{"id":563946,"date":"2025-11-11T16:48:26","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T16:48:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/563946\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T16:48:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T16:48:26","slug":"the-mancunian-way-de-niros-tower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/563946\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mancunian Way: De Niro\u2019s tower"},"content":{"rendered":"

A-lister breaks ground in Manchester PLUS Why were children living in filth?Hello,<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bare cupboards. No bedding. Floorboards saturated with faeces and urine.<\/p>\n

These were the conditions seven children faced at their filthy Stockport<\/a> home.<\/p>\n

Police described conditions as \u2018the worst they had seen in a very long time\u2019 when they visited in November 2023. Basics such as running water and heating were missing from the property.<\/p>\n

And Greater Manchester Police<\/a> officers found \u201ca bowl of old sick and urine\u201d, dogs running around eating soiled nappies and a dog crate full of faeces.<\/p>\n

Get news, views and analysis of the biggest stories with the daily Mancunian Way newsletter – sign up <\/strong>here<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The children were removed from the home. But the family had been known to social services for around a decade.<\/p>\n

‘It turned my stomach'(Image: M.E.N.)<\/p>\n

So, what went wrong? And why was it allowed to happen for so long?<\/p>\n

Local democracy reporter Declan Carey has been looking into a safeguarding report<\/a> that reveals the extent of the situation.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been talking to Councillor Wendy Meikle, Stockport council<\/a>\u2019s cabinet member for children\u2019s issues.<\/p>\n

She says the children\u2019s suffering was known to a number of agencies and partners, but \u201cit didn\u2019t improve sufficiently\u201d.<\/p>\n

“I heard the police report on it at one of the children\u2019s safeguarding meetings and it turned my stomach,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Stockport Town Hall<\/p>\n

When Coun Meikle asked why the situation had been allowed to go on for so long, she was told social services worked with the family and told them what was expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey would do it, but a couple of months later it would lax back again. You can\u2019t live with someone [the family] for 24 hours and supervise them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stockport Children\u2019s Services is currently rated<\/a> \u2018requires improvement to be good\u2019 after it was last inspected by Ofsted earlier this year. And the council says it is taking \u2018immediate\u2019 steps to fix problems with children\u2019s services.<\/a><\/p>\n

Coun Meikle says funding is a big part of the problem – and keeping track of the almost 300,000 people living in the borough can be \u201cdifficult\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a perfect world you\u2019d have one social worker that would see the case through, but we\u2019re not in a perfect world and the government does not give us enough money,\u201d Coun Meikle said.<\/p>\n

You can read the details of this case here.<\/a><\/p>\n

A turnaround<\/strong>(Image: Mirrorpix)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile over in Manchester, the council has become the first in the region to be rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a remarkable turnaround for the local authority’s children’s services, which was rated ‘Inadequate’ a decade ago. Back then the town hall was criticised for leaving hundreds of vulnerable children ‘potentially at risk’<\/a> as social workers with high caseloads meant they waited months for help.<\/p>\n

Since then, despite the level of child poverty in the city increasing, fewer children are in care as a proportion of the population. That\u2019s partly thanks to the council’s efforts to intervene early<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our Politics Writer Jo Timan has the details.<\/a><\/p>\n

De Niro\u2019s tower<\/strong>Robert De Niro (5th from left) and council leader Bev Craig (3rd from left) ‘broke ground’ on construction(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n

Robert De Niro was in Manchester city centre<\/a> sticking a spade in the ground this morning. Yes really.<\/p>\n

The Hollywood A-lister broke ground on Manchester\u2019s tallest tower. The Taxi Driver star is a key investor behind the Nobu hotel and restaurant chain, which will be hosted inside a 76-storey tower developed by Salboy.<\/p>\n

The skyscraper will become Manchester\u2019s tallest building at 246m, eclipsing the Deansgate<\/a> Square South Tower at 200m.<\/p>\n

Although Mr De Niro admitted he \u201cdid not know much\u201d about Manchester, he said the city\u2019s \u201creal character and creative passion\u201d drew him in.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are proud to be part of it,\u201d the 82-year-old said at a press conference.<\/p>\n

Ethan Davies has the details here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Oasis saved my life<\/strong><\/p>\n

Liam Gallagher says the latest Oasis tour has saved his life.<\/p>\n

Since the summer, Liam has avoided cigarettes and alcohol to protect his voice, and now a fan on X has praised him for his dedication.<\/p>\n

\"LiamLiam Gallagher performing with Oasis at Wembley Stadium(Image: Big Brother Recordings)<\/p>\n

They wrote: “You’ve done a great job staying healthy for gigs, Liam. I’m sorry u have to live like a monk during the tour – but damn, you’re killing it!”<\/p>\n

Responding to the fan, Liam admitted: “Oasis saved my life it’s about time I sorted my nappa out I know how much this means to people so stopping drinking and smoking and snorting Gary baldies are sacrifices that needed to be made thems the rules MCFC.”<\/p>\n

Asked by another if he missed the occasional Guinness, he quipped back: “Yeah I miss talking absolute b****** when I’m bladdered.”<\/a><\/p>\n

Weather<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wednesday:<\/strong> Light rain and light winds. 14C.<\/p>\n

Manc trivia:<\/strong> What was Sara Cox\u2019s first broadcasting job?<\/p>\n

Roads:<\/strong> A665 Devonshire Street North, Ardwick, in both directions closed due to gas main work between A57 Hyde<\/a> Road and Blind Lane. Until November 4.<\/p>\n

A6 Chapel St westbound, Salford<\/a>, closed for long-term roadworks between Blackfriars Rd and New Bailey St until January 19.<\/p>\n

Like giving birth<\/strong>\"SaraSara Cox(Image: BBC)<\/p>\n

Also on a health kick is Boltonian Sara Cox – who is currently running five marathons in five days<\/a> to raise money for Children in Need.<\/p>\n

Radio 2 presenter Sara will cover 135 miles on foot from Kielder Water in Northumbria to Pudsey, near Leeds.<\/p>\n

Speaking to our Celebrity Editor Jess Sansome about the mammoth challenge, Sara likened marathon running to giving birth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you’re pregnant, people look at you with a mixture of excitement and sympathy because you’re about to go through something quite painful, even though it’ll be a joyous and beautiful thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can’t back out,\u201d she said.<\/a><\/p>\n

The answer to today\u2019s trivia question is, she was a presenter on The Girlie Show.<\/p>\n

Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group <\/strong>HERE<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A-lister breaks ground in Manchester PLUS Why were children living in filth?Hello, Bare cupboards. No bedding. Floorboards saturated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":563947,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,2465,25785,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-563946","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-manchester","12":"tag-the-mancunian-way","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115532091782864859","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=563946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/563947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}