Jennifer WilliamsVerified account

.@SirRichardLeese points out Danny Alexander was in the Treasury for much of the time council funding has been cut

Some admin things now. Trying to see if anyone here has got any interesting snacks, in a long tradition I’ve been pursuing for many years. The answer so far is no.

Q now about the combined authority from @johnleechmcr. When was it decided to introduce the tram fare freeze during the city centre tram works and when was it made clear they’d go up afterwards.

The increase was publicised on June 26-Aug 18 last year, he says, through a public consultation. Cllr Leech says TfGM claim it was ‘always’ made clear a rise would come.

Basically @johnleechmcr is saying leaders weren’t open about the fact trams would subsequently rise once the works were out of the way.

‘Customers have been conned and now we’re seeing fare rises that are unaffordable for many passengers.’

There was a Lib Dem on the combined authority til recently, points out @SirRichardLeese. ‘Am I going to apologise for delivering a better service and the best of its kind in the country by a long way? No.’

Metrolink is an ‘absolutely first class service’, he says.

The fact everyone has to fight to get on them is a sign of Metrolink’s success, he says, in a logic that not all tram passengers will necessarily follow.

See also the Piccadilly Gardens grassy bit as a previous example of the same argument.

The council is now agreeing to adopt an internationally recognised definition of anti-semitism. Lord Mayor Eddy Newman is referring to a social media climate in which criticism of Israel has become blurred with anti-semitism.

Ok: now for the motion on abortion protests. There are lots of people in the gallery for this.

This is now about whether anti-abortion protests should happen, says Cllr Sarah Judge. It’s about whether they happen outside clinics, where they intimidate women at their most vulnerable.

She says she knows of many women who feel incredibly intimidated by those protesting. One woman had holy water scattered in her path and was called a murderer, she says.

She says protesters block pavements with their cars. Someone in the gallery says ‘rubbish’. Police have been called out, she says.

A woman is shouting from the gallery ‘absolute fabrication, lies’.

However some other people in the gallery applaud the motion when Cllr judge finishes speaking.

Cllr Monaghan is saying the decision about abortion is one for women and medics. ‘This is not a debate on abortion or peaceful protest, it’s about women being able to access legal services without guilt tripping or harassment.’

Cllr Josie Teubler sounds a word of caution re rules on public protest and how such banning orders could be misused. They need to be v carefully worded.

Cllr Rebecca Moore says she was raised catholic and has come to realise abortion is a medical issue not a moral one. If you’ve never had to go through that choice then you’re in a privileged position, she says.

Cllr Richards: says this is about the right of an individual to access health services without harassment.

Both cllrs Moore and Richards draw a parallel with cancer treatment. What if someone stood outside telling patients - such as her - not to have chemotherapy, says Cllr Richards?

Councillors are saying they’ve had hundreds of emails in opposition to this motion.

Cllr Murphy: it’s a woman’s legal right in this country to have an abortion, in private. It’s not about curtailing people’s right to protest, she says. Women are entitled to access these services.

Cllr Shelton-Godwin: thanks fellow cllrs for bringing this motion forward.

.@SirRichardLeese: this is not a labour motion but an unwhipped one. He says men shouldn’t speak about this stuff too often but would like to make a point. ‘Men shouldn’t be telling women what to do with their bodies,’ he says.

He respects other people’s beliefs, he says, but not their imposition on other people. Sir Richard is the only man to speak in the debate and the motion is now put to the council.