“There are too many bloomin’ blacks,” the florist, perched behind her stall on Rochdale’s high street, says without a hint of shame. Her friend interjects: “They sit around here drinking and doing drugs… There are no police about. We need …
Rochdale has already lost this election
Rochdale is a terrible place to live. I spent time there in the late Nineties reporting on the grooming gangs and found a toxic mix of self-serving politicians, poor policing, grinding hardship and failing social services. The borough has one …
When Gaza came to Rochdale
“From the river to the sea,” the familiar-hatted figure roars. “Palestine will be free,” his supporters chant in unison. George Galloway is conducting his followers like a religious cleric. “In our thousands, in our millions,” the high-priest cries. “We are …
How the Cleveland scandal silenced children
The Cleveland child abuse scandal did not actually involve that much child abuse. Or so the story goes. In 1987, in the north-east of England, 121 children were removed from their homes and placed in care after medics and social …