Residents in Manchester are being urged to have their say on what they want to Council to invest in next year.
Manchester City Council has this week launched a consultation for its upcoming 2026/7 budget, and is asking the people of Manchester what their priorities are for investment in services in the new year.
For those who hadn’t heard, the Government is introducing fairer funding for Councils, which recognises that areas with more challenges need more money – Manchester being one of them – and although final details of the Council’s financial settlement will not be received until later this month, it does mean that it’s anticipated there’ll be more funding available than previously expected.
As well as protecting vital frontline services with the upcoming budget, the Council says it will also have some scope to invest in ‘making Manchester better’.
Whether this would be improving street cleaning services, supporting youth services and community groups, extending library opening hours, or a variety of other services, the Council says it’s aiming to build on the strong progress made in recent years.
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While extra funding will make ‘a very real difference’, the Council says it still has a duty to plan carefully and ensure its impacts are maximised.
Ongoing value for money and service transformation measures will work to reduce and avoid costs, as it ‘makes sense’ to do this anyway – but crucially, every pound saved will be reinvested in services.
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Manchester residents are being urged to have their say on want they want the Council to invest in next year / Credit: Benjamin Elliott (via Unsplash)
“How we allocate budgets for our services has long been guided by what Manchester people have told us about their priorities for themselves, their families and friends, their neighbourhoods and their city,” explained Councillor Rabnawaz Akbar, who is the Executive Member for Finance at Manchester City Council.
“As we begin to build back, restoring some of the things which had to be cut previously and looking to the future, we need to hear people’s views again.
“These will shape the final package of proposals for 2026/27.”
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Council Leader Bev Craig added: “Crucially, the fact that we will get a three-year financial settlement from Government rather than year-by-year settlements as has previously been the case, means we can plan ahead with real confidence.”
Want to take part in the consultation? The consultation is now live and runs until 5pm on 28 January 2026. You can either find out more and complete it online here, or paper copies of the consultation are also available in libraries across the city.
Featured Image – Josh Taylor (via Unsplash)
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Spike in antisemitic incidents reported after Manchester synagogue terror attack
Emily Sergeant
A new report has revealed that there was a rise in antisemitic incidents reported following the Manchester synagogue terror attack.
In case you need a reminder, the shocking knife and car attack took place on 2 October 2025 on Yom Kippur – the holiest day in the Jewish calendar – at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, and during the incident, two men sadly lost their lives during the attack – Adrian Daulby, 53, who was shot dead by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) while trying to stop the attacker from entering the synagogue, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, a worshipper who also helped stop the attacker.
The attacker was named as 35-year-old Jihad al Shamie – a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent who lived in Prestwich – who at the time was on bail for an alleged rape, before being shot dead by police.
In the wake of the attack, the Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors antisemitism in the UK, said 40 antisemitic incidents were reported on 2 October last year, and a further 40 were reported the day after – more than half of which involved direct reactions to the deadly attack.
These were the highest daily totals in 2025.
A spike in antisemitic incidents were reported after the Manchester synagogue terror attack / Credit: Google Maps | GMP
Three of the reported incidents on 2 and 3 October involved ‘face-to-face taunting and celebration of the attack to Jewish people’, according to the CST.
39 of the reported incidents were antisemitic social media posts referencing the attack, abusive responses to public condemnations of the attack from Jewish organisations and individuals, or antagonistic emails sent to Jewish people and institutions.
The Manchester synagogue attack was the first fatal antisemitic terror attack in the UK since the CST started recording incidents in 1984.
Overall, 3,700 anti-Jewish hate incidents were recorded in 2025 – which is said to be up 4% on the incidents recorded in the year before – and the CST revealed that this the second-highest annual total ever recorded.
There was also a spike in reported anti-Jewish hate incidents following the Bondi Beach killings in Sydney in December of last year too, the CST said.
Dave Rich, who is the director of police at CST, told Sky News in a statement: “We need a more robust approach to the kind of extremism that drives antisemitism.
“Jewish people in Britain used to be able to go about their lives without ever thinking about antisemitism, and now it’s the topic of conversation around every dinner table. That’s new.
“It feels for a lot of Jewish people like we’re in a different world now, the atmosphere is different, the climate has changed for Jewish people and the amount of antisemitism is part of that.”
Featured Image – GMP
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Trailer released for new romcom Finding Emily set and filmed all across Manchester
Emily Sergeant
The first trailer for a new romcom that’s set and filmed all across Manchester has been released.
The film, titled Finding Emily, tells the story of a lovesick musician, played by Spike Fearn, who meets his dream girl on a night out, but ends up with the wrong phone number, and so teams up with a driven psychology student, played by Angourie Rice, in a bid to find her.
Together, the unlikely duo spark a hilarious campus-wide frenzy that tests their own hearts and ambitions along the way.
The film – which is directed by Alicia MacDonald, and based on a screenplay written by Rachel Hirons – is produced by Working Title Films, is set in the fictional Manchester City University, and is due to be distributed by Focus Features and Universal Pictures across the UK and internationally this spring.
The talented ensemble cast groups together big names like Minnie Driver with rising stars like Ella Maisy Purvis, Yali Topal Margalith, and Kat Ronney, as well as other established actors including Timothy Innes and Nadia Parkes.
Filming took place in Manchester between August and September 2024.
The two and a half-minute trailer has been shared with the world today, and when we say it’s a Manc film, we mean it… we quite literally lost count of how many of our city’s famous locations can be spotted in just the trailer alone.
The trailer has been released for new romcom Finding Emily set and filmed in Manchester / Credit: Universal Pictures & Focus Features (via YouTube)
There’s everything from Manchester Central Library and Piccadilly Records, to Canal Street and the Gay Village, the Northern Quarter, the Crown & Kettle pub in Ancoats, and even the Emmeline Pankhurst statue in St Peter’s Square featured for all to see, alongside what’ll, presumably, be dozens of other famous locations.
Oh, and not to mention, if you keep your eyes peeled when watching the trailer, you can even see a small clip of Stockport band Blossoms playing a gig in there too.
Emily Sergeant -
11th December 2025 
