Surviving a traumatic journey across the sea and coming alive again in barber shops

Hopeful stories from Manchester’s Kurdish community

Dear Millers — as anyone who has ever been to a barbershop will tell you, most customers tend to sit quietly in their chairs, do their best to make small talk about the weather, and try not to pull a face when asked if they want any wax. Not Harry Robinson, who has been touring the barbers of south Manchester to profile the small but growing Kurdish immigrant population. It’s a lovely read. Also today: our briefing on Manchester’s growth strategy and the collapse of Wilko. 

And finally, in this week’s podcast Mollie and Daniel talk about last week’s bombshell news: the scrapping of the Manchester leg of HS2. How much of a big deal is this for Manchester, and what’s the situation like with our existing, not so high-speed railways? If you’d like to find out more, click this link to listen on your favoured podcasting platform.