Rob Parsons

CAUGHT OFFSIDE!

Dodgy dealings in the transfer market! Here's today's @thenorthernagenda.bsky.social cartoon...

www.shareyourstories.live/northern-agenda/

I’ve won another trophy! 🏆 Best Editorial Cartoon at the Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation Awards 2025. A great start to the year!

NEW: The 7am Manchester to London train that was going to run without passengers can now operate as normal, says the Office of Road and Rail

The regulator's decision made headlines over the weekend after the Guardian broke the story.

www.theguardian.com/business/202...

The Great North mayors and leaders call on Chancellor to back North of England in the Budget The Great North mayors and leaders have written to the Chancellor ahead of the Budget, calling for investment that will unlock investment and opportunity acr...

Hmm I don't think the letter is online actually, but a press release summing it up is here:

thegreatnorth.org.uk/news/the-gre...

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Here's what his team said when I approached them to ask why....

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Even though Reform UK's Luke Campbell (Hull and East Yorkshire) and Stephen Atkinson (Lancashire) have joined Labour mayors to back the pre-Budget demands, Conservatice Ben Houchen in the Tees Valley refused to sign

Northern mayors like @andyburnham.bsky.social and @kimmcguinness.bsky.social have signed a letter to Rachel Reeves calling for Northern Powerhouse Rail to be delivered in full and the two-child benefit cap to be lifted

www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-e...

But one mayor refused to sign...

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A superb cartoon by @graemebandeira.bsky.social for the @thenorthernagenda.bsky.social - Great drawing. Lots of beautiful details. "NOTFIXED" - The #art of an #editorial #cartoon on #UK Exchequer #RachelReeves and the #Budget - #Labour #government #KeirStarmer - #Netflix #Wednesday

STEALING A LIVING!

Inspired by the heist at Le Louvre here's today's @thenorthernagenda.bsky.social cartoon...

www.shareyourstories.live/northern-agenda/

This is quite a story in the Manchester Evening News.

Excellent work by @josephtiman.bsky.social, Neal Keeling and Local Democracy Reporter Declan Carey to get to the bottom of this...

MADCHESTER!

Will there be many Unhappy Mondays ahead for Kemi?

Here's today's @thenorthernagenda.bsky.social cartoon...

this is very nice indeed

YouTube video by Liverpool ECHO Labour Conference in Liverpool - The Northern Agenda Podcast

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Watch the whole episode on YouTube here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjZf...

or listen at: podfollow.com/the-northern...

(Featuring great editing work by @podcastjourno.bsky.social)

Will Greater Manchester be left out in the cold by Keir Starmer's government after Andy Burnham's high-profile antics at Labour conference?

I chat with @liamthorp.bsky.social and @josephtiman.bsky.social on the Northern Agenda podcast this week - recorded in the Liverpool Echo's fancy studio!

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Lord Peter Hendy (middle) at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.

It was fantastic to welcome Lord Peter Hendy, Rail Minister, for an in-conversation event with @robparsonsna.bsky.social at #LabourConference2025 yesterday.

The discussion, jointly hosted by the Railway Industry Association, covered key topics such as rail devolution and the case for investment.

The Northern Agenda: 'We need to talk about Andy': Could Labour conference become the Burnham show? The Westminster circus is preparing to descend once again on the Liverpool docks as Labour holds its annual party conference at the city's big convention centre.It'll be five days of political deba...

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Listen to the full episode here:

podfollow.com/the-northern...

'It won't do Andy Burnham any harm to be seen to be at war with an unpopular government'

Was great to have
@patrickmaguire.bsky.social of The Times on the Northern Agenda podcast this week with @liamthorp.bsky.social and I to chat Labour conference, Hillsborough Law and his love of Southport

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'The qualities that made Angela Rayner so good are those you're more likely to see in Northern people'

@liamthorp.bsky.social on the Labour deputy leader race...

Have a listen to this week's episode of The Northern Agenda podcast here:

podfollow.com/the-northern...

Sorry for another self-indulgent post but it was my last newsletter as Northern Agenda Editor today 😢

You can read it here:

newsletters.e.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/nxOY1JhcPDmq...

The Northern Agenda: Bridget vs Lucy: should Labour's next deputy leader be a Northern woman? ​Rob Parsons and Liam Thorp are back discussing the week's political news from a Northern perspective and there are some big questions to answer.​As Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell compete ...

Does it matter if Labour's next Deputy Leader is a Northern woman? And why have Reform UK got it wrong about Northern Powerhouse Rail?

@liamthorp.bsky.social and I talk about this - and more - on the Northern Agenda podcast.

Have a listen here!

podfollow.com/the-northern...

69% of Northerners - and 62% of Britons - back the construction of new high-speed railways between northern cities in principle, amid Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice saying his party would axe such schemes

North of England
Support: 69%
Oppose: 16%

All Britons
Support: 62%
Oppose: 19%

I'm sad to see Local Govt and Devo Minister Jim McMahon lose his job in Keir Starmer's big reshuffle - not least because I'd just interviewed him for the Northern Agenda podcast...

Here he is talking about empowering local leaders and how too many decisions are still being made in Whitehall.

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The Northern Agenda: Rewiring England: Devolution and local power with Oldham's Jim McMahon ​This week, Rob Parsons speaks to Jim McMahon, a Northern politician at the heart of Government.In the Commons this week - before her tax affairs become engulfed in controversy - Deputy Prime Mi...

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Listen to the full interview here:

podfollow.com/the-northern...

I'm sad to see Local Govt and Devo Minister Jim McMahon lose his job in Keir Starmer's big reshuffle - not least because I'd just interviewed him for the Northern Agenda podcast...

Here he is talking about empowering local leaders and how too many decisions are still being made in Whitehall.

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I have some job news...

The Northern Agenda The Northern Agenda is a weekly podcast covering politics and public affairs from across the North of England, voiced by journalists who are outside the Westminster bubble, reporting from the other si...

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Jim McMahon was speaking to me on The Northern Agenda podcast - full episode out first thing tomorrow

podfollow.com/the-northern...

"It doesn't send a good sign when councils close the door and refuse to engage with the local press."

Local Government Minister (and former Oldham council leader) @jimmcmahon.co.uk
on Reform UK's Nottingham Post/Notts Live ban...

@oliverpridmore.bsky.social

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This story might be worth bearing in mind next time shadow justice secretary @robertjenrickmp.bsky.social talks about law and order😐

From today's Northern Agenda newsletter, great scoop by
@paddyedrich.bsky.social in the Liverpool Echo

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Really terrible news for everyone at Vivergo and the rest of the bioethanol industry as the Government refuses to offer funding to support it.

The US-UK trade removed tariffs on more than £1bn of cheaper US imports, fatally undermining what could have been a major domestic growth industry...

The Northern Agenda: Biofuel battleground: Why the fate of Hull's Vivergo Fuels matters Rob Parsons looks at a story playing out in the North that sits squarely in the middle of two huge issues Keir Starmer and the Labour government want to be judged on at the next election: economic...

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Ben explains why Vivergo's possible collapse could have huge knock-on implications for the rest of the country...

Listen here:

podfollow.com/the-northern...