‘Heavy-handed and discriminatory’: Why did GMP block dozens of Traveller children from attending the Christmas Markets?
Plus, who has the city’s breakneck growth really benefitted?
Dear readers — welcome to your Monday briefing, which, as ever, is packed with essential news and insights. Our top item explores what really went on after videos of police officers herding Romani Gypsies and Travellers onto trains at Victoria Station were posted online over the weekend — receiving 102k views on X and prompting widespread outrage (“This is a shocking case and it is completely unacceptable”, says the campaign group The Traveller Movement). Elsewhere, we asked the journalist Dave Haslam to weigh in on the Manchester question of our times: who does the city’s breakneck property-fuelled growth really benefit?
Over the weekend, David Rudlin wrote about the secret history of the world’s first suburb — Whalley Range. While Smiths fans will be aware that Morrissey’s assessment of the area isn’t the most glowing (“What do we get for our trouble and pain, just a rented room in Whalley Range” he sang on the band’s debut album) as it turns out, the history is fascinating. If you’re a fan of pioneering Victorian bankers and stories of Mancunian supremacy, this one’s for you. One reader described it as “beautiful writing” and another called it “a fascinating piece of social history”.
Don’t forget to read last week’s editions too, which includes Ophira stepping into a sweaty boxing gym in Oldham that’s breeding a new generation of fighters, and then stepping into a very different kind of fight: the eternal debate over whether the Christmas Markets are good or not. We let Ophira and Jack Walton face off, and then opened up a poll to our readers: who do you agree with most? The results are below (Jack spent most of Friday insisting that Ophira had “rigged the poll” using “bots”).
Editor’s note: As always, this Monday briefing is free to read, thanks to the generous support of our paying subscribers, who pay £8.90 a month to support our work and fund our mission. While we publish eight editions a month that are exclusively for paying subscribers, a core part of our mission is to publish an equal amount of free journalism for those who are less able to afford it. If you’re able to go one step further and would like to make sure we can continue to provide lots of free stories, please consider signing up by clicking the button below.
From today’s sponsor: Get your Christmas off to a cracking start with an evening musical magic in the company of Manchester Baroque and the Manchester Cathedral Choir performing Handel's timeless masterpiece, Messiah with its crowning glory of the Hallelujah chorus at Manchester Cathedral on 30 November. There’s a special two-for-one deal on tickets for Mill readers — just click here to buy yours.
🌤️ This week’s weather
After a very wet, very cold and very breezy week, we can expect some lovely dry weather and winter sun this week, according to our local weatherman Martin Miles.
Tuesday 🌦️ Scattered morning showers will ease to leave a mostly dry afternoon with sunny spells. 9°C.
Wednesday 🌤️ A cold and frosty start followed by a dry day with sunny spells. 6°C.
Thursday 🌤️ Dry with lots of sunshine accompanied by light winds, but feeling cold. 5°C.
Friday 🌦️ Cloudier and less cold with a few showers. 9°C.
Weekend ☁️ Mostly cloudy and mild, with light rain and drizzle at times.
You can find the latest forecast at Manchester Weather on Facebook — daily forecasts are published at 6.15am.
Your briefing
👮 On Saturday, groups of Romani Gypsies and Travellers gathered at the Arndale’s Exchange Square entrance, only to be unceremoniously herded to Victoria and placed onto trains heading out of the city without knowing the destination that same evening. Troubling footage posted on X showed a man pointing his finger at a police officer and swiftly being placed prostrate on the ground and placed under arrest. We’re told that the meetup is something that takes place every year and has been nicknamed “Grabber Weekend” — referring to the romantic tradition of finding a potential bride — but we’re unsure who gave the meetup this nickname. Has the annual event become a hotspot for crime? One city centre worker says before COVID, it was a fairly lighthearted event, but after the pandemic, the atmosphere is “hyper tense”, chaotic and unpredictable, with more “football hooliganism-style” violence, where different groups plan to meet up and fight each other. However, one Christmas market stallholder, Eddie, who runs the Porky Pig stall, says he’s never had any issues with the meetup, adding: “They don’t really do much wrong apart from being loud”. In a statement to The Mill, a Greater Manchester Police spokesperson says the force issued a dispersal order after receiving intelligence about antisocial behaviour, but acknowledged that “there are feelings of mistreatment and confusion amongst groups of people turned away yesterday, and we are determined to address these concerns by working closely with the Mayor’s office to engage these communities in Manchester and further afield.” Kate Green, deputy mayor for policing and crime, has asked the police “for a full report on the action taken”. Know more about this story? Get in touch with Ophira.
Correction 26/11/2024: A previous version of this story contained an incorrect definition of the phrase “Grabber Weekend”. We were told that Grabber Weekend was a problematic term that refers to someone who shoplifts, which we now know to be untrue. We apologise for the error.
🌆 Remember those dramatic yellow posters that appeared in Manchester city centre last week, saying the city has bulldozed its remaining bits of character and sold its soul to overseas property developers who want to build “plastic rental towers”? We wanted to hear from readers on what they made on the debate over whether Manchester’s property-fuelled growth has benefitted everyone, so we asked Dave Haslam, the Hacienda DJ and music journalist who has watched the city evolve over the years, to have his say on the poster’s central thesis. Let us know what you think by leaving us a comment or sending us an email — the best responses will feature in the next edition of The Mill.
Dave Haslam’s take: ‘There's a kowtowing to corporate interests which fuels alienation’
It’s nothing to do with nostalgia. It’s about looking for a civic strategy that doesn’t kill creativity, soul, a sense of belonging. That resists the power of the mega rich. That gives citizens agency. Manchester's problems at the end of 2024 include housing affordability, income inequality, transport congestion, pollution and poor health, low literacy levels, homelessness, and loss of libraries, youth clubs, post offices etc. Not all of these things are in the control of the Council, but none of these things are ameliorated by skyscrapers full of buy-to-rent apartments.
I've always had doubts about the poor social mix in new housing in the city centre. No attempt to cater for families or older people, leading to a young and transient population (eg. students); this isn't great for the long term cohesion and efficacy of the new builds. With more imagination and less quick fix solutions, surely there is a way to bring investment into a city without stripping back and removing its character?
For a city that prides itself of radical traditions — Peterloo, Chartists, Marx & Engels, the Suffragettes — isn't it depressing that we rolled out the red carpet for investment from human rights denying regimes like Abu Dhabi and China? Thinking further about Peterloo; the demand was for ordinary people to have a voice. I believe there's now a kowtowing to corporate interests which fuels alienation; decisions are taken above our heads, demolishing our stake in the city. The poster has triggered a debate — belatedly. Economic growth is great but not so much if much of the money gets funneled to China or the UEA.
🎭 On Friday, Mollie reported back from the English National Opera’s showy launch event. But what will ENO relocating to Greater Manchester actually look like? “The general feeling is the new plans are something quite unlike an opera company as we know it, in that it has no main stage plans so far, no confirmed orchestra, and no designated base,” says one well-informed musical watcher. The ENO has announced a series of worthy activities that might have been called “community outreach” before but now seem central to their plans. “This is ENO fully pivoting to a public service role, which is playing extremely well with the politicians and arts decision makers,” says our insider. “A lot of people in the room today were from that world, and remarkably few from the opera world, which is telling.” But can a rootless ENO — with no bricks and mortar in the city and no commitment to a full time orchestra or chorus doing lots of main-stage opera — really make a proper impact here? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Quick hits
🐒 Animal rights activists will gather outside Manchester Town Hall on Wednesday at 9am to protest the secret flights of macaque monkeys arriving at Manchester Airport, destined for animal testing. A recent Freedom of Information request returned photos of macaque monkeys in transit, in crates smeared with blood. Last year, The Mill published an extensive report on Manchester Aiport’s role as a gateway for inhumane animal testing, speaking to campaigners who described Manchester as “a gateway for a very cruel industry”.
🎁 Olympias, a local charity that provides free music lessons for children on lower incomes, is hoping to raise £21,500 to welcome an additional 25 children on free school meals and provide them with instruments, repairs, books, exams, special events and termly concerts. We wrote about Olympias last year, after a reader told us they operate on a shoestring and a lot of their work is done by volunteers. If you’d like to support their mission, please consider donating here.
Home of the week
For the dog walkers and the waterfowl watchers among us — this Victorian three bed in Blackley is just a stone’s throw from Boggart Hole Clough. £250,000
Our favourite reads
‘It’s a Labour stitch-up’: The battle behind Britain’s biggest wind farm — The Telegraph
Farmers on Scout Moor, in Rochdale, are opposing the expansion of the second biggest wind farm in the UK from 26 turbines to 42. The last time this was tabled, it was reversed after public uproar and a public inquiry. But now the government have relaxed the rules around building wind farms. “We’ve now got a Labour Government and a Labour Council,” says one particularly irate local. “And our council will simply do anything for money.”
How prolific lies and a missing £13.7m resulted in 22-month jail sentences for Inc trio — The Business Desk
Business Desk editor and longtime Miller Michael Taylor chronicles the downfall of Manchester private equity firm Inc & Co. The three men running the company have been sentenced to 22 months in jail for contempt of court, and stand accused of stealing over £13m from Barclays. Documents show the money was used to fund private jets, buy other businesses and enrich the company’s founders. Now, two of the men are on the run.
The Martlet, Rochdale: ‘A victory of professionalism’ — The Guardian
Jay Rayner dines at the Martlet, the new restaurant inside the beautifully renovated Rochdale Town Hall. Given the success of the renovation, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the food and drink offering was phoned in, to quote Rayner: “They could have installed a modish and frankly annoying pan-European small plates bistro that nobody wanted.” Instead the Martlet is something to be proud of, serving classic rag puddings, pork chops, bombay breakfasts, Eccles cakes and scones. “Every town should have one.”
Our to do list
Tuesday
🎨 The Lowry has just opened the first iteration of its new exhibition series Local / National / International, each bringing together three artists from the north of England who share a common interest or artistic medium. The current iteration features artists Aliyah Hussain, Paloma Proudfoot, and Renee So, who all use ceramics as a method of storytelling, and explore feminist themes in “seductive and sometimes humorous ways”.
🍷 Studio Bee in the Northern Quarter is hosting a life-drawing event with wine and tapas (beer and non-alcoholic drinks are available too). Doors open at 7pm and drawing starts at half past — and a warning, the studios are a little tricky to locate, but you’ll find them above the Peer Hat.
Wednesday
📖 The UK’s first East and South East Asian bookshop — Juniper by the Sea — is hosting an evening conversation with Harvey Weinstein survivor and #MeToo activist Rowena Chiu. The event is free to attend.
📽️ And another free one for you: P3 Annihilation Eve on Oldham Road is showing a screening of Goodbye, Dragon Inn, as part of its Time & Meditation Trilogy. The 2003 Taiwanese comedy-drama centres around a closing-down cinema hosting a final screening of the 1967 film Dragon Inn. While the event is free, booking is still required.
Thursday
🏊♀️ RIBA and Seven Architecture are teaming up to host a building tour of Withington Baths — a building dating from 1911, and the last working pool of its era in Manchester. Withington Baths was saved from closure by the local community in 2015, and since then has run as a not-for-profit. Pizza and drinks (included in the ticket price) follow a guided tour.
🎲 And finally, the Portico Library is hosting The Unbuilt Room, an interactive journey inspired by choose-your-own-adventure stories and early text-adventure computer games. The event combines contemporary gaming with bare-bones storytelling. Tickets cost between £3-7 and can be purchased here.
Thanks to this week’s sponsor, Manchester Baroque.
I disagree with Dave Haslam.
The economic growth arising from the construction of new towers of apartments benefits everyone, some directly, other indirectly. As The Mill pointed out a while ago, Manchester’s council tax base has increased dramatically due to the new construction. That benefits everyone who lives in Manchester.
On top of that is the economic activity spurred by all the new residents.
Dave should buy an economics textbook.
It is so easy for people like Dave Haslam to make this claim time and again without any real suggestion of what should be done instead.
In a strange way it reminds of the Farage / Reform tactic of parroting things which sound logical on paper but would be wholly unachievable if they ever somehow managed to come to power. I have friends I respect who like Farage because they think he ‘talks sense’ and in the same way I have many friends who constantly reshare and support Dave Haslam’s perspective.
There is a genuine debate to be had about the gentrification of Manchester but it should be had with people who have genuine, workable alternatives to what we’ve seen so far.