Ofcom has ruled that an advert about the congestion charge shown on ITV earlier this month directed viewers to a website that “contained material that was almost exclusively in support of the congestion charge” and, as such, broke the Television Advertising Code rules on political impartiality. You might think this is quite a serious [...]

I’m not sure which is more irksome. Is it making an extraordinarily stupid video linking the proposed Greater Manchester congestion charge to a violent assault on a young woman, or is it sending out a mud-slinging press release that acknowledges the video has been withdrawn but still seeks to make political capital out of the sorry affair?
Well, here’s the [...]

It’s a month to go until the result of the referendum on the Transport Innovation Fund and peak-time congestion charging in Greater Manchester - and the debate is moderately warm!
Stockport council, led by Liberal Democrat Dave Goddard, is opposed to the TIF bid and has been a target of particular attention from the Yes campaign. [...]

Russell Brand and his pal Jonathan Toss have clearly touched a nerve over this whole “He fucked your granddaughter” business. But let’s get it into perspective. Why is Gordon Brown even thinking about this when real actual stuff is happening in the world? Aren’t we supposed to be on the verge of a global recession [...]

I’ve just returned from Lyme Park, having witnessed a deer sprinting around the place like a maniac. It made me realise that I am scared of most animals. Also that I don’t really know anything about the behaviour of deer. Are they minded, especially the male ones with the big antlers, to be aggressive towards [...]

It’s difficult to work out who’s the cheesier - Radio Norwich’s finest Alan Partridge or Oldham station 96.2 The Revolution’s Steve Penk.
The former presenter of ITV’s TV’s Naughtiest Blunders (before he was replaced by, er, a voiceover) Penk has just bought the Revolution, overturning its indie playlist overnight in favour of James Blunt and sparking [...]

Yet another Manchester-based business news website/e-mail service has spasmed into life this month, prompting the question: Is there really enough business news to go round?
I’ve been a business journalist in Manchester for four years this month, covering the North West for a national magazine. During that time, the North West Enquirer came, ran out of [...]

The Policy Exchange, a “centre right” think tank, has suggested in a new report that people in Liverpool and some other places in the north should abandon their cities, which are “beyond revival”, and move down south.
While that is undoubtedly a daft suggestion aimed at stirring up controversy, the fact remains that Liverpool is a [...]

The proposed Manchester congestion charge and the £3bn Transport Innovation Fund that the city is bidding for has created a turf war between two rival business lobbying groups in which few people - other than the odd business hack - seem to be interested.
For those who may have missed it, one group, called United City (geddit?), is in favour of the TIF funding package [...]

I’ve just come back from Manchester city centre. The whole place stinks of piss. People appear to have been sleeping in the NCP car park on Oxford Road. There are empty beer bottles and pizza boxes strewn around between the BMWs and the odd empty bog roll on the ground. I suppose twenty quid for parking is cheaper than [...]