Burnham promises more Bee Network buses, minus the teething pains

Dear readers — a warm welcome to our Monday briefing. There’s been a lot of excitement in the office today as Senator Bernie Sanders popped in for a visit. He’s in town for an event to promote his book and he swung by Mill HQ to record an interview with Novara Media and speak to us about the importance of saving local journalism. He told Joshi he is extremely concerned about the decline of local media and the impact of hollowed-out newsrooms on communities and local democracy — we’ll post a clip of his comments tomorrow. 

Over the weekend, we published a great read about the extraordinary life of conscientious objector Arthur Turtle. One Miller said “His story is a wonderful inspiration to us over 100 years later”, and another said “Brilliant story, brilliant storytelling!” Too kind!

Like a certain progressive American politician, the Mill movement is powered by the people, and funded by them too. An amazing 118 new members have joined in February so far, meaning we’re on for a huge month. Are they joining to read unmissable members-only stories? To get an invite to our very lively comments sections and in-person events? Or perhaps because they believe in our mission to reinvent the business model for local journalism to reverse the terrible cuts that have seen more than 6,000 local journalism jobs disappear since 2007. Whatever your reason: thank you. And if you’re not a member yet, please join up now using the button below.

🌦️ This week’s weather

Wrap up warm from Thursday onwards — unseasonably mild weather is over, and cold winter temperatures are back for now.

Tuesday 🌦️ Mostly dry but cloudy until late afternoon when showery rain will arrive. Breezy. Max 12°C.

Wednesday 🌧️ Wet and windy with moderate to heavy rain. Max 12°C. 

Thursday 🌦️ Sunny spells and heavy showers with hail at times. Colder. Max 7°C. 

Friday 🌦️ Breezy with sunny intervals and showers. Feeling chilly. Max 7°C.

Weekend 🌦️ Remaining chilly with average temperatures and changeable weather.

You can find the latest forecast at Manchester Weather on Facebook — daily forecasts are published at 6.15am.

From painted rickshaws to South Asian Daytimers raves

After its major reopening last year, Manchester Museum’s South Asia Gallery won headlines around the world. The New York Times noted that it was “the first permanent museum gallery in Britain to spotlight the South Asian diaspora,” in a new space that “focuses on the community’s lived experience: on what it means to be British and South Asian at the same time.” That gallery features everything from ancient Sri Lankan musical instruments to displays about the secret South Asian Daytimers raves of the 80s and 90s, as well as exploring garment manufacture and South Asian working lives in Manchester. Plan your visit now — and you can see the stunning Golden Mummies of Egypt show (ending in April) and Stan the Tyrannosaurus rex at the same time.

The big story: The Bee Network hits phase two

Top line: One month from now, a new branch of the Bee Network — Andy Burnham’s publicly controlled local transport network — will launch in Oldham, Rochdale and parts of Bury, meaning you will see more yellow buses on the roads. 

Context: The first phase of the network launched in Wigan, Bolton, parts of Bury and Salford, plus a little bit of Manchester, back in September. 

• Right now, the network only incorporates about 20% of the region’s buses.

• All of the region’s buses will be part of the Bee Network by January 2025. The map below spells that out.

Back when phase one launched, we asked whether all the publicity around the network would actually push up passenger numbers and justify the public money being spent to keep fares down. One insider told us: “The mayor is very much in the category of ‘if we build it, they will come.’”

• He wasn’t wrong. Within a month, patronage was up 8%. GMCA said an average of 100-120,000 people were using Bee Network services.

• Today, transport commissioner Vernon Everitt told us passenger numbers were up again to around 120-125,000 a day. 

At a press conference at Bury Interchange, Burnham, Everitt and Bury Council leader Eamonn O’Brien laid out the plans for the next phase of the network. Launching late next month, 80 new buses will join the service. 

Mostly, the conference was a chance for Burnham and co. to promise that the teething problems in the first phase won’t arise again next month. And to assure us that the Bee Network’s first phase is still going well: 

• 71% of franchised buses are arriving on time, compared to 62% before franchising

Burnham captured this by saying there was “clear yellow water between bee network services and those they have replaced”. Uh, ok. 

So what’s new? The app is getting an upgrade, with live bus tracking rather than just live departure times. That’s still a little unreliable. Currently, the app can tell you a bus is two minutes away, then one minute, then due to arrive, and then gone. Meanwhile, you’re still on the pavement, forlorn and likely wet.

• Burnham also announced a night bus pilot to complement late-night trams, but only on two services. 

Finally, phase two shouldn’t have the same overreliance on agency workers, which led to bus drivers from outside GM trying to find their way around unfamiliar bus routes, impacting reliability. Burnham says this time round drivers have been trained in good time before the launch. Last time, they weren’t. 

Bottom line: The third and final phase of bus franchising will be in January 2025, with tap-in tap-out services across bus, tram and bike. But Burnham and Everitt were keen to stress that the work won’t stop there. “We know that to make it the service we want, we want to bring commuter rail into the service,” Burnham said. Pilots for this are expected later down the line, with rail integrated by 2030. 

Get rewards for signing up new Millers. Our referral scheme means you can get months of free Mill membership, or even an exclusive Mill tote bag, just for singing up friends to our free mailing list. We only started it recently and some of you are already flying up the leaderboard, with longtime Miller Tom Cheesewright on the brink of getting his hands on the priceless tote. 

Just follow the link below, copy your unique referral code, and get sharing.

Your Mill briefing

📈 The Labour Party’s North West branch is being described as a “mafia” by insiders who say it interfered in the selection process for the Rochdale byelection. Allegedly, Labour North West (and deputy leader Angela Rayner) lobbied for the selection of Azhar Ali. Of the selection process, they said “we have been told included party members who had not paid their membership fee for months in protest over Gaza. So they shouldn't have had a vote.” They need not have bothered: Ali’s campaign imploded last week after recordings of him making anti-semitic remarks were leaked to the Mail on Sunday. The byelection has now been left open for George Galloway. We met with him at his campaign headquarters — a Suzuki garage — last week.

🌹 On Rochdale: the funeral of Sir Tony Lloyd — the town’s previous MP whose death triggered this month’s byelection — was held on Friday. In attendance at St Hugh of Lincoln Church in Stretford were Sir Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham. 

🏨 A new draft plan for Trafford Wharf — the area covering Old Trafford, the Imperial War Museum and Victoria Warehouse — has been published by the council. It includes 5,000 homes, a new primary school, healthcare facilities, offices and a hotel. Manchester United are heavily involved in the plan-making under new owners INEOS, perhaps hoping to mirror the massive regeneration Manchester City’s owners have brought to the New Islington area. If approved, the plan will go to consultation in March.

🖊 Finally, a piece of ours has precipitated a piece in the New Yorker! It’s about Caliban Shrieks — a lost novel by Jack Hilton, a working class writer from Oldham, and one man’s mission to get it republished. Jack Chadwick, the man behind the republication, first wrote about the story for us in 2022, and since then has had the book republished by Vintage Classics.

💡 The Mill is hiring. If you’re a budding journalist or editor, we’ve got a journalist role going on our sister title in Birmingham (details here) and a deputy editor role across all of our titles (details here). If that sounds like you, or someone you know, then please apply and/or share — we’d love to hear from you.

Home of the week

Located between a nature reserve and a brook in Breightmet, this two-bedroom terrace retains plenty of period features and has a large garden to the rear. £160,000.

Our favourite reads

When Gaza came to Rochdale — UnHerd

“This by-election is about Labour, not about Gaza… Labour’s name is mud here. Gaza is just the hat on it,” wannabe MP George Galloway says. But what’s behind the unlikely rise of Galloway in Rochdale, and what does that mean for ordinary voters?

Is up the only way for Manchester? — The Observer

Architecture critic Rowan Moore takes a look at a modern apartment block on Oldham Road that fits neatly into the city’s historic surroundings, and asks why this “thoughtfulness and intent” is found less often in other city centre developments.

'My quest to find a "true" oven bottom muffin in its Greater Manchester heartland' — The Manchester Evening News

The disappearance of the Oldham oven bottom muffin has sparked a debate online about the lost food traditions of the North. Lifestyle editor Dianne Bourne takes a trip to find them.

Our to do list

Tuesday

💃 Shen Yun, the classical Chinese dance company and symphony orchestra, are performing at the Lowry, in what is described as a revival of China’s ancient cultural heritage. Get tickets here.

🎷 Saskia and Alex, two modern jazz, R&B and alt-rock musicians from Leeds, are performing a free gig at Matt and Phreds. If you buy two drinks you get a free pizza. 

Wednesday

🌿 The RNCM is screening five timeless nature documentaries from the early 1900s, accompanied by contemporary compositions from music students. Tickets start at £5.

🎨 Manchester Museum is showing Ten Years (In)Justice, a film based on the experiences of ten ordinary people that aims to show the value of access to free legal advice. It’s free.

Thursday 

🐸 To celebrate their 30th birthday, the Frog and Bucket are hosting a special comedy night featuring some of their favourite Manchester comedians. Tickets here.

📚 Maria Fusco will be discussing her debut, WHO DOES NOT ENVY WITH US IS AGAINST US: a collection of essays on the topic of being working class, at Blackwell’s. Get a ticket and the book for £8.99.