Leader's Blog 
  

Over recent days we have seen a rise in new cases of coronavirus in nine of the ten local authority areas in Greater Manchester, including Tameside. While the levels in Tameside are lower than in some other areas, an increase is still concerning enough for action to be taken.
 

Last week in the House of Commons, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced a summer financial statement to begin to address the economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown. While not a proper Budget it nevertheless contains up to £30 billion of new financial measures.

The struggle against the coronavirus pandemic took a new step at of the beginning of this week, as non-essential shops opened to the public once again after being closed for over two months as part of the national lockdown.
 

Since the beginning of the age of austerity in 2010 we have been facing a crisis of homelessness in this country. The latest figures we have from the government’s own website say that in autumn 2019 there were an estimated 3,130 people sleeping rough across the country, an increase of 131% since the start of the decade.
 

Since the lockdown to fight the coronavirus pandemic began almost 11 weeks ago, it has become increasingly clear that things will not go back to the way they were before. 
 

The position of Civic Mayor of Tameside is one of our most significant and prestigious roles. For as long as there has been a place called Tameside, there has been a Mayor.