Manchester’s first openly-gay former Mayor, avid campaigner and community activist, and current LGBTQ+ advisor Carl-Austin Behan was among those honoured at Windsor Castle yesterday.
While all eyes and headlines were on one Mancunian – 24-year-old Manchester United and England star Marcus Rashford, who was finally presented with his MBE yesterday in recognition for his highly-publicised work to tackle child food poverty in the UK – another prominent and important Greater Manchester figure was also recognised at the long-awaited ceremony at Windsor Castle yesterday.
Carl-Austin was presented with an OBE by Prince William The Duke of Cambridge for his ongoing services to the Greater Manchester community.
Following the ceremony yesterday, Kensington Royal took to social media to share Carl-Austin’s achievements that have led to him being awarded the prestigious honour, explaining that: “Every year, inspiring people from across the UK are recognised for their outstanding achievements [and] one person who received his OBE today was Carl-Austin Behan, recognising his incredible work for charity and the LGBTQ+ community in Greater Manchester, where he has helped raise money for numerous worthy causes and spearheaded work promoting equality and inclusion in the public and private sectors.
“He has played an active role in his community, including through his 14 years in the Boys’ Brigade as a youngster, voluntary roles in later life include supporting the Northern Air Hospital Radio and Gaydio, an LGBT radio station.
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“He’s completed two charity treks in Malawi, raising over 100,000 for children with HIV, and a trek to Everest Base Camp in 2013 raised £25,000 for the Alzheimer’s Society, a charity he regularly supports.”
He’s an active role in his community, including through his 14 years in the Boys’ Brigade as a youngster, and voluntary roles later supporting the Northern Air Hospital Radio & Gaydio, an LGBT radio station.
He’s also completed two charity treks in raising over 125,000 charity.
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) November 9, 2021
Carl-Austin also took to social media to share pictures from the day.
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“Feeling proud, honoured and humbled to spend a morning at Windsor Castle to receive my OBE along with many other deserving recipients, which was the first one since before COVID restrictions,” he said in a post on Twitter and Instagram.
He also later thanked “all those who made this happen, who supported, believed, and trusted in me, over many years”, adding that it was “very much a team effort.”
“Especially my family, friends, and loved ones, who have all been part of this amazing journey,” he concluded.
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Feeling proud, honoured & humbled to spend a morning at Windsor Castle to receive my OBE along with many other deserving recipients, which was @KensingtonRoyal 1st one since before Covid Restrictions, managed to get back in time to show Willow, whilst still at @KidzRUs2010 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️❤️ pic.twitter.com/BKN4j92Acv
— Dr Carl Austin-Behan OBE “Ozzy” 💙 (@CarlAustinBehan) November 9, 2021
Carl-Austin Behan was born in north Manchester and grew up in Crumpsall.
He joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1991 when he was 19 years old, and had a busy career that included saving a fellow pilot from a burning aircraft, which subsequently saw him commended for his actions in the Queen’s Honours list of 1991 – but was discharged in 1997 for being gay at a time when it was illegal to be openly gay in the RAF.
After leaving the RAF, he began a career in politics, and was elected to Manchester City Council as Labour Member for Burnage ward in May 2011, and then in 2016-2017, was made Lord Mayor of Manchester – becoming the city’s first openly-gay Lord Mayor and one of its youngest at 44.
He also took voluntary roles in later life that include supporting the Northern Air Hospital Radio, and LGBT radio station Gaydio, as well as continuing to work in promoting equality and inclusion in the public and private sectors, and has raised significant sums of money for charities important to him.
Mr Behan is now currently the deputy lord lieutenant of Greater Manchester, trustee of the LGBT+ veterans’ charity Fighting With Pride, president of the CONTACT theatre in Manchester, and acts as the LGBTQ+ advisor to Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham.
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He deservedly made headlines earlier in February this year when he was finally able to reclaim the military medals taken from him after he was dismissed from the RAF.
The MoD said at the time that it wanted to address a “historical wrong”.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
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Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Emily Sergeant -
10th November 2021 
