In what was one of the more bizarre things to happen yesterday, Andy Burnham met the Pope and gave him a Manchester United shirt.
And people were, understandably, quite puzzled by the whole thing.
It goes without saying that if you were one of several thousand people who saw the now-viral pictures of the Mayor of Greater Manchester meeting the head of the worldwide Catholic Church yesterday in the Vatican, then it’s only natural you’d probably questioning as to why.
Especially when you throw into the mix the fact the Pope was also given a signed and framed Manchester United shirt of Argentinian defender Lisandro Martínez as a gift.
But despite the public confusion, there was actually a very good reason as to why Andy Burnham was joined by several of Greater Manchester‘s other civic leaders and members of the faith community as he met Pope Francis in the Vatican City yesterday – and it was all to pledge a commitment to tackling climate change ahead of Earth Day 2023.
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Burnham and the other leaders were given the chance to discuss with the Pope how Greater Manchester is making efforts to tackle the climate crisis.
They then also made a formal commitment in his presence on the action they pledge to take in future.
Greater Manchester faith and civic leaders have gathered at the Vatican this morning to meet with Pope Francis. They will discuss how Gtr Manchester is tackling climate change and pledge commitments for the future. Full story here: https://t.co/Z1G4oMhiJI#OurFaithOurPlanetpic.twitter.com/izygDfgOQV
The group was led by Bishop of Salford John Arnold and Dean of Manchester Rogers Govender, and as well as Burnham, was also made up of the Lord Mayor of Manchester Donna Ludford, Bishop of Manchester David Walker, Gorton MP Mohammed Afzal Kahn, and Chair of the Manchester Climate Change Partnership Mike Wilton.
City Centre Methodist Minister Reverend Ian Rutherford, Rabbi Robyn Ashworth Steen from the Manchester Reform Synagogue, environmental officers from both the Diocese of Manchester and Salford, and members of the Sikh and Hindu communities also attended.
This is why Andy Burnham met the Pope and gave him a Manchester United shirt / Credit: Andy Burnham (via Twitter)
“This is the first time that all the faith leaders of Greater Manchester have come together with civic leaders to agree our pledge for a greener Greater Manchester region,” Mayor Andy Burnham explained after the meeting yesterday,
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“It will give me great pride to be at The Vatican to witness the historic moment our faith and civic leaders make our commitment to the Holy Father.”
Although the reason as to why he was given a signed Manchester United shirt as a gift hasn’t exactly been confirmed, the fact Pope Francis is also from Argentina just like Lisandro Martínez, this does give some context.
Gracias al @ManUtd y @AndyBurnhamGM por entregarle mi camiseta a su santidad el papa Francisco, por quien siento un gran respeto y un orgullo enorme como argentino! 🙏🏼♥️ pic.twitter.com/EqK868eixe
Martínez said of the meeting on Twitter: “Thanks to Manchester United and Andy Burnham for giving my shirt to His Holiness Pope Francis, for whom I feel great respect and enormous pride as an Argentine.”
He was apparently also given a Manchester City shirt as well, probably for a bit of equal representation, although this detail didn’t go quite as viral, and it hasn’t been confirmed which player’s name was on the back of the shirt.
Featured Image – Manchester Cathedral
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NHS rolls out new ‘life-extending’ ovarian cancer drug for first time in 20 years
Emily Sergeant
The NHS has approved a new ovarian cancer treatment for the first time in two decades.
From today, hundreds of women with ‘hard-to-treat’ ovarian cancer could benefit from a new life-extending drug on the NHS called mirvetuximab soravtansine, and it will be offered to patients living with whose disease has unfortunately stopped responding to standard chemotherapy treatments, providing them with new hope of extra time to live.
The rollout of the drug on the NHS follows a major global clinical trial involving eight NHS hospitals, which showed that the treatment delayed cancer progression and prolonged survival – with patients living 16.5 months on average compared to 12.8 months with chemotherapy.
One patient said the treatment enabled her to get on with life ‘rather than spending it in bed recovering from the side effects of chemotherapy’.
So, how does it work then?
The NHS has rolled out a new ‘life-extending’ ovarian cancer drug for the first time in 20 years / Credit: rawpixel
Well, the drug combines a ‘homing’ antibody with a cancer-killing medicine – often described by scientists as a ‘biological missile’ or ‘trojan horse’ therapy – and it works by attaching to ovarian cancer cells that have a protein called folate receptor alpha (FRα) on their surface, before releasing a cancer-killing molecule which destroys the cell from within.
The treatment is given intravenously, via a drip, over two to four hours, once every three weeks.
The drug may also have ‘more tolerable’ side effects than traditional chemotherapy, with the treatment aimed more precisely at cancer cells than chemotherapy.
The NHS estimates up to 400 patients in England each year could benefit.
“This represents the most significant breakthrough in NHS treatment for these hard-to-treat ovarian cancers in over two decades, commented Professor Ruth Plummer, who is the NHS’s national clinical lead for cancer drugs.
“We’re delighted it will now offer hundreds of women much-needed hope of precious extra time with their loved ones.
“It is part of a growing wave of more targeted cancer therapies which, by homing in on specific features of cancer cells, are helping us improve patients’ lives.”
Featured Image – Stephen Andrews (via Unsplash)
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Count Binface says he’ll put a £2 price cap on Wigan kebabs if he wins the Makerfield by-election
Emily Sergeant
Count Binface is officially running in the Makerfield by-election and has now shared his hilarious manifesto with the public.
Price-capped Wigan kebabs and 99p ice creams, cyclists being forced to ride unicycles if they break the Highway Code, and the renaming of HS2 to ‘FFS1’ are just some of the declarations being made by Makerfield by-election candidate, Count Binface.
In case you’re not up-to-speed on the Makerfield by-election coming up on 18 June – which was called after Labour’s Josh Simons announced he was standing down – there are now a total of 14 hopefuls set to contest the parliamentary seat.
Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, is by far the most well-known candidate in the running, alongside other names like Conservative’s Michael Winstanley, Liberal Democrats’ Jake Austin, the Green Party’s Sarah Wakefield, and Reform UK’s Michael Kenyon.
But Burnham is not the only big name… there’s also Count Binface too, of course.
Count Binface – previously known as Lord Buckethead – is the alias of comedian and perennial candidate, Jonathan David Harvey.
He announced his intentions to run for the Makerfield seat last month, before officially publishing his manifesto today (3 June), which includes 20 pledges – some serious, others less so… we presume.
On a more local level to the Makerfield area, if Count Binface wins the by-election, he has pledged to re-phase the traffic lights on Liverpool Road to ease congestion, increase the free parking limit at the Gerard Centre to three hours, and to make Galloways’ Full Monty Bin Lid breakfast the country’s new national dish.
And then on a more comical level – yes, even more comical than a new national dish – this is where you’ll find pledges like making sure there’s WiFi on trains that works and also ‘trains that work’ too, as well as the bringing back of Ceefax teletext for all Greater Manchester residents, and the increasing of points for tries in Rugby League from four to five ‘in line with inflation’.
Oh yeah, and there’s the promise that Count Binface will be the UK’s entrant to Eurovision in 2027, let’s not forget that.
Anyway, like we said, the Makerfield by-election is coming up on 18 June, and you can find out more information about all the candidates on the Wigan Council website here.
Emily Sergeant -
21st April 2023 
