BREAKING: Labour withdraws support from its candidate in Rochdale, effectively ending its campaign

Dear Millers, this Briefing comes to you a bit late today. We normally send it in the afternoon but as we were about to publish, we started hearing whispers that Labour might be dumping its by-election candidate in Rochdale. “All Labour campaigners in Rochdale told to down tools and await an announcement,” one source told us.

That news has just broken, with Labour withdrawing support from its candidate Azhar Ali in the past few minutes after he was caught spreading a conspiracy theory about the Hamas attack on Israel. The problem is, it’s too late for the party to replace Ali. “Given that nominations have now closed Azhar Ali cannot be replaced as the candidate,” a statement reads. It’s an extraordinary story and we have more details below.

Also in today’s edition: We hope you are enjoying your glamorous lives in the “chic capital of the north,” — as Harper’s Bazaar has christened us. Amongst the compelling evidence of our newfound chicness is the imminent arrival of Soho House, although perhaps that imminence (already delayed by over a year) is in doubt after Soho House was accused of being a worthless company “with a broken business model and terrible accounting”. Très chic! Plus: we have a story about Britain’s last executioner, a beautiful three-bedroom terrace in Ramsbottom, and a to-do list that promises to keep your evenings full, even if you don’t have huge Pancake Day and Valentine’s Day plans.

We got lots of comments under our most recent editions about the gentrification of Levenshulme and the attempted salvation of Piccadilly Gardens. The Levy/Leve (apparently even that is a cause of debate) comments are too long and detailed to quote from here, but here’s a taste of what Millers have been saying about the Gardens.

• Angela: “Forget grass and mud... with imagination and bus diversion Manchester could have a beautiful paved area with lots of trees, enormous plant pots, benches and high quality cafes near perimeter.”

• Joe: “I always implore MCC to look at Nottingham’s Old Market Square as a great example of what they should do to revitalise the gardens… When I first visited after its transformation, I was so impressed – it felt like a proper European city square, and made my return to Manchester all the more depressing.”

• Andrew: “The difference here is jobs. King St and Oldham St used to employ lots of white collar workers and civil servants. Now they’ve gone it’s just a magnet for lurking would-be sex offenders and drug dealers.”

• Linda: “As a woman, I can only remember a short period where PG was an attractive place to go that being during the Commonwealth Games. At all other times it was and is to be avoided especially at night. It would be lovely to have an open square, paved, with beautiful trees to sit under.”

• Ian: “It may be an unpopular view, but I don't dislike the current design. However, it seems to me that the problem is that the council keep allowing the space to be blocked off by various things.”

• Frank: “In my view, at a total space of 10 acres the area is too small and now has too high a footfall to try to make this the city's garden centrepiece. It would be a mistake and make the area seem claustrophobic. Better to open it up as a series of boulevards, seating areas, trees and smaller artificial grass areas.”

• Leighton: “I believe somebody mocked up an image where the old town hall facade, currently crumbling fenced off and literally gathering moss in Heaton Park, was moved to PG. It looked great. That would be a nice, relatively cheap, way to create a focal point.”

Please join in the comments if you have something to add — both the design firm doing the redevelopment and the council have Mill subscriptions and will no doubt be reading your views. More than 500 Millers voted in the poll and 74% of people said they favoured paving over the Gardens.

Last week, Jack dropped by the Michelin Guide’s Awards Ceremony, held in Manchester for the first time, which controversially did not award any new stars to local restaurants. “It’s arrogant as fuck,” said one person on their way out. But who do we think is being arrogant here? In our second members-only story, Sophie assessed whether Levenshulme is being overrun with “natural wine-swilling liberal arts graduates” in a thoughtful piece about gentrification and social segregation in a changing neighbourhood.

To read those pieces, access all of our journalism and be invited to our events, consider treating yourself to a paid membership for just £7 a month. As Katy Rubin tweeted this weekend: “We're avid readers of @ManchesterMill, and we've finally subscribed as members! Hooray for local, independent, rigorous journalism.”

🌦️ This week’s weather

First, the good news: the weather will be unseasonably mild this week. Ok, now onto the bad: it’s likely to be rainy, so hang on to your umbrellas.

Tuesday 🌧️ Cloudy with moderate to heavy rain during the afternoon and evening. Max 8°C.

Wednesday 🌦️ Mild but unsettled with bright spells and heavy showers. Max 13°C.

Thursday 🌧️ Cloudy and mild, with spells of heavy rain. Max 12°C.

Friday 🌦️ Colder and gradually brighter after a wet start to the day. Max 9°C.

Weekend 🌦️ Briefly settled on Saturday before low pressure brings rain back in by Sunday. Remaining relatively mild.

The big story: Labour dumps its candidate in Rochdale

Top line: The Labour Party has effectively ended its campaign in the Rochdale by-election after withdrawing support from its own candidate, Azhar Ali. This weekend Ali apologised for peddling a conspiracy theory about the Hamas terror attack on Israel, saying his comments were “deeply offensive, ignorant, and false”.

What this means: It’s too late for Labour to register a new candidate in Rochdale. As the Guardian’s Eleni Courea reports, "If Ali is elected he will sit as an independent MP and won't ever have had the Labour whip, according to a Labour source.”

The comments: In a recording from a meeting of the Lancashire Labour Party not long after the October 7 attack, obtained by the Mail on Sunday, Ali said that Israel had been warned of an attack by Hamas but “allowed” nearly 1,500 of its citizens to be killed to justify attacks on Gaza. Here’s the full quote:

Reaction: The Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester released a statement calling the comments “deeply troubling” and “highly offensive”. The JRC says it is shocked by what Ali said because they had previously been reassured “by his long track record of interfaith work”.

Bad timing: Labour’s shadow minister Nick Thomas-Symonds told the BBC that Ali’s comments were “completely unacceptable,” and that he was aware of “the gravity of the offence caused.” But the party initially stood by Ali as a candidate.

The latest: In the past hour, Labour has dramatically reversed course, saying in a statement:

A deepening row: The Times reported that Labour at first argued Ali’s remarks were “out of character”. But as the Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff put it: “The trouble with this line that Labour's Rochdale candidate isn't anti-semitic, he just fell for an online conspiracy theory, is that at best you're asking us to make someone who falls for any old guff they read on Facebook an MP.”

Polling day: The by-election in Rochdale, to be held on the 29th of this month, is now in utter chaos. It is also being contested by George Galloway, who is running in protest against Labour’s stance on the war in the Middle East.

• Before tonight’s dramatic development, James Heale wrote in the Spectator that Labour ditching Ali and effectively suspending its campaign “would make a Galloway victory all the more likely.”

Hypocrisy: As Heale notes, “Labour’s difficulties are compounded by the apparent inconsistency in how its leadership treats miscreants who step out of line over Gaza.” It has already suspended MPs Kate Osamor and Andy McDonald for making milder remarks. As the Guardian’s Owen Jones posted today, “Azhar Ali said something genuinely scandalous, and Labour is standing by him.”

Context: As we have reported before, Rochdale is a tricky seat, and even before this scandal, it hasn’t been easy for Ali. Videos circulated of him being shouted out of takeaways over Labour’s position on Gaza.

What’s next: After the story broke this weekend, we asked a range of Labour politicians who have campaigned for Ali whether they will continue to do so. We didn’t hear back from the offices of Denton and Reddish MP Andrew Gwynne, Gorton MP Afzal Khan or Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner.

• Senior Manchester councillor Gavin White posted a tweet yesterday saying he had been out campaigning for Ali in Rochdale, but then deleted it when we got in touch.

• White told us: “I wasn't aware of the Mail on Sunday story before campaigning in Rochdale this morning. The comments made by Azhar Ali were completely wrong, and I am glad he has fully apologised and totally retracted those statements.”

Bottom line: It’s embarrassing for Labour to go into a by-election with a candidate who has — by his own admission — spread a “deeply offensive, ignorant” conspiracy theory about an attack that killed more than a thousand people and featured the “rape, sexual violence and mutilation of women”. Now the party has withdrawn its support, it may well face the humiliation of losing a safe seat to George Galloway, or it will have to withdraw the whip from Ali if he wins. A contest that was always going to be controversial will now become even more unpleasant, with likely knock-on effects for community relations in Rochdale.

Your Mill briefing

❌ The University of Manchester has come under fire for allowing a new pro-life society. An Instagram page advertising a welcome night for the group later this month and introducing its all-male committee was shared on Reddit, with the person who made the post arguing it “has potential to seriously harm and disrupt the wellbeing of female students.” Three years ago, it was reported that UoM was one of only six UK Russell Group universities without a pro-life group, while anti-abortion activism (generally linked to the Alliance for Pro-Life Students) on campuses was on the rise. The Instagram page of the new group now appears to have been taken down, but it is still being advertised by the university’s student union. 

🗳 The Guardian’s Helen Pidd joined George Galloway on the campaign trail in Rochdale. Galloway, currently the leader of the Workers Party of Britain, says his bid to become the town’s next MP is “the ultimate protest against Labour.” At a rally this month, he said the by-election was a “straight choice between George who will fight for Palestine…. and Keir Starmer who will fight for Israel.” Starmer rejected these comments, saying “the last thing Rochdale needs is division”, and a Labour spokesperson said they had an “excellent candidate” in Azhar Ali, a comment that hasn’t aged well.

🛫 Manchester Airport has curbed its ambitions to become the “Heathrow of the North”, after the government scrapped the HS2 line that would have connected to the airport’s new terminals. Had the HS2 plans gone ahead, Manchester would have become a 60 million passengers-a-year airport. For now, that’s on hold, but the airport is working with Andy Burnham and West Midlands mayor Andy Street, who are backing plans to get the scrapped HS2 developments funded by private investment.

❤️‍🔥 It’s Valentine’s Day this week, and The Mill team is feeling sentimental. Rendezvous with us in the comments and tell us your memories of how you first met your partner, whether it was at a Northern Soul night on a Wigan dancefloor or a queer rave in Salford, we’d love to hear some fun and surprising Greater Manchester love stories.

Home of the week

Overlooking a lovely green space and close to a nearby park, this three-bedroom terrace in Ramsbottom is an ideal first home. It’s on the market for £240,000.

Parish news

🎧 In our latest podcast episode, we meet the tenant organiser Isaac Rose to talk about his new book The Rentier City, which argues that Manchester has been taken over by property developers and neoliberal values. You can listen on your preferred listening platform by clicking here.

📰 On the topic of podcasts, Joshi and Sophie have been interviewed by legendary Fleet Street editors Alan Rusbridger and Lionel Barber on the Media Confidential podcast. It’s quite something hearing the former editors of the Guardian and the FT talking about our business model and saying they are excited about what we are doing. Listen here.

🕵️ Finally, we’re hiring a Deputy Editor at Mill Media Co, someone who will help to lead and oversee our editorial teams across The Mill and our sister titles. Our friends at The Dispatch are also looking for a staff writer based in the West Midlands. If you know of anyone who might be interested in these roles, please help us out by sharing the links.

Our favourite reads

Why Manchester is the chic capital of the north — Harper’s Bazaar

Another argument for Manchester as the hottest city in the North, this time from the glossy American magazine Harper’s Bazaar. Rebecca Cope writes that the city “has gone through various identities in the past few decades” and asks the question: “Will the 2020s see its reincarnation as a luxury mecca?” Tell us what you think in the comments.

​​The puzzling afterlife of Britain’s last executioner — The Financial Times

Francisco Garcia writes about the enduring cult of Britain’s last executioner Albert Pierrepoint, who grew up working in the cotton mills in Manchester and ran a pub called Help The Poor Struggler in Oldham, and went on to execute hundreds of criminals in his 25-year career, ranging from serial killers to Nazi war criminals.

Zubin Mehta, the World’s Conductor — The New Yorker

Back in 1967, the New Yorker took a look at the extraordinary rise of Zubin Mehta, the symphony orchestra conductor and former assistant concertmaster at the Hallé, who at age 31 was already said to have “mastered Western classical music”.

Our to do list

Tuesday

🎭 SHED: EXPLODED VIEW is a new play at the Royal Exchange following three couples over thirty years, exploring themes of “violence, love and loss”. Tickets here.

🥞 Northern Quarter brunch spot Shack is offering bottomless pancakes for £15 to celebrate Shrove Tuesday, book a spot here.

Wednesday

🍽️ There are still a few tables available at Elnecot, a restaurant in Ancoats currently offering five courses for £40.

💌 These I Love is a moving tribute to Julie Hesmondhalgh’s working-class upbringing in Accrington, based on the diaries and notebooks of her beloved father that she discovered after he passed away. It’s showing at the Bolton Octagon for one week only, get tickets here.

Read Sophie’s beautiful profile of Julie Hesmondhalgh’s life and work: From Coronation Street to New York: Julie Hesmondhalgh's work asks, what if acting could change the world?

Thursday 

🎷 N'Faly Kouyaté, who fuses electronic rhythms with traditional West African music, is performing at Band on the Wall, get tickets here.

📚 Poet Andrew McMillan will be discussing his debut novel Pity at Manchester Central Library, which was described in the Guardian as an “impressively ambitious” exploration of masculinity and community in the post-industrial North. Tickets here.