In his winding up speech, local government minister Jim McMahon referred to his own Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton seat in Greater Manchester and said: “We’re all very proud of Greater Manchester and we all see the red dots in the skyline of Manc-hattan as we call it very proudly and the booming city centre that is Manchester, but the truth is, unless you have those social opportunities where people have the confidence and skills to be able to compete in that new market that is emerging, it can feel a million miles away, and that’s really, really important and we do see that.”
Government ‘must draw out lessons from Thatcher-era coal pit closures’
