Manchester

  • 26 May 2017

    The police have identified a “large part of the network” linked to the Manchester bomber Salman Abedi. They said some of their arrests – eight since Monday – are significant, as are the materials that have been found in their searches. But the UK terror threat is to remain at critical for the time being,…

  • 25 May 2017

    Of the 116 people hospitalised after the Manchester attack, 75 are being treated in hospitals around Greater Manchester. Twenty-three of those are in critical care, including five children. A large proportion are being treated at the Royal Manchester Infirmary. I went along to join staff as they observed this morning’s silence and to speak with…

  • 25 May 2017

    The police themselves have been angered by the behaviour of their US colleagues after yet more information from the Manchester investigation was leaked to the American media. Speaking at the Nato summit in Brussels, President Trump promised to prosecute whoever was responsible. That’s before he chastised an assembled group of Nato leaders for not paying…

  • 25 May 2017

    With the UK threat level still set at critical, British Transport Police say for the first time they will put armed officers on trains, while NHS emergency departments have been told to prepare to deal with possible further terrorist attacks.

  • 25 May 2017

    One of the 22 people who were killed at the Manchester Arena on Monday night was 45-year-old mother Alison Howe. We spoke with Alison’s husband, Steve about that terrible night, when – he says – he was failed by the arrangements made by police to keep loved ones informed.

  • 24 May 2017

    During last night’s vigil, a performance from local poet Tony Walsh stood out. His poem, ‘This Is The Place’, captures the spirit of a city that is well known for so much – its people, its industry and, of course, its music. Dave Haslam is a writer and musician who DJ’d at the legendary Hacienda…

  • 24 May 2017

    Salman Abedi is believed to have visited Libya, and possibly Syria, in recent months. But how much was known about him by the security services? It was suggested that he had been a “peripheral figure” in their monitoring of terrorist suspects. And if  he was missed, what of others in the suspected network?

  • 24 May 2017

    On Wednesday Channel 4 News broadcast this live debate at a vigil for the Manchester bombing victims. When it was brought to our attention that the woman being interviewed by Krishnan Guru-Murthy was wearing a gun-themed t-shirt, we removed the online versions to investigate. We are now satisfied that the intention of that image is to subvert weaponry and is an anti-violence protest t-shirt.

  • 24 May 2017

    A minute’s silence will be observed at 11 o’clock tomorrow morning in memory of those who died in Monday’s attack. After that, there’ll be a “phased return” to election campaigning.

  • 24 May 2017

    South Manchester has become home to migrants from the east over many generations – more recently from countries like Syria, Somalia and Libya, which has a significant but fast-growing community. The streets were home too to the bomber, Salman Abedi, whose family came from Libya – and have gone back there. He’s known to have…

  • 24 May 2017

    The Greater Manchester Chief Constable, Ian Hopkins, today confirmed that a serving officer was among the 22 people killed on Monday night. He said the immediate families of all those who had died had now been contacted and, although not all have yet been named, the stories of many of those victims are beginning to…

  • 24 May 2017

    Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, Diane Abbott, and Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman and former police officer, Lord Paddick, discuss the response to the Manchester bombing, including the decision to deploy soldiers at public places in London.

  • 24 May 2017

    More armed officers are being bussed in, as Greater Manchester Police say they are now investigating a terror network.Those officers are being freed up around the country by the deployment of troops to guard key sites following the upgrading of the terror threat level from “severe” to “critical”.

  • 24 May 2017

    Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon says the decision to raise the terrorism threat level was made independently and deploying troops in public places, to “backfill” for the police, was a “direct response” to this. He adds that the Government has increased the number of armed police officers in recent years.

  • 6 May 2017

    One of the key issues in this week’s elections was housing – or rather the price of it . And nowhere more so than in booming Manchester – considered the engine of the northern powerhouse.