FRIENDS OF THE EARTH DIRECTOR QUESTIONS GOVERNMENT AND POLICE PRIORITIES

`Is the Government and the police protecting the interests of big corporations here?…'

There were more arrests and Greater Manchester Police aggression at Barton Moss today, as a Friends of the Earth Director questioned both Government and police priorities on a visit to the Salford Community Protection Camp site.

A lock on in the middle of the public footpath on Barton Moss Road by two protectors ensured that iGas delivery lorries were delayed for over an hour from exiting the exploratory drilling site, but later Tactical Aid Unit officers went into action.

A Salford Star Exclusive

NEW MARKET TO OPEN ON FITZWARREN STREET AT EASTER

After the closure and subsequent bulldozing of Salford Precinct's second hand market in early 2012, a new one is about to spring up across the road from where the old one was based.

The new market, due to open 18th April on Fitzwarren Street, will have up to sixty stalls with plans for more, and will feature both an indoor and outdoor section… "We want to build this into the best second hand based market in the North West" says its owner.

PUBLIC VOTES NOT TO IMPLEMENT £24.5MILLION OF CUTS IN SALFORD 

"They're all playing the Government's game…and we're all going to suffer"

After a big protest outside Salford City Council Civic Centre this lunchtime, campaigners shut down the full meeting of the Council as it was in the process of rubber stamping £24.5million of cuts.

While the councillors shuffled off to a safe place, in the public gallery a vote was taken not to implement the cuts in Salford and was passed unanimously.

A Salford Star Exclusive

SERVICES TO VULNERABLE CUT TO PAY FOR BRIDGES, WALKWAYS, CHAPEL ST AND MORE

This afternoon Salford Council is meeting to rubber stamp new cuts of £24.561million, with a big protest planned outside the Civic Centre for 1pm.

The cuts include the axe for lots of services for the most vulnerable people in the city – but the Salford Star has discovered that some of the cuts are being made, in part, to finance Council spending on prestige projects. The Star tried to ask the Council about this but it never responded. Why?

`WE'RE NOT PUTTING UP WITH IT'

Last night council workers joined with community activists, and family and friends of some of the most vulnerable people in the city in a last ditch plea to ruling Labour Party councillors not to pass £24.5million of cuts at the full meeting of Salford Council on Wednesday afternoon.

Before a further protest at 1pm on Wednesday outside the Civic Centre, letters were handed to councillors spelling out the horror of their cuts, urging them not to do the dirty work of the ConDem Government.

CAMPAIGNERS TAKE BED FIGHT TO GREATER MANCHESTER WEST MENTAL HEALTH TRUST HQ

Campaigners today lobbied Greater Manchester West Mental Health Trust's board meeting over plans to axe 54 elderly and adult care beds across Salford and Bolton.

The Trust wants to get rid of the beds and move towards `community care' but users, carers, staff and community campaigners who lobbied the meeting say it will be a `disaster'.

`IT WAS A FIX' SAY CAMPAIGNERS AS THREE YEAR BATTLE AGAINST PEEL INCINERATOR IS LOST

"Today is a backward step for democracy and localism"

In the High Court in Manchester today, Trafford Council lost its legal challenge to Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, who had previously given the nod for the Peel Holdings incinerator to be built.

Furious campaigners from the Breathe Clean Air Group accused both the Environment Agency and the Planning system of letting them down… "both seem stacked in the favour of the developer"…

HASLAM AND CO BEAT THE SALFORD FRACKERS

Hundreds of people, old and young, flocked to a layby on the A57 today for Gig At The Rig in support of the Barton Moss Community Protection Camp. With classic sounds by DJ Dave Haslam and co, and Camp resident singer Darren Nesbit, the site, which has been a fracking battleground over the last few months, took on a fun family vibe. And not a policeman in view.

SALFORD STAR SPEAKS ON THE NEED FOR A FREE PRESS

Manchester Mule and the Need For A Radical Free Press In Manchester
Tuesday 25th February 6:30pm
Mechanics Institute, Manchester

Council cuts, Barton Moss, Mayors, big business profiteering… Need anyone say more about the need for a free press that holds authority up to account in Greater Manchester?

On Tuesday the Manchester and Salford branch of the Nation Union of Journalists is holding an open meeting, with speakers from the Salford Star, Mule and alternative press expert Tony Harcup.

FRACKING, CUTS, BENEFITS, IMMIGRATION…WHO'S GOT THE ANSWERS?

Tory v Socialism Debate
Tuesday 25th February 7:30pm free
Walkden Legion Club

Ladies and gentlemen. Tuesday night in Walkden sees a heavyweight debating bout between, in the left corner, Steven North branch secretary of Salford City UNISON, and in the right corner, Iain Lindley, Tory councillor for Walkden South. We're sure there'll be verbal biting, scratching and below the belt punching as the two go head to head in front of a live Salford audience.

MAD WEEK AT BARTON MOSS ENDS WITH A PARTY!

Gig At The Rig
Sunday 23rd February 1:30pm onwards
Barton Moss Community Protection Camp

After a mad, mad week at Barton Moss that featured everything from a High Court eviction case to the arrest of a Salford schoolgirl, there's a bit of light relief tomorrow with the Gig At The Rig, featuring Hacienda DJ Dave Haslam, Camp protest singing legend Darren Nesbit, poets, comedians and lots more.

`SHOCKING'…`SHAMEFUL'…`SCARY'…
OUTRAGE AS 15 YEAR OLD CADISHEAD GIRL ARRESTED

Saffron, a 15 year old schoolgirl from Cadishead, was arrested by Greater Manchester Police at Barton Moss yesterday, as eye witnesses told the Salford Star it was `shocking', `shameful' and `scary'

Last night, around two dozen people protested outside Swinton Police Station, while Saffron was held for six hours without being allowed access to her mother.

PEEL HOLDINGS FAILS TO GET IMMEDIATE EVICTION ORDER

Gig At The Rig
Sunday 23rd February 1:30pm onwards

Today at Manchester Civil Justice Centre, Peel Holdings failed in its bid to get an immediate eviction for the Barton Moss Community Protection Camp. The hearing was adjourned for two weeks, until 10:30am on March 6th. Speaking outside the Court, Vanda from the Camp said "This was the outcome we expected and needed".

The adjournment means that this Sundays Gig At The Rig, starring Hacienda DJ Dave Haslam and Barton Moss Camp singing legend Darren Nesbit will definitely go ahead.

HAZEL DOES ONE

Mega controversial Salford and Eccles MP Hazel Blears has announced to members of the Labour Party tonight that she is stepping down at the next General Election.

DEMO HEARS OF DISABLED PEOPLE'S DEATH SCANDAL

Over seventy people, including the disabled, trade unionists and health workers, joined a demonstration outside ATOS Salford offices yesterday, part of a national protest in 144 locations across the UK.

A rep from Manchester Users Network told the crowd that "Hundreds of people on the point of death are being classed as fit for work and something has to be done to draw people's attention to it".

"I AM STAGGERED WITH WHAT I'VE SEEN…I JUST STOOD ON THE SIDE AND CRIED"

For Salford school half term, yesterday was designated Children's Day at the Barton Moss Community Protection Camp with crafts, balloons and games. In between the fun, local families witnessed the full force of the Greater Manchester Police Tactical Aid Unit in action, as old ladies, children and residents were almost forced into a dangerous stampede during iGas lorry deliveries to the exploratory drilling site.

BARTON MOSS CAMP GETS EVICTION NOTICE

Peels Holdings, or the Peel Group, today served notice of eviction to the Barton Moss Community Protection Camp in the name of two of its companies – Manchester Ship Canal Developments Ltd and Peel Investments (North) Ltd. The case will be heard at the High Court at Manchester Civil Justice Centre on 21st February.

The eviction notice came during another dramatic day of what Salford residents called "disgusting policing" at Barton Moss Children's Day, that saw more arrests as the iGas lorries delivered to its exploratory drilling site.

PEEL HOLDINGS PUT MANCHESTER ON SALFORD SHIRTS

After the £millions of loans and grants from Salford Council, and after taking the Salford name off the stadium they play at, the newly named Salford Red Devils played their first game of the season on Sunday with MediaCityUK Manchester plastered on their shirts, courtesy of sponsors Peel Holdings.

Is this the final insult to Salford people? Not at all… there's more!

SALFORD JOINS NATIONAL OUTCRY AGAINST ATOS

ATOS DEMO
Wednesday 19th February 12noon
Assessment Centre, Bridge Street

Tomorrow sees a day of national action against ATOS, the company which is paid be the government to assess disabled people on whether or not they are fit to work, and which has ruined thousands of lives by cutting benefits.

ATOS will be charged with `crimes against disability' by people from Manchester and Salford who will join a series of protests throughout the country. 

BEDROOM TAX LOOPHOLE CLOSES MARCH 3RD

Salford Bedroom Tax victims have until March 3rd to state that they have been on continuous housing benefits since 1996 and thus avoid paying the dreaded Tax - and even claim back payments, thanks a recently discovered loophole that the Government is closing in two week.

GREATER MANCHESTER POLICE AGAIN IN SALFORD FRACKING SPOTLIGHT

Vanda, the Barton Moss protector mother, whose brutal arrest on Saturday was captured on film and photos and flashed around the world, was today back at the Barton Moss Community Protection Camp accusing Greater Manchester Police of acting `like a pack of wolves'.

Meanwhile, despite bailiff notices this morning, around sixty anti-fracking campaigners slowed down lorries delivering to the iGas exploratory drilling site.

GREATER MANCHESTER POLICE BACKLASH AT BARTON MOSS AS HUMAN RIGHTS GO `INTO THE GUTTER'

"They were just hitting everybody. It was chaos…horrendous…" Diane

A woman who, we understand, was having a fit, was handcuffed and dragged through a field by Greater Manchester Police Tactical Aid Unit officers at Barton Moss this afternoon. She lay on the floor for 45 minutes before an ambulance arrived.

After another unbelievable day that saw four arrests, Peel Holdings declare people were trespassing on their Barton Moss Road and police sealing off the public footpath, solicitor Simon Pook is to bring in the United Nations… "Greater Manchester Police appear to have discarded the European Convention of Human Rights into the gutter" he said.

CAN ART SHOW PROGRESS?  

1914-2014: A Century of Change
Salford Art Club Annual Exhibition
Salford Museum and Art Gallery until May 2014 free

Salford Art Club has opened its annual show at the Salford Museum and Art Gallery which this year has the theme of change, and its artists look at the last hundred years, since World War 1, to create, as always, excellent expressions. David Brooke went along to the opening and was well impressed…

IGAS LORRIES BLOCKED ALL DAY BY CAMPAIGNERS

For the first time since the Barton Moss Community Protection Camp was set up in November the iGas lorries failed to deliver to the exploratory drilling site after an eight hour stand off with protectors.

Following the District Judge ruling yesterday that Barton Moss is a public footpath rather than a highway, police appeared powerless to force back campaigners to allow the lorries through.

JUDGE RULES YOU CANNOT OBSTRUCT A HIGHWAY THAT DOESN'T EXIST

For three months Greater Manchester Police officers, at great public cost, have been arresting anti-fracking campaigners at Barton Moss for `obstruction of the highway' as they sought to slow down lorries delivering to the iGas exploratory drilling site on Barton Moss Road.

Yesterday, at Manchester Magistrates Court, the District Judge ruled that Barton Moss Road was a public footpath, not a highway, as the GMP case looks set to collapse.

A Salford Star Exclusive

IF YOU'RE ELDERLY AND ILL, IT'S DO IT YOURSELF HEALTH - AND YOU'LL PAY FOR THE `PLEASURE'!

Adult social care in Salford is being transformed, as elderly people are to be `deflected' back into their own homes, with technology replacing human carers, targets to keep people out of residential homes and hospitals, and payments for everything, as Salford City Council admits that its service is heading for total privatisation.

Behind it all are Salford Council cuts, ConDem Government bribes and silence from all involved - until it's presented as a fait accompli.

RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL BROUGHT INTO BARTON MOSS

A lorry carrying a Radioactive sign arrived at the iGas exploratory drilling site at Barton Moss this morning, displaying the symbol CS-137, which is short for Caesium-137, a `radioactive isotope of Caesium' used in nuclear reactors and weapons.

A spokesperson for iGas told the Salford Star that the radioactive material does "not represent any danger to the environment if the operating procedures are properly followed".

"THEY'RE DOING THIS TO PEOPLE LIKE US BECAUSE IT'S SO HARD FOR US TO FIGHT"

Parents. carers, drivers and escorts packed the Swinton Royal Legion last night to discuss the fightback against Salford Council plans to cut transport for people with special needs. Time and again during the meeting people were asking `Why?'

"Why are they not protecting the most needy in society…Why is the Council cutting jobs that protect my disabled daughter?" said a father. Salford Mayor, Ian Stewart, who had been invited to attend, didn't show up.

UK JUSTICE BRANDED A FARCE AT CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICE PROTEST RALLY FOR ANTHONY GRAINGER

"This is orchestrated by the establishment to…keep the family from getting any kind of justice" Wesley Ahmed

A protest rally was held this lunchtime outside the Manchester headquarters of the Crown Prosecution Service, as campaigners learned that Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy had pleaded not guilty to charges relating to the death of Salford man Anthony Grainger, in what they called a `farcical trial'.

BREATHE CLEAN AIR GROUP CLAIMS PRO-PEEL HOLDINGS BIAS

Today and tomorrow, the High Court in Manchester will hear Trafford Council's appeal against Tory Minister Eric Pickles' decision to allow planning permission for Peel Holdings' Davyhulme Incinerator, or the Barton Renewable Energy Plant, which will affect Salford residents.

The Breathe Clean Air Group, which has campaigned against the Incinerator for over three years, claims that, so far, the planning process has been ridiculously biased.

GIRLS WILL BE BOYS AND BOYS WILL BE GIRLS IN NATIONAL THEATRE CONNECTION

Pronoun
By Evan Placey
Tuesday 25th/Wednesday 26th February/Sun 4th May
The Lowry £7/£5

Young people from Salford tackle Pronoun, the latest National Theatre Connections play in which a girl changes into a boy while her boyfriend still loves her – and 50s icon James Dean twists the plot. Confused? Probably. Entertained? Definitely!

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE WELFARE STATE?

Public Meeting with author Paula Bartley and NHS campaigner Hugh Caffrey
Saturday 15th February 2pm free
Langworthy Cornerstone

Going, going…almost gone! Whatever happened to the Welfare State and the NHS? This will be discussed alongside an appreciation of Ellen Wilkinson MP, one of the founders of the Welfare State, at a meeting of the new Mary Quaile Club at the Cornerstone next Saturday.

JUSTICE 4 GRAINGER TO PICKET PETER FAHY TRIAL

Justice4Grainger Protest
Monday 10th February 12noon
Crown Prosecution Service HQ

Following the Crown Prosecution Service decision not to prosecute the police officer who shot dead Salford man Anthony Grainger, tomorrow the Justice4Grainger campaign is set to protest outside the CPS Manchester office against what it calls the `farce of a trial' of GMP Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy who is being charged in London under Health and Safety law for the killing.

SPECIAL NEEDS CARER CHALLENGES SALFORD MAYOR TO SHOW HIS FACE AT MONDAY MEETING

"We've all got to stand up and be counted now" Noreen Bailey

Public Meeting: Cuts To Special Needs Transport Escorts
Monday 10th February 6:30pm
Swinton British Legion

Carer Noreen Bailey has challenged Salford City Mayor Ian Stewart to show his face at a meeting of parents and carers to explain to them why he is cutting escorts and transport for adults with special needs… "The Council doesn't realise how much it is taking away from us" says Noreen.

SALFORD COUNCIL `ABDICATING RESPONSIBILITY' SAYS GREEN PARTY LEADER NATALIE BENNETT

"Non-violent direct action is something that we in the Green Party believe is sometimes necessary when…the Government simply isn't listening to public opinion" Natalie Bennett

Green Party leader Natalie Bennett visited Barton Moss yesterday to show her support for the anti-fracking campaign and was treated to a tea party lock-on by four protectors who held up the iGas delivery lorries for around four hours.

Speaking to the Salford Star, Natalie Bennett said that Salford Council was `abdicating responsibility' in its silence on fracking issues at Barton Moss. 

Star date: 6th February 2014

THE CLASS OF '92 TO PUT SALFORD CITY FC ON THE MAP

Salford City FC is to receive major investment from the Manchester United `Class of '92' – Ryan Giggs, Gary and Phil Neville, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and David Beckham - in a bid to push the Ammies into the Football League, the Salford Star understands.

SALFORD UNIVERSITY STAFF ON STRIKE FOR BETTER PAY AND AGAINST BULLYING BY BOSSES

University of Salford staff from UNISON, UCU, Unite and EIS trade unions took part in a one day strike today in support of their national dispute on pay. It's the latest in a series of strikes that have previously been two hour stoppages – despite the University bosses deducting a full day's pay in what the unions say is intimidation…

"Because of the bullying there's more people on the picket, more support from students and less people going into work" said University of Salford UCU President Bernie Maguire.

SOLICITOR COMPARES SALFORD ANTI FRACKING CAMPAIGN POLICING TO MINERS STRIKE - AS SALFORD MAYOR AND POLICE COMMISSIONER REMAIN SILENT

Greater Manchester Police's handling of the anti-fracking campaign at Barton Moss has been likened to the political policing of the 1980s Miners Strike by solicitor Simon Pook who is representing 98% of those who have been arrested.

As the campaign Justice4BartonMoss gets launched with a public meeting in Eccles tonight, Simon Pook added "The Human Rights Convention seems to have been discarded in favour of… pushing through the fracking industry's agenda." Yet both the Salford City Mayor and Police Commissioner have remained silent throughout…

A Salford Star Exclusive

£24.5MILLION CUTS TO MOST VULNERABLE PEOPLE IN SALFORD – BUT £MILLIONS SET ASIDE IF COUNCIL CAN'T IMPLEMENT THEM

Salford City Council's Cabinet meets this morning to rubber stamp proposals for £24.561million cuts in the year 2014-15. As previously announced, the vicious cuts will hit the most vulnerable people in the city…basically anyone who needs support in Salford.

What hasn't been publicised is that there are £millions set aside for cuts that can't be implemented, giving hope to anti-cuts campaigns.

BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU ARRIVES IN LANGWORTHY

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is one of the world's fastest growing martial arts and now a new studio, Jiu Jitsu Technics, has opened up off South Langworthy Road run by Salford's Mike Dorrian, who wants to spread the word and involve local schools, youth centres and businesses in the art of self defence.

Yesterday, World Champion Manny Diaz visited the studio to give a masterclass….

SPRING MASH UP FROM BOLTON TO ROMANIA TO SALFORD  

Spring and Port Wine
Northern Outlet Theatre Company
Wed 12th- Sat 15th February 8pm
Kings Arms £10/£8

Bill Naughton's Spring and Port Wine, the original Bolton-based comedy, has been given a makeover by Bolton director Paul Blinkhorn, who moves the action from Greater Manchester to post-communist Romania as part of the Mashed Up North Season. Although the characters still have Peter Kay-style accents.

NINE MAN SALFORD'S STUNNING WIN

Salford City 2 Lancaster City 1

Incredible, staggering, super Salford City stunned Lancaster this afternoon to win 2-1, despite playing the last half hour with only nine men, after new re-signings Rob Kinsella and Jamie Rother had both been sent off within five minutes of each other. Mark Battersby, leading the attack on his own, hammered in the winner.