Joe Anderson reveals mayor manifesto

Pictures by Rob Carney

SHADOW Health Secretary Andy Burnham stood shoulder to shoulder with Joe Anderson this morning as the Liverpool Council leader unveiled his own campaign for elected mayor of Liverpool.

Addressing an audience of around 150 guests at Liverpool Community College ,  the Liverpool-born MP for Leigh spoke of Anderson in glowing terms as “a man who likes to get things done”  who is Liverpool “through and through”.

Maggie O'Carroll and Andy Burnham listen to Joe Anderson

Anderson, introduced by Maggie O’Carroll of The Women’s Organisation, took to the podium by speaking of the city’s problems – its housing crisis, rising unemployment and growing number of young people not in training or education. He declared that is main mayoral ambition was to take on those challenges, which, he acknowledged wasn’t going to be easy.

Anderson’s mayoral manifesto pledged to create:

5,000 new houses;

20,000 new jobs;

12 new schools;

Five new mayoral enterprise development zones to show Liverpool was "truly open for business";

More green spaces.

The choice of venue for the launch became apparent when the Labour candidate said he had two further announcements – both education related.

Joe AndersonRounding on the Coalition government’s scrapping of the Education Maintenance Allowance last year, he was greeted by rapturous applause when he promised Mayor Anderson would introduce a Liverpool Education Allowance of £20 a week for the city’s 16-19 year old students. 

“I won’t turn my back on you,” he notionally told the city’s young people and ended his manifesto speech by vowing that not one of them would “leave school without a qualification or training place”.

“It’s big thinking, bold, innovative and challenging,” he told supporters.

And, in an apparent dig at his rivals, Anderson reminded them: “This is not a time for celebrity egos or failed eighties politics.”