A protest aimed at raising awareness of police brutality in Hong Kong is scheduled to take place in Manchester city centre today.
The protest – which has been scheduled by Hong Kong natives living across Greater Manchester – is expected to begin today on Bank Holiday Monday in Piccadilly Gardens from 12pm to 4pm.
During the protest, it’s believed that the group will unfurl a 10-metre long piece of artwork and create a ‘Lennon Wall’ using the Piccadillly Gardens wall.
Lennon Walls have become a phenomenon in Hong Kong and can often be found buildings, walkways, sky bridges, underpasses and corner shop windows, with messages like “Hong Kongers love freedom,” “garbage government”, and “We demand real universal suffrage” written on them, and the Lennon Wall expected to be created today is said to be inspired by the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests in Hong Kong.
Demonstrators plan on covering the Piccadilly Gardens wall with handwritten Post-It notes in support of the protests.
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Anti-government protests in Hong Kong erupted in 2019 following the proposal of an extradition bill which triggered the first protest in April.
The main focus of todays demonstration will be the Prince Edward Station incident – which took place exactly a year ago – where footage was released of Hong Kong police indiscriminately attacking passengers at the station during their arrest of suspected protesters.
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A spokesperson for Manchester Hong Kong said: “Over the past year, we have witnessed our beloved city that we were born and raised in descend into unimaginable levels of chaos and division. A movement against the extradition bill has escalated into an explosion of pent-up frustration and deeply rooted dissatisfaction with the way that our city is governed.
“We are particularly alarmed by the police brutality seen since June 2019 [and] Hong Kong has seen excessive use of tear gas, shooting of rubber bullets and even live rounds at peaceful protesters.
“Reports and complaints of torture and abuse of those being arrested during detention abound. It is not only protesters who are in danger – journalists, politicians, and even first aid providers and firefighters have faced arbitrary harassment, assault, and arrest at peaceful rallies.
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They continued: “Video footage of the arrest and humiliation of humanitarian aid providers clearly demonstrated breaches of the rights of access to medical treatment. However the Hong Kong government continue to turn a blind eye to the police brutality, the selective law enforcement of the police and their double standards have caused injustice that snowballed into an unresolvable, collective mass of anger in the present.
“As a group of Hong Kongers living far away from home, we advocate for democracy and human rights in Hong Kong.”
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Greater Manchester officially launches five-year climate change action plan
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester has officially begun its five-year climate change action plan, with the overarching goal of becoming a net-zero city region by 2038.
The comprehensive pledge put together over a number of years itself will see Manchester City Council and the nearby local authorities put into action a number of key measures that will help to reduce not only central carbon figures but, eventually, across the 10 boroughs in turn.
Over the last 15 years, emissions have been reduced by approximately 64%, saving an estimated 44,344 tonnes of carbon through cleaner building energy, street lighting and other electronics, as well as the increasingly green and over-growing Bee Network.
They have also insisted that it isn’t just about cutting down on greenhouse gases; the aim is to make the city region and the surrounding areas more sustainable, affordable and create a better standard of life.
Our five-year plan to tackle climate change launches today. 🌏
It details how we’ll continue to deliver dramatic reductions in the amount of carbon we emit (the biggest contributor to climate change). 🏙️
As per the summary on the Council website, in addition to creating more efficient homes, they’re hoping to provide more access to nature and good-quality green space, “public transport you can rely on”, and “better health and wellbeing for those who live, work, study and visit here.”
With a steadily recovering local and national economy (touch wood), they’re also hoping for an influx of new jobs, too.
Summarising the key bullet points leading up to the end of the decade, these are the next steps currently outlined by the Council:
Lower carbon emissions
Grow the use of renewable energy
Improve low-carbon travel in the city
Improve air quality
Grow the city’s natural environment and boost biodiversity
Improve resilience to flooding and extreme heat
Engage and involve our workforce and our city’s communities
Reduce waste and grow reuse, repair, sharing and recycling
Support a move to a more circular economy
Minimise the negative impact of events held in the city
Develop our knowledge of our indirect emissions and lower them
Create a green financing strategy and explore new funding models for the city
Influence the environmental practices of other organisations
As for emissions, the target is now to drop the present output by another 34%, which will prevent almost 43,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from being pumped into the atmosphere.
Having touched upon the continued expansion of the Bee Network infrastructure, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is also set to install multiple new travel links over the coming years, including both new tram stops and train stations – further
You can read the climate action plan in full HERE.
Manchester’s firework displays are ‘back with a bang’ as they return from 2026
Emily Sergeant
Council-organised firework displays in Manchester’s parks are set to return from next year, it has been confirmed.
You may remember that these once-popular events have not been held since 2019, as the COVID-19 pandemic initially prevented them from taking place from 2020 onwards, and then following that, they remained paused on a trial basis while the Manchester City Council sought to ‘reprioritise funding’ to support a wider range of free community events across the city.
But now, as it seems, the door was never shut on their potential return.
An ‘improved financial position’ now means that the Council is in a position to bring firework events back, while also still continuing to support other community events.
Papers setting out the Council’s financial position show that fairer funding being introduced by the Government next year will leave the Council better off than previously anticipated, he the reason firework displays have been brought back into the mix.
The Council has admitted that ‘pressures remain’ after so many years of financial cuts, but this new funding creates the opportunity to invest in the things residents have said matter the most to them.
“Manchester prides itself on free community events and we know many people have missed Bonfire night firework spectaculars,” commented Cllr Bev Craig, who is the Leader of Manchester City Council.
“That’s why we are pleased to confirm they’ll be back by popular demand in 2026.
“We know that generations of Mancunians have enjoyed Council-organised displays and that free family events are a great way to bring people together… [and] now that this Government is actually investing in Councils like ours rather than the cuts we had since 2010, we can bring back Bonfire events.”
The Manc -
31st August 2020 
