Northern Correspondent for @theipaper former @mennewsdesk Story ideas/tips always welcome. DM me or email [email protected]
Manchester, England
Joined January 2009
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Steve Robson retweeted
The new crime survey is out - the "Lawless Britain" picture in full
- Violence at lowest since records began in 1981
- Corroborated by hospital figures for knife wounds
- Robbery: record low
- Overall crime 78% below 1995 peak.
- Shoplifting up
More:-
comment.press/lawless
Labour people in Manchester keep saying the Man City football story and Abu Dhabi investment are separate.
That's just not right. There are lots of direct ties that deserve renewed scrutiny.
This naming rights deal is one inews.co.uk/news/man-city-pa…
Steve Robson retweeted
Joe Duggan‘s reporting on the deadly lung disease silicosis and subsequent Killer Kitchens campaign has been nominated for the News Media Association’s “Making a Difference” award
Read more: trib.al/v0dGP3w
Steve Robson retweeted
I’m deeply saddened to hear that Pat Karney has died.
Pat gave nearly 50 years of his life to serving Manchester. He saw the city through some of its toughest times and played his part in the growth and transformation that followed.
I knew Pat for many years. He loved Manchester deeply and was a tireless champion for the people he represented.
I’ll miss him greatly. My thoughts are with his family and everyone who knew and loved him.
Steve Robson retweeted
Manchester City Council has received £3m from a property deal struck with Abu Dhabi United Group
trib.al/k0DuoRq
Steve Robson retweeted
Andy Burnham’s flagship ‘Number 10 North’ is set to be built on land where Manchester City’s owners had a controversial “sweetheart” property deal, The i Paper can reveal
Read more: trib.al/ixWGEio
Burnham now backtracking on support for City owners.
A No 10 spokesperson said: “As the Prime Minister made clear, the initial judgement is serious and there can’t be any suggestion that anyone is above the rules. He also stressed that it is an ongoing independent process.
Steve Robson retweeted
FT exclusive: The Premier League football club’s Emirati chair, Khaldoon al-Mubarak, was granted immunity six years ago in a move that could complicate any legal action resulting from findings that it artificially inflated its finances by more than £900mn. ft.trib.al/eTmJM3f
One of Burnham’s main strengths is having a good sense of the public mood.
But as we saw with beer drinking in the stands, football has always been one of those areas where he can’t help but stray beyond his brief.
This City stuff is dangerous territory.
Steve Robson retweeted
Reform candidate Mark Butcher said Claremont, which includes a large part of Blackpool town centre, is ‘the worst ward in the whole country’ – but support for his party is growing in the area
Read more: trib.al/toMvIkp
This is an uncomfortable story for Burnham in so many ways.
There are questions beyond just the football club and also for Manchester’s political establishment. They’ve always had very little to say about the Abu Dhabi group.
The Prime Minister reacts to the breaking news that Manchester City has been found guilty of breaching Premier League financial fair play rules.
I asked Andy Burnham whether the club should be stripped of their titles:
@GranadaReports @itvnews
Steve Robson retweeted
"Most of England’s mayors do not have enough staff or experience to take on new powers being given to them by Andy Burnham, insiders and experts have told The i Paper."
🔎 Big Read by Steve Robson
Read more: trib.al/TD18mtN
Burnham is also doing this a lot.
Fine, do it, if you think it helps you meet people where they are.
But don’t pass it off as genuine interaction.
It looks and feels spontaneous, but is it?
A video of Ed Miliband having an apparently impromptu chat with Feroz Khan, an American social media influencer, on the streets of New York
Khan is an American social media influencer who has made a name for himself conducting seemingly impromptu interviews with people he stops in the street with a simple question: “What do you do for a living?”
The Miliband clips has already had more than 1million views.
But is it real?
In fact it has been carefully staged
There are several clues. The video shows Khan stopping Miliband in the street as he makes his way between engagements. “Excuse me, you have an amazing outfit,” he tells him. “What do you do for a living?”
Rather than walk on Miliband, surprisingly, stops and turns to face the camera. His aides, meanwhile, keep on marching on without even looking back to check who he is talking to. They don’t wait for him, disappearing out of shot
Even for a politician, Miliband appears to have rather well-rehearsed answers for Khan’s questions. “Hang on you’re that Feroz guy aren’t you,” he says. “You interviewed JLo once. What are you doing here?”
Khan replies with a compliment: “I spread positivity on social media and I happened to come across you well dressed. What do you do for a living?”
In a surreal exchange Miliband says he is the foreign secretary of Great Britain. “Please forgive me, I don’t know what that is,” Khan replies
“I’m like the Marco Rubio of Great Britain,” Miliband says. What follows is an extraordinarily soft interview on any level. Khan, who sees his job as “spreading positivity”, says: “Nice to meet you. What makes your work so special?”
The final clue is in the post itself. Khan posted it on his Instagram in direct “collaboration” with the Foreign Office and Britain’s UN mission, meaning it went up on their Instagram accounts at exactly the same time
thetimes.com/article/fd04b25…
Steve Robson retweeted
Here we throw. An England fan on a group WhatsApp with 200 home-and-away members reports that most of those polled are against the PM’s idea of a trial allowing fans to be able to drink alcohol in the stands. “Most don’t want that Boxpark culture of beers being thrown in the air when there is a goal, those few idiots throwing up, or having people shuffle past them every min to go get their pint and come back. The reasons for the ban in the first place (the terrace culture of decades ago) may have gone, but that doesn’t mean that lifting it will all go smoothly.”
Steve Robson retweeted
EXCLUSIVE 🗞️- Britain’s economic watchdog, the OBR, is concerned that it may have to revise down the boost to GDP it had attached to Labour’s flagship planning reforms and 1.5 million new homes target.
The OBR has invited housing market experts in for meetings in a bid to “understand why the housing market is underperforming” so badly.
This will be a blow to the government and signals the state of our housing market amid worsening economic headwinds including inflation and higher mortgage rates which, in their defence, are neither Labour’s fault nor entirely within their control.
It also raised questions about the OBR’s initial forecast which experts have told me was optimistic at best.
My report @theipaper
inews.co.uk/news/hidden-cost…
Steve Robson retweeted
In the wake of the A66 crash that claimed seven lives including two police officers, long-running organised criminality in Middlesbrough continues to have an indelible effect on communities.
Sky's @TomSkyNews meets the people of Middlesbrough who want this moment of scrutiny to be a moment of change for the place they call home.
🔗Tap to watch the full report on the Sky News YouTube channel trib.al/6B9w3cp
Steve Robson retweeted
A real honour to see @theipaper's Killer Kitchens campaign on rising silicosis cases among young stonemasons nominated for the @EditorsUK Media Freedom Awards.
The shortlist has today been announced for the @EditorsUK Media Freedom Awards 2026. Congratulations to all those shortlisted and we look forward to celebrating with you on the 11 November in London #pressfreedom #mfa2026
societyofeditors.org/soe_new…
