May 2024 is the date of the next election for the people of Greater Manchester to choose who will be the Metro Mayor of the region. After nine years of Labour Mayors, will the people decide it is time for change or will they continue to vote for more of the same?
Has this role of Mayor benefited the everyday person? No is the simple answer, apart from the slightly cheaper bus tickets that were introduced last year after seven years. How was this funded? Council tax went up for everyone. Why does everything involve taking more tax from people? Why can't cost savings be found to fund new initiatives?
Why do I want to be Mayor? It is a thankless role. No matter what you do you upset as many people as you help. But we must remember that leadership is not a popularity contest, it is about making the right long-term decisions to benefit the people. Political careers must come second to the success of the region. I am not a career politician. I do not care if I am never elected into office again.
Andy Burnham came to office five years ago with a promise to end rough sleeping in three years. Unsurprisingly, we still have many rough sleepers throughout the city centre, albeit, the numbers are lower than they were. I raised this with Mayor Burnham last month on Twitter. He replied informing me that he has delivered on his promise for he has empty beds which can be used for rough sleepers. Having beds available is not the same as ending rough sleeping.
I have over 15 years of experience in the field of homelessness. I will end rough sleeping within one year. How? Through a combination of tough love, eradicating begging, and offering the type of support that people want to accept.
Having fellow citizens still sleeping on the streets is not the biggest failure of the Mayor. I have two more examples of poor performance.
Everyone wants to be safe, this is why we fund a police service through taxation. But in Greater Manchester, we allowed our police to underperform for years. Eventually, the government stepped in and placed it under special measures. It takes a long time to destroy an institution. All the blame cannot be placed at the feet of Mayor Burnham even though he had been warned several times by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary that it was a failing service. Blame must also be attributed to his predecessor Tony Lloyd and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. Mayor Burnham did act once it was placed into special measures. He appointed a new Chief Constable who seems to be doing a sterling job – I hope this continues.
Let us now discuss our current Mayor's major folly – the Clean Air Zone. The government instructed the Mayor to do something about air quality in a handful of places in Greater Manchester. How this would be achieved was up to the Mayor. I do not have time to discuss whether this was an EU directive or whether the pollution readings were out of date.
Did the Mayor produce a plan to tackle the problem areas? No. Of course not. A money-grabbing scheme was created to ensure that the Mayor had a long-term income stream to spend on any pet project he wished.
Under five thousand people were consulted on this far-reaching project – the democracy box ticked! Just before the launch, the people realised what was going on and rebelled. Andy Burham lost his bottle, postponed the launch, and sent his project to the government to be reviewed. Hundreds of millions have already been spent on this project that may never see the light of day.
The Clean Air Zone is an easy project to fix – I scrap it on day one if elected. The data is dodgy. The people do not want it. It is a stealth tax on businesses. And it opens the door to a congestion charge for all motorists. If the government does not like this policy decision, then I will see them in court. It is that easy. What is the point of having a Mayor if they are told what to do by Westminster?
I will create a Motoring Tzar to ensure that the concerns of the everyday motorist and business are heard. The assault on cars must stop. We all want to live in a clean world and other modes of transport are important, but the constant demonisation of cars must end for it is an attack on the working class.
I will create an Education Tzar to start us on the long road of educational improvement in the region. Far too many schools are failing their students, discipline is a huge issue, and a one-size-fits-all system does not work for all pupils. I want parents to have a bigger say and teaching materials to be made public for inspection.
I will create a police force fit for the 21st century. Did you notice that I said force, not service? I will build upon the good work started by the current Chief Constable by ejecting all wokery and getting back to basics. I want criminals terrified of the police and I want the public to respect the police again. After three years in office, other police forces will be looking at Greater Manchester Police as best practice and copying us.
I understand policing. I have worked with the police for over two decades. I use to be based in police stations, I have trained officers and directed patrols. I even won an award from Greater Manchester Police for setting up the most Home Watch projects.
I will crack down on the waste of taxpayer money by creating a Watchdog to publicly report on waste and incompetence. It will publicly highlight the failings of tax-funded services, including the Mayor's office - no more sweeping mistakes under the carpet. It is only through shining a light on issues can we be expected to learn and improve.
My main aim if elected will be to do the heavy lifting for those that will come after me. I wish to make the changes that may be unpopular but everyone knows must be done. Currently, politicians simply argue over how to arrange the public deckchairs for the convenience of their party. What they all fail to realise is that we are on the Titanic heading for disaster if we do not change course. I will change course.
Will we end up in a better place? I do not know. But I can guarantee it will feel better and make sense to the average person.
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Lessons In Courage, 2021: https://t.co/ey8xhpF6os