Knockin’ about . . . is city region a non-starter?

INTRIGUED, I attended a debate last week on Greater Manchester achieving city region status.

Quite what this means I am not yet sure, but stick with me.

Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce hosted the event that included a group of worthy speakers, including Dermot Finch, director of Centre Cities, Lord Peter Smith, leader of Wigan Council and chairman of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, celebrity Oldham Athletic fan Peter Heginbotham, who is also President of Greater Manchester Chamber, and the Chamber’s chief executive Angie Robinson.

Their collective argument was that Manchester, as a region, can have an impact on the great wide world, rather than say, Wigan or, come to that, Oldham.

The argument, obviously, is unanswerable. Virtually everyone, everywhere, has heard of Manchester, thanks to at least one of the city’s football teams, but who in, say, downtown Shanghai, or uptown Kolkata, or midtown Bangalore, has heard of Trafford?

Trafford is that strange amalgam in South Manchester that has married, for parliamentary convenience, the mind bogglingly different communities of Stretford and Altrincham/Hale.

It’s a bit like Tameside — everyone’s heard of it but no one knows where it is and precious few, especially from the outside world, want to go there.

Why would they?

But Manchester. Everyone wants to come to Manchester . . . or do they? The last time I inquired there wasn’t a single inbound charter flight into Manchester International Airport.
Lots of inbound flights from all over the place, but not charters, which invariably carry tourists. Anyway, I digress . . . back to City Region Status.

Dermot Finch described himself as a former HM Treasury man who did 10 years with the Government (1994 to 2005).

He really believes in city regions and argued persuasively. But no one, and I was awake for most of the two hours, could tell me how we achieve such a thing.

Why? Parochialism rules, OK?

A woman I work with told me she would never, ever, under any circumstances, consider living in Oldham. Ever! Where does she live? Well, Royton actually.

It’s the same everywhere I suspect. In Tameside everyone lives in Mossley or Ashton or Hyde or Longdendale.

In Bury they are in Prestwich or Summerseat or Ramsbottom.

If the populace cannot agree on which borough they reside in, how are they ever going to agree that they live in Manchester City Region?

If Manchester was to elect a Boris Johnson type mayor, would anyone in Bolton or Stockport accept his or her authority?

Course not. Great idea in theory, and there would be massive benefits not least for companies that trade internationally, but the reality is a long way off.