Northern mayors like @andyburnham.bsky.social and @kimmcguinness.bsky.social have signed a letter to Rachel Reeves calling for Northern Powerhouse Rail to be delivered in full and the two-child benefit cap to be lifted www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-e... But one mayor refused to sign... 1/3

HOLIDAY SNAPS! The 'Boys from Brazil' visit the Amazon rainforest for the COP30 climate summit. Here's today's @thenorthernagenda.bsky.social cartoon... www.shareyourstories.live/northern-agenda/

A superb cartoon by @graemebandeira.bsky.social for the @thenorthernagenda.bsky.social - Great drawing. Lots of beautiful details. "NOTFIXED" - The #art of an #editorial #cartoon on #UK Exchequer #RachelReeves and the #Budget - #Labour #government #KeirStarmer - #Netflix #Wednesday

STEALING A LIVING! Inspired by the heist at Le Louvre here's today's @thenorthernagenda.bsky.social cartoon... www.shareyourstories.live/northern-agenda/

🚨 New regional analysis of Pride in Place funding 🚨 We've crunched the numbers and found that the North is set to be a major benefactor of the government’s Pride in Place fund 🧮 Read all about it in today's @thenorthernagenda.bsky.social 📫 newsletters.e.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/-rESDdIxHn7C...

MADCHESTER! Will there be many Unhappy Mondays ahead for Kemi? Here's today's @thenorthernagenda.bsky.social cartoon...

Will Greater Manchester be left out in the cold by Keir Starmer's government after Andy Burnham's high-profile antics at Labour conference? I chat with @liamthorp.bsky.social and @josephtiman.bsky.social on the Northern Agenda podcast this week - recorded in the Liverpool Echo's fancy studio! 1/2

'The qualities that made Angela Rayner so good are those you're more likely to see in Northern people' @liamthorp.bsky.social on the Labour deputy leader race... Have a listen to this week's episode of The Northern Agenda podcast here: podfollow.com/the-northern...

Sorry for another self-indulgent post but it was my last newsletter as Northern Agenda Editor today 😢 You can read it here: newsletters.e.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/nxOY1JhcPDmq...

Nice bold interview piece with @kimmcguinness.bsky.social - in today's @thenorthernagenda.bsky.social newsletter. Gave me a chuckle!👏👊

Does it matter if Labour's next Deputy Leader is a Northern woman? And why have Reform UK got it wrong about Northern Powerhouse Rail? @liamthorp.bsky.social and I talk about this - and more - on the Northern Agenda podcast. Have a listen here! podfollow.com/the-northern...

SHOWDOWN! It's confirmed! Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell will battle it out for the Labour deputy leadership! Here's tomorrow's @thenorthernagenda.bsky.social cartoon... www.shareyourstories.live/northern-agenda/

I'm sad to see Local Govt and Devo Minister Jim McMahon lose his job in Keir Starmer's big reshuffle - not least because I'd just interviewed him for the Northern Agenda podcast... Here he is talking about empowering local leaders and how too many decisions are still being made in Whitehall. 1/2

I have some job news...

CALL THE MIDWIFE! Contractions have started in 'second phase' of Labour! Here's today's @thenorthernagenda.bsky.social cartoon... www.shareyourstories.live/northern-agenda/

It seems Angela Rayner (pictured below at Downing Street) is away from the public eye today at a meeting of the Mayoral Council at Derbyshire stately home Chatsworth House. One person in attendance tells me the DPM seemed to be in 'business as usual' mode and was even cracking jokes...

"It doesn't send a good sign when councils close the door and refuse to engage with the local press." Local Government Minister (and former Oldham council leader) @jimmcmahon.co.uk on Reform UK's Nottingham Post/Notts Live ban... @oliverpridmore.bsky.social 1/2

This story might be worth bearing in mind next time shadow justice secretary @robertjenrickmp.bsky.social talks about law and order😐 From today's Northern Agenda newsletter, great scoop by @paddyedrich.bsky.social in the Liverpool Echo 1/2

SEVERE CUTS! Couldn't overlook the craziness of the 'Ibiza final boss' story this week which dovetailed beautifully with Starmer's waining popularity! Here's today's @thenorthernagenda.bsky.social cartoon... www.shareyourstories.live/northern-agenda/

The Starmer-Trump US-UK trade deal removing tariffs on £1bn+ of cheaper US ethanol means Hull firm Vivergo Fuels will have to start making staff redundant on Tuesday - unless govt steps in. Here's the firm's MD Ben Hackett speaking on The Northern Agenda podcast today 1/2

Billions of £ of investment in vital infrastructure is promised by the Labour govt in the coming years - but the biggest projects in the North aren't in transport, energy or schools. That was what I discovered when I had a look at the online Infrastructure Pipeline. Regional breakdown here... 1/12

DOUBLE TROUBLE! It’s important to highlight the plight of two of our great Northern clubs. Morecambe FC and Sheffield Wednesday FC. It’s a travesty what is happening! Here’s today’s @thenorthernagenda.bsky.social cartoon www.shareyourstories.live/northern-age...

It was brilliant to have the always excellent and very nice @priceoffootball.bsky.social on The Northern Agenda pod this week Keiran provided a fascinating if not depressing analysis of the d superset plights of some of the north’s proud football institutions

'You can't eliminate the danger of another Bury or Macclesfield Town going out of existence. But you can have greater checks and balances to dissuade wrong'uns from entering the industry' Keiran Maguire (@priceoffootball.bsky.social) on regulating football on the Northern Agenda podcast 1/2

Leeds South West and Morley MP Mark Sewards (@markjsewards.bsky.social) announced this week he'd worked with a local start-up to create a prototype AI version of himself to answer constituents' questions/deal with case work. I'm not a constituent but thought I'd give AI Mark Sewards a call 📲 1/2

QUI EST KEIR? Next month I have 25 Keir Starmer @thenorthernagenda.bsky.social cartoons on show at the 44th Salon International de la Caricature in St Just, France. Must get my Tricolore book out and brush up on my French! Une bière, s'il vous plaît 🍺 Here's a few that will be on show..

The Government is shaking up the way it funds councils to make things fairer - but it's going to mean town halls in London losing out (while those up North largely benefit) New analysis by @theifs.bsky.social - and graphic by Marianna Longo in today's Northern Agenda newsletter... 1/2

What have Reform UK been up to in their first 3 months in power in the North's councils/mayoralties? I asked ace Local Democracy Reporters in Lancashire, Hull and Durham who've been following things on the ground Thanks: @paulfaulkner1980.bsky.social, Bill Edgar and @andygspence.bsky.social 1/2

BONNIE SCOTLAND? Like him or loathe him, Donald Trump had Keir Starmer in a spin this week! Here's today's @thenorthernagenda.bsky.social cartoon...

Younger, better connected and more diverse: why watchdog is leaving Cheshire town for Manchester A story I wrote for @manchestereveningnews.co.uk eveningnews.co.uk about the Information Commissioner's Office moving its HQ from Wilmslow to Oxford Road www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater...

Great op-ed by Professor Kieran Fernandes of @durham-university.bsky.social in today's Northern Agenda - read the full thing here: newsletters.e.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/20r6yomeCp79...

Have Labour "prioritised the miners over the minors who suffered...at the hands of rape gangs"? That's what a Tory MP claims after the Government announced a public inquiry into the Battle of Orgreave. On the Northern Agenda podcast, @robparsonsna.bsky.social explains why he's wrong. 1/2

Have Labour "prioritised the miners over the minors who suffered...at the hands of rape gangs"? That's what a Tory MP claims after the Government announced a public inquiry into the Battle of Orgreave. On the Northern Agenda podcast, @robparsonsna.bsky.social explains why he's wrong. 1/2

You can listen to the full Northern Agenda podcast with me and @robparsonsna.bsky.social where we also discuss Orgreave, Hillsborough and Merseyside's controversial new public transport plan podfollow.com/the-northern...

Until we get the truth about the 1984 Battle of Orgreave it's going to remain an open wound for a lot of mining communities - and undermine their faith in the police. Me on this week's Northern Agenda podcast... @orgreavejustice.bsky.social 1/2

LET IT FLOW! Farage spreading lies again as sewage problem escalates. Here's today's @thenorthernagenda.bsky.social cartoon... www.shareyourstories.live/northern-agenda/

'We have this chance now of wiping the slate clean so our children and grandchildren can respect the police again' Kevin Horne, one of the 95 miners arrested after the 1984 Battle of Orgreave, tells a press conference in Sheffield what a public inquiry could mean @orgreavejustice.bsky.social

'If we want to keep the spirit of Oasis alive in Manchester and help an Oasis of the future thrive, we've got to make sure people can come through the system' @sarahlonglands.bsky.social of @clesthinkdo.bsky.social on the Northern Agenda podcast Listen here: podfollow.com/the-northern...

'Performative populist politics' @liamthorp.bsky.social on the decision by the ruling Reform UK group on Durham County Council to revoke the climate emergency declared by the same council in 2019. Hear our full chat on the Northern Agenda podcast: podfollow.com/the-northern...

This week on the Northern Agenda podcast, @liamthorp.bsky.social and I are joined by the brilliant @sarahlonglands.bsky.social to talk - How do we spread the benefits of the Oasis gigs? - What's really going on with Reform UK revoking the climate emergency in Durham? podfollow.com/the-northern...

Plans to convert historic York city centre building into country’s biggest independent bookshop approved. via @thenorthernagenda.bsky.social. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

POLITICAL PLANET! Another Tory defection! Here’s today’s @thenorthernagenda.bsky.social cartoon… www.shareyourstories.live/northern-age...

Here's the funding needed to keep Greater Manchester's publicly-run bus network going each year - and less than half of it comes from passengers' fares But actually that's far from unusual... Graphic by Greater Manchester Combined Authority (@greatermcr.bsky.social‬) A thread 1/8

At the start of this week’s Northern Agenda pod I spoke about how our Liverpool Echo newsroom responded to the terrible news of the death of Diogo Jota Me & @robparsonsna.bsky.social then discussed the 1st year in power for Keir Starmer Have a listen: cms.megaphone.fm/channel/nort...

This week on the Northern Agenda podcast, @liamthorp.bsky.social and I chat: ▶️ Starmer's first year as PM: What's been good and what's been bad for the North? ▶️ What's the real cost of Andy Burnham's bus network? ▶️ Is there actually a pub called the Dog and Duck? podfollow.com/the-northern...

Here’s today’s @thenorthernagenda.bsky.social cartoon… www.shareyourstories.live/northern-age...

Great piece by @zoebillingham.bsky.social of @ipprnorth.bsky.social in today's Northern Agenda Extra - have a read here... www.linkedin.com/pulse/starme...

🚨 Total Place klaxon 🚨 The government have said they will work with mayors on a total place basis in the ten year health plan. 🥳

This week on the Northern Agenda podcast I'm looking into potholes... Roads Minister Lilian Greenwood (@liliangreenwood.bsky.social‬) tells me why making town halls publish more information about them from today will help make our roads better podfollow.com/the-northern...