Manchester’s devolution has been ‘sprung upon’ the people of the city – who rejected having a mayor just two years ago, according to a Green Party representative.
The devolution plans, announced recently by Chancellor George Osborne, promise Greater Manchester its own directly-elected mayor and £1billion worth of discretion over transport, housing, planning and policing in return.
However, Laura Bannister, a prospective Green Party parliamentary candidate for Manchester Gorton, believes that people in the region have been kept in the dark over the changes.
“It doesn’t look like this is something that’s being done with the involvement of people from Manchester, it’s been sprung upon us,” Bannister told MM.
“We haven’t yet got enough information on what’s proposed to understand whether it could be a good thing or not.”
Manchester held a mayoral referendum in 2012, which resulted a majority of the 91,270 voters casting a ‘No’ vote.
However, no such process has been carried out since then, which the Green Party candidate sees as undemocratic, calling for a referendum similar to that which Scotland recently held.
“It’s certainly something that should have had a lot more democratic discussion before it was brought out and it also doesn’t look like we’re getting a wide range of electoral assembly,” Bannister added.
“When Scotland voted on devolution in September, it was seen as a high water mark of democracy with 84.6% of the population voting.
“The debate and discussion leading to the referendum took place over two years. No such process has happened in Greater Manchester.”
According to the Green Party, news of the devolution deal between the 10 Greater Manchester Councils and the coalition government took most people in the region by surprise.
They also believe that there are no additional resources in the agreement that would not have likely come to the region anyway. In fact, Manchester Council is facing an additional £60 million in cuts next year.
Bannister also believes that the people of Greater Manchester would need more information to form opinions on the matter in the event of a referendum.
“We need time to understand what the proposals are, and for recent referendums in Manchester there has been very little information put out,” Bannister said.
“The police commission elections were a complete surprise for most people. We didn’t even have a booklet through the door explaining what was going on or information about the candidates. We need the time and resources to form proper opinions before the referendum.
“What would benefit Manchester is any scheme where the people of Manchester get more say on what happens in the city and have a direct link with the people making those decisions.”
Image courtesy of Raver Mikey, with thanks.
