Park Life: South Manchester Distorter at it Again

TOGETHER in protest: Barry Aelion, front, with members of West Didsbury Residents’ Association and Councillor Mark Clayton (centre back) when they presented their petition to the Lord Mayor three months ago
The South Manchester Reporter (SMR) has historically been a big L liberal paper - owned and edited for many years by party activists including Cllr Audrey Wise (Liberal, SDP, Lib Dem, recent mayor), and maintaining a yellow streak now within the Guardian Group - but it is reactionary and often journalistically feeble with it. It is a bit of a dumping ground for mavericks. What a combination!

This story is a classic piece of low grade "journalism" and rank political spin. The SMR's poodling to the Withington Lib Dems and West Didsbury Residents Association on Marie Louise Gardens is absolutely disgraceful.

Stories have been repeated over and over again which have insufficient honest information for anyone to make their minds up on whether this really is something to get hung about.

There are at least 25 pertinent points that could be made about this and in the interests of fairness SMR probably owe the owner an eight-page pull out by way of balancing off some very very tipsy coverage.

It may be that local residents still want to protest when they have the facts. But it is obvious from their letters that many of the 6,000 who have signed a misleading petition have not the faintest idea of the true dimensions of the problem.

And have no doubt that this new hoax is being led by the Lib Dems who perpetrated the Christie Hospital Hoax in 2005. They say it is not "party political", and it is true that members of several parties have signed up, but this has sadly been an outrageous example of exaggeration, spin and deceit. Pushed or pulled by Lib Dems? Who cares which it is. They are pulling the strings here.

Blogging will be light today. But 25 points that are MISSING from the paper's nth report on the subject and in most cases all previous coverage will follow later on.

Two clues: the piece of land which is to be sold is 20 yards by 20 yards and has never been within the public domain of these Gardens.

And, the Councillor at the centre of the above picture SUPPORTED the planning application IN WRITING. Bah, humbug.

DISCLAIMER: The above comment and all that precede it and may follow are IN A PERSONAL CAPACITY. This music video, not tagged with the address, was shot in the Gardens about 25 years ago. Nothing seen in it will be harmed by the proposed work. In fact it could be restored or enhanced.

UPDATE: Immediately after claiming this was not party political the Manchester Lib Dems have - hot on the heels of orchestrating this hostile press - published a hugely party political diatribe in their Hocus Focus. Other parties cannot afford to sit on their hands as they did over the Christie Hospital Hoax in 2005.