Big changes....

It's been a big day for Manchester today. They new tram route to Manchester Airport has opened, a year early and under budget I hear. Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne was in the city to ride on the first tram. I thought he might have come up from London but he's probably been in his Tatton constituency all weekend, skylarking in Cheshire. Having said that he does seem to be a great supporter of the city and it's good to have friends in high places.

While he was up here he announced that £350,000,000 was being made available for the next tram line to be built from Pomona to the Trafford Centre and eventually onto Port Salford which is under construction as well. He then had meetings in Manchester Town Hall with the leaders of all the various boroughs that make up Greater Manchester. He's promised a raft of things including the devolution of powers and £billions to Greater Manchester to spend as we wish. Party anyone? Or I have my eye on a grey cashmere sweater in Harvey Nicks.

I think this is a great idea. We should be able to decided how we spend money in the city rather than have it decided by some out of touch Whitehall mandarin who couldn't find Manchester on a map of Manchester. In Victorian times, Manchester was a virtual city state, raising cash locally and spending it on things the city needed. Our modern tram system has taken 20 years to get to where it is now under central control from London. The original tram system, much more comprehensive than today's, took about 5 years to build. And in Victorian times, Manchester was one of the world's alpha cities, 9th biggest on the planet and ridiculously wealthy. We may not be able to get back to that position again but we could be doing a lot better than we are. This devolution of power and money is a good thing.

To qualify to the devolution we will have to have an elected mayor for the whole of Greater Manchester. Our very own Boris. Someone to put Manchester's point across nationally and internationally. Say what you like about Boris but he is brilliant at promoting London and never misses an opportunity to shout about his city. Manchester needs this and not just the sliver of land in the centre of the cornubation. It's time that people in the less well known parts of the city stopped hanging onto their petty parochialisms. Foreign investors are never going to invest in some out of the way town they have never heard of. They will, and are doing in Manchester. It's time the whole of Greater Manchester was regarded by its inhabitants as one city. It already is around the world.

Here's the new tram line at Chorlton station. At the moment the route runs from the airport to Cornbrook. It will run right into the city centre when the new route across the city centre is finished. It's great for Chorlton as it gives us a 6 minute service now instead of the 12 we've had to put up with which was hell in rush hour.