The Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has called s for more powers, investment, and infrastructure across the North to help deliver economic growth
Addressing delegates at the Global Innovation Summit in Belfast today along with Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council and Greater Manchester Lead for Economy, Business and Inclusive Growth he told the audience that Greater Manchester has grown beyond recognition since the 1980s thanks to unique partnerships and devolution deals
“This success story may not last”, warns Mayor, without investment and break with London-centric ways of Whitehall
“Today, said the Mayor “when Bev and I travel around the world promoting our city, we are often proudly informed of the names of cities considered “the Manchester of” different countries, such as Finland, or India, or every country it seems has its Manchester. The second city that’s the outsider to the capital, the industrial city. And many countries proudly talk of their Manchester.”
Indeed, next year, we will go in numbers to the “the Manchester of the East” – Osaka – to celebrate with our friends there as they host World Expo and, with them, tell the story of the Japanese students who came in the 19th century to Manchester, to make drawings of the machinery in its mills and take those drawings back to Japan.
Burnham described his mission to make Greater Manchester the most highly networked city-region in the world, with a unique new model of city-region governance uniting all sectors – public, private, academic, voluntary, faith – in one big mission, which is to make us one of the 21st century’s most innovative and inclusive cities to be found anywhere in the world.
