester city centre could become 'smoke free' by the end of this year, as the city looks to follow in the footsteps of Melbourne and New York. People smoking in selected outdoor spaces would be asked to stub out their cigarette or leave the smoke-free zone as part of a new pilot project. But there are no plans to bring in by-laws or fines for people caught smoking, with an 'education-first' approach, offering smokers support to quit, favoured. Piccadilly Gardens, St Peter's Square and the area around Manchester town hall are all being considered as potential smoke-free outdoor public spaces. Banning smoking around the Etihad Stadium has also been suggested. And developers behind Mayfield Park, the new 'green lung' of the city set to open this summer, are already in talks about becoming a smoke-free space. A public consultation asking members of the public and local businesses for their views on the plans and for suggestions of places they want to become smoke-free is expected to start next month with a decision due in autumn. The first smoking ban in an outdoor public space could come into force by the end of the year with further smoke-free spaces introduced by March 2023. 
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Northern Stories  Ethan Mains, 3, with mum Alexa on the Freeman's children's heart unit (Image: Newcastle Chronicle)
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The families of five children waiting for a heart transplant have joined together to ask people to consider becoming organ donors. Since the pandemic the number of available organs has dropped, leading to extremely poorly children waiting even longer for a life-saving operation. Ward 23 of the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle is home to Leyla Bell, 10 months, Beatrix Adamson-Archbold, 18 months, Luke Myles, one, Ethan Mains, three, and Nour Hussein, eight. They are kept alive with portable blood pumps but cannot leave the hospital for long and rarely go outside. All five urgently need a new heart and their parents have made a joint appeal for more people to sign up to become a donor. -
Villagers in a remote Northumberland village have formed a campaign group in response to plans to open a new crushed rock quarry just 700 metres from a conservation area. A Newcastle-based firm has applied for permission from Northumberland County Council to extract four million tonnes of dolerite from a 28.7 hectare site close to the A696 and the village of Kirkwhelpington. The quarry would be operational for the next 20 years, creating 20 "long-term" jobs on site. However, local residents are concerned about the impact the site would have on their homes and have formed a campaign group to oppose the plans. -
"Nuisance" pub crawlers staggering through Leeds' famous Otley Run have been condemned for turning Headingley into "Magaluf" on weekends, says a councillor. Neil Walshaw claimed a rise in the number of binge drinkers on the route is leading to more anti-social behaviour and female residents in the area being harassed. The crawl stretches across 15 boozers from Otley Road in Far Headingley to the north-western edge of the city centre. Leeds City Council said it will start a crackdown on booze-related nuisance on the crawl, with on-the-spot fines potentially being dished out. -
A Yorkshire chief constable has revealed a police force which has been criticised over the poor quality of its child protection investigations has vacancies for about a third of detectives it needs. North Yorkshire Police's most senior officer Lisa Winward told a scrutiny committee that while the force had acted at speed in recent months to correct failures identified in an inspection by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, it had scores of vacant detective posts. The inspectors concluded investigations, including those involving missing children and child sexual exploitation, were being handed to inexperienced officers who lacked support. -
Plans for new country parks in East Lancashire are set to go ahead after a local authority came to an agreement to buy more than 80 acres of land. Hyndburn Council has had an offer accepted for Bury Meadows in Oswaldtwistle. Borough leader Cllr Miles Parkinson told its full meeting last month that it intended to but the 87 acres of land adjoining a former chemical works site off Nook Lane for the scheme.
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