Indeed.
Unless it's floating about on the interweb somewhere, the Guardian seems to have an exclusive access to the report.
Media thread 2022/23
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Indeed.
Unless it's floating about on the interweb somewhere, the Guardian seems to have an exclusive access to the report.
It's all over Manchester - Twitter (latest tag)
The c*nts are pushing it like f*ck.
View attachment 50459
Link to the article via Twitter. It might not work after more than 1 view.
How a great English city sold itself to Abu Dhabi’s elite – and not even for a good price | Aditya Chakrabortty
Manchester’s Labour council let Sheikh Mansour buy up acres of public land for seemingly a fraction of its worth, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakraborttywww.theguardian.com
The Athletic are all over it as well. F*ck them and the Guardian, which is a much more indepth article.
Here's the Athletic article, minus 1 word, so it's not the full article. Word missing at the start.
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** independent report has found the sale of public land from Manchester City Council to the Abu Dhabi-based owners of the reigning Premier League champions was “too cheap” and “difficult to justify”.
The research, carried out jointly by the Centre for Research on Accounting & Finance in Context (CRAFIC) and the Urban Institute, concludes the relationship “has the potential to become an ethical, political and economic liability”.
Research focuses on the Manchester Life scheme, launched in 2014, a £1billion deal between the city council and the club’s owners to regenerate swathes of brownfield land.
However, the report claims this land, comprising nine sites, was sold to City owner Sheikh Mansour at a price well under market value, and on unusually long 999-year leases. The typical lease length is between 150 and 250 years.
They argue that the benefits of this sale were “asymmetric”, with the report’s authors “not able to identify any income received by the council… despite being exposed to some of the risks of the project”.
Investment has so far delivered 1,468 housing units, with rental proceeds going to the development’s Abu Dhabi-based landlords. Further construction is planned.
“Our assessment of the Manchester Life development is that Manchester City Council ‘sold the family silver too cheap’,” the report summarises. “It represents a transfer of public wealth to private hands that is difficult to justify as prudent.”
Due to Abu Dhabi’s human rights record, there are also concerns over how the relationship affects Manchester’s image.
The Abu Dhabi United Group investment fund, which owns City, is technically independent of the Gulf nation’s government. However, as well as owning City, Mansour is deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.
In addition, German newspaper Der Spiegel published allegations in April, summarised by The Athletic here, that Mansour disguised millions of pounds in additional funding to the club by sending the money via UAE-based companies linked to the state. City have not commented on Der Spiegel’s latest allegations.
The UAE has been accused by Amnesty International of being “one of the most brutal police states in the Middle East,” while homosexuality is punishable by death.
The report concludes: “Longer-term, it raises questions about what values — and whose values — the city represents.
“The potential for the relationship to become an ethical, political and economic liability are growing against the backdrop of concerns about the foreign policy and geo-politics of authoritarian regimes.
“Manchester’s self-image as a vibrant, open, tolerant city may be compromised if the council is seen as aiding elites from authoritarian regimes to generate investment returns that shore up their political and economic power back home.”
Can't find the report. Probably not uploaded yet.
Centre for Research into Accounting and Finance in Context
CRAFiC is at the heart of the debate about the role of accounting and finance in the development of inclusive and sustainable societieswww.sheffield.ac.uk
I never realised the regeneration of East Manchester & all the remedial work done on previously unusable land through private investment was such a negative thing
Used to be a shit hole, now it’s not.
Off the back of this report, I, for one, will be demonstrating outside the council offices as a former citizen of Manchester to demand they stop regenerating East Manchester via private funding. We need to wait for our own London based government to plough money into the area. We’ve been waiting over 60 years so far, so I’m sure it’s coming soon
Those in receipt of Pension Credit on a low income are still eligible. Whilst the salaries of those you mention may well be obscene, they are in line with what other broadcasters pay their stars.
Upskirting in toilet cubicles also
Kompany Car
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This is the report I think...link to download is at the bottom of the page.
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/crafic/research/manchester-centripetal-city
Good find. Missed it.
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bobbyowenquiff
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The story makes outlandish claims that the East Manchester development involved selling off council-owned land cheaply but swathes of the area were not even owned by the council. Most of the site was literally worthless because of chemical pollution.
It also claims there is no evidence of the council getting any income. But tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of new businesses (perhaps thousands of new businesses) have opened in the area, especially Ancoats. They would not be there if it wasn't for the East Manchester regeneration which was sparked by the partnership. The new arena is creating 3,444 construction jobs and at least 850 long-term jobs and will attract up to one million visitors a year to the city, most of whom will stay in local hotels.
The article is a disgrace. You can't criticise the land deal itself and not mention the huge benefits to Manchester over the last 10 years. I saw one report which said the success of MCFC in just one season (2018/19) brought benefits to the local economy of at least £220m. If that's true then the Sheikh Mansour partnership has brought billions to Manchester most of it from external investment and not public money.
Found this report and other related reports.
The second wave concerns disposal of several sites to private developers between 2014-2020 (see the blue shaded areas in figure 4) The single biggest beneficiary has been the Manchester Life company - a public-private partnership between the Council and Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), the private equity company owned by Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates.
www.gmhousingaction.com
The second wave concerns disposal of several sites to private developers between 2014-2020 (see the blue shaded areas in figure 4) The single biggest beneficiary has been the Manchester Life company - a public-private partnership between the Council and Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), the private equity company owned by Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates.
Publications - Greater Manchester Housing Action
Publications Short Term Rentals in Manchester: Time to Act? (2021) by Hannah Berry, Rowena Davis, Isaac Rose, Andrea Sandor, Jonathan Silver and Luke Yates. Published in collaboration with the Greater Manchester Tenants Union. Read the report here Who Owns the City? The Privatisation of...
www.gmhousingaction.com
Simply put, it's another attempt by the Guardian to smear Sheikh Mansour/ADUG and the partnership with MCC, which as you say has brought billions of pounds of investment, thousands of jobs, hundreds of new homes, and wholesale regeneration to the city centre and East Manchester.
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Gray
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BBC now have a headline article on their Football web page about Raphael Varane? They are a completely shameless organisation.
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