Manchester leading the way - Livingstone

LONDON mayor Ken Livingstone said Manchester is leading the way nationally because of its great council leaders.

Speaking at a fringe meeting on cities, he said: "Manchester is doing very well, in fact better than a lot of the rest of Britain.

"Manchester is very lucky to have had Graham Stringer and now Richard Leese, two leaders with a sense of vision, both working for change.

"Graham Stringer led this city well, he prioritised then when the Labour party came along to invest, they took advantage."

He joined Coun Leese and Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government, answering questions about the future of Britain's cities.

Coun Leese responded by saying he was "agnostic" about directly elected mayors.

He added: "If you get a good one - and I hear London have - it can work quite well, if you get bad one it is atrocious and you never hear about any directly elected mayors other than Ken.

"What I would like for Greater Manchester is something more akin to an indirectly elected mayor operating with a cabinet - if it's good enough for Ruth Kelly and her colleagues it's good enough for us."

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