Tony Porter Ponders: Free speech is dead. Labour will not allow our opinions to be heard.
As reported in this publication, last week's council meeting was a farce, again, but that's just the thin edge of the wedge. I time travel...sort of.
It is official: free speech in the UK is dead, proven by an event that occurred to me last week.
The omnishambles of a full council meeting and the utter incompetence of Labour to handle Andy Burnham's political bid.
Rumours swirled a few weeks ago that the Greater Manchester Mayor was to stand in a by-election iso as to become an MP again and thus challenge for the leadership of the party and take the premiership away from Keir Starmer.
As Andy no doubt knows, I am not a huge fan, though did vote for him at the first mayoral election.
The CAZ cluster mess was, in my eyes, the main failure. Man people mention others, but there are some successes, far too many to talk about here, but none of that matters.
The main issue is the freedom for anyone to stand in a by-election if they choose to do so.
Eight out of 10 members of the Labour National Executive Committee, including Sir Keir Starmer, who saw that coming, voted against Andy standing for the seat left by outgoing MP Andrew Gwynne.
Gorton and Denton is an area just outside of Manchester city centre and was conveniently available shortly after the rumour mill started turning.
The arrogance of the NEC is breathtaking; it has become a self-preserving clique: no-one dare challenge them or even consider doing so.
There is no guarantee that if Andy had stood he would have won, but now that opportunity, at time of writing, has been blocked, we will never know.
One thing we do know is that Labour, its cabinet and Keir in particular, will hold on to power no matter what and will stifle any of us from speaking out.
They are even planning to, as I have written about many times before, roll out "15-minute cities" and the Government says that they will allow councils to use driver's licence databases to impose fines on drivers who cross traffic filters, which restrict driving in certain areas.
Is this why the CAZ cameras are still there Andy?
This idea is based on the idea we can access amenities within a quarter of an hour by walking or cycling.
This may result restrictions being brought in for drivers.
Under the scheme, they would need a residents’ permit that allows 100 days of free travel per year through six traffic filters during operating hours, then you get charged.
Basically, control and monitoring of where can go or have been.
Add to this cashless society and the control the powers-that-be will have on our spending, the whole thing stinks.
Oxford is the first city to be divided into six zones starting later in the year.
Greater Manchester, I imagine, would be many more, from large areas like Wigan, to smaller ones like Ashton-under-Lyne and Bury.
Labour even seem to stamp out challenges in council meetings and ignore people's concerns over any developments, be they residential or industrial. Instead of being citizens we are being turned into prisoners in our own homes.
On a lighter note, I was lucky enough to walk across a section of Station Road in the town centre, that survived under The Grand Arcade. See my latest Wigan Watch for the video.