Greater Manchester statement on George Floyd and Black Lives Matter

The following statement has been signed by all Greater Manchester local authority and Combined Authority leaders

Thee callous murder of George Floyd on the streets of Minneapolis has sent shockwaves around the world which are being powerfully and painfully felt here in Greater Manchester.

As Leaders, we want to express our revulsion at the manner of George’s death, our sympathy with his family and our complete solidarity with the Black community here and elsewhere.

We know the anger and the agony is real. Discrimination continues every day, not just in the USA but in the UK too. People are tired of having to fight it. 

To show our sympathy with George’s family, and our support for Black Lives Matter, we have today agreed to coordinate the lighting of civic buildings across our 10 boroughs on Friday evening, following on from the example of Trafford Council, and Salford and Manchester City Councils.

But this moment demands more from us and our gesture will mean more if it is accompanied by our own reflection and action. 

First, recognising the under-representation of our Black community in decision-making in Greater Manchester, we commit to strengthening our dialogue with the Black community and to working with Operation Black Vote’s Leadership Programme to improve representation.

Second, to ensure that there is a systematic challenge to the structural inequalities that still exist between our different communities, we commit to bringing forward proposals next month for a Greater Manchester Race Equality Panel. This week’s report from Public Health England confirms that people from black and Asian communities are at greater risk from the virus and requires a new focus here and across the country on health inequalities.

Third, to ensure all of our communities receive equal treatment from Greater Manchester Police, we make a new commitment today to work with them to publish a quarterly Race Equality Policing Report on the use of policing powers. We will seek to build more community confidence through even greater transparency. 

We have a long and proud history in Greater Manchester of confronting discrimination head-on. This is a moment to challenge ourselves to do more. The best way of marking the life of George Floyd is with a promise of real change.

Black Lives Matter.  

Mayor Andy Burnham

Cllr Brenda Warrington

Sir Richard Leese

Baroness Beverley Hughes

Mayor Paul Dennett

Cllr Andrew Western

Cllr Elise Wilson

Cllr David Molyneux

Cllr Allen Brett

Cllr Sean Fielding

Cllr David Greenhalgh

Cllr Eamonn O’Brien

Article Published: 03/06/2020 16:18 PM