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A radical year in the north



Ann Czernik reports and photographs regularly for the Guardian Northerner on the social challenges facing our three regions as austerity takes its toll. In the last year, she has looked at York's housing crisis, action to defend jobs and teenage binge drinking as well as public reaction to 2012's byelections and police commissioner and local council polls. Here's her calendar with a precis of prospects for the year now under way.
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Lots of protests - and lots of votes, as here at the Rotherham byelection in November. Photograph: Anna Gowthorpe/PA

Cuts to benefits and services and political infighting are likely to dominate the political agenda in 2013 as under-25s and public service workers bear the brunt of the Government's austerity agenda and families find it harder to manage from dwindling resources and higher costs of living. The transformation of the welfare state begins in earnest in April with the implementation of the bulk of the cuts and structural changes.

The move away from social security to individual responsibility is dividing communities' views on the role of the state and as this becomes an increasingly polarised debate, warnings of further unrest should be taken seriously. This transitional period is changing us, our communities and the relationship between state and people in a profound way. If the last century came to be about a social contract, this one is seeing a period of negotiation as the country attempts to re-define the terms of that contract in harder times. The struggle centres on how to reach consensus on what we are to become in the 21st Century; to re-unite communities, and move forward together.

Let's scroll back to a year ago:

January 2012

Zac Challinor from Salford received the lengthiest sentence of any rioter in the north for his part in the previous year's street violence when he was caught on film setting fire to a BBC outside broadcast van. Social tensions have increased locally as the regeneration of MediacityUK on Salford Quays contrasts with continuing unemployment, deprivation and poor housing conditions elsewhere. Unemployed and homeless, Challinor said he felt excited and scared by the trouble in Salford and likened the violent urban protest to "a real live game of Grand Theft Auto", a computer game where alienated protagonists survive on their wits, battling with police in ungoverned corners of a city. He told Judge Jonathan Foster QC that "it was inevitable that this day would come" and was told in turn by the judge that Salford had "worked hard to get this city to put its best foot forward; the achievements in regeneration have been substantial." Challinor was sentenced to five-and-a-half years' jail and says that he has faced problems accessing education or training in prison.

February

Some of Britain's biggest companies withdrew from the Government's Workfare scheme after young people held demonstrations such as this picket at Tesco in Leeds to protest against 'working for free.' The programme was billed as an opportunity for unemployed young people to gains skills and experience, but campaigners from Occupy, UK Uncut , Right To Work and the Socialist Party highlighted a Tesco advert on the Jobseekers Plus website offering work in exchange for expenses and jobseekers' allowance. The firm defended the system as work experience with a guaranteed job interview to follow.

March

Eric Pickles chaired the Conservative Local Government Association conference at the Queens Hotel in Leeds. Thousands of anti-cuts protesters rallied against proposals to reduce benefits and services and restructure the National Health Service. Here Sheila Banks, Leeds Trade Union Council president and chair of Unison Community Health branch in Leeds and York, addresses the crowd.

April

As George Galloway won the Bradford West byelection for the Respect party and spoke of a 'Bradford Spring', the Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu baptised people from all over the world at an outdoor ceremony and spoke about recognising the reality of poverty and inequality in the UK. Christians, he said, needed to "witness clearly that our Government must promote social justice" and churches of all denominations could be a "voice for the powerless, the weak and the dispossessed."

May

Respect made further gains in Bradford's local council election, with the party's candidate for Little Horton, Alyas Karmani, defeating the city's long-standing Labour leader Ian Greenwood by 17 votes. The ward includes Bradford's abandoned and neglected city centre Odeon, whose future has aroused a passionate campaign. Standing opposite the gallery, bars and mirror pool of the city's new City Park, it seems to symbolise the other side of to Bradford's economy and social well-being.

June

The English Defence League demonstrated in Rochdale as nine local men were convicted of organised child sex abuse. The town saw a number of racist attacks on taxi drivers and takeaways but stayed calm and Labour councillor Terry Linden said:


Let them come, let them protest. We'll just ignore them and get back to what we do well in this town, this borough, which is working together.



July

An occupation led by students took possession of the Westfield site in Bradford after a promised shopping, leisure and office development failed to materialise. Westfield subsequently sold the site and as yet no plans have been finalised for the repair of this 'hole in the heart' and its much-needed part in reinvigorating the city centre. Pouring rain failed to dampen enthusiasm and two caravans were given to provide the occupiers with shelter.

August

Martin Belica, a Bradford solicitor originally from eastern Europe, found himself mediating between vulnerable local eastern European communities and the authorities in the UK and Slovakia. A TV broadcast in Slovakia suggested that Roma children were being unfairly removed from their families by child protection staff. Belica made regular appearances in Slovakian media along with David Ward, Liberal Democrat MP for Bradford East, who recorded a YouTube broadcast in Slovakian to reassure the eastern European community. The Slovakian government asked to become a party to proceedings involving Slovakian children and the Council of Europe called for an inquiry.

September

George Galloway was pilloried for comments he made in relation to the rape accusations in Sweden against Julian Assange of WikiLeaks and found himself accused of sexism at a public meeting organised by Bradford Muslim Women's Council. Galloway countered that the comments were misunderstood and said "No means no; no can never mean yes" but critics such as Amy Sanderson of Bradford For Consent were not appeased and the damage was done.

October

Thousands of northerners headed south to take part in the TUC March for a Future in London. Unite the Union's brass band is based in Sheffield and treated the crowd to a series of numbers which showed why they are making their name in the musical world. Names on banners on the march were a roll-call of every major town, city and occupation up here.

November

Firefighters joined the year's protests with a series of demonstrations against restructuring in the north, involving the closure of some fire stations and – in the view of the Fire Brigades Union – a reduction in services. Opposition to cuts outside the mainstream political parties appeared to be growing but after a bitterly-fought campaign full of twists, turns and allegations of dirty tricks, Labour won the Rotherham Parliamentary seat after its long-standing incumbent Denis MacShane resigned because of misclaimed expenses. A poll during the campaign by the Rotherham Advertiser found that a majority of respondents considered the party damaged beyond repair locally, but Sarah Champion held off a strong challenge by UKIP and actually increased Labour's share of the poll by 1.62 percent to 46.25 percent.

December

The year ended with the leaders of Newcastle, Sheffield and Liverpool's Labour councils preparing a letter to Eric Pickles, the secretary of state for local government and communities, warning that cuts in local government have gone too far. Published in the Observer, their appeal envisaged a growing north/south divide and said:

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