Michael Gove Britain county Oldham borough Manchester city Manchester, county Oldham reports Citi Remark and Michael Gove Britain county Oldham borough Manchester city Manchester, county Oldham

'We use the Metrolink to get out!': Oldham residents' complicated relationship with tram and town amid controversial claims

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Steeped in history but all too often overshadowed by its neighbour Manchester, Oldham is frequently cited in both local and national conversations about ‘levelling up’.

But it also has an uneasy relationship with many of its residents and neighbours. Oldham has watched Manchester and even towns like Rochdale grow and bloom around it - but many people here feel that they have been left behind.

A new report from centre-right think tank Onwards UK analysed how levelling up can be implemented successfully outside of national government - essentially, how Oldham can use its existing resources to “level itself up” - and raises interesting questions about identity and transport in the town. READ MORE: 'You take your life into your hands for a £3.60 Metrolink return' Oldham’s strong industrial history and more recent position as the Greater Manchester borough with some of the lowest household incomes made it an interesting case study, explained Onward UK’s deputy director, Adam Hawksbee. “The reason we chose Oldham is partly because we were led by the data.

When you look at some of the data on both productivity and material welfare, it is remarkably low compared to the rest of Greater Manchester,” Hawksbee said. “It was also that it had been highlighted politically - Michael Gove singled Oldham out in his 2021 conference speech, saying why is it that Oldham is struggling when parts of Manchester city centre are succeeding?” Perhaps the report's most striking finding, especially considering the government focus on public transport in levelling up, is the suggestion that having Metrolink connections to the town may have actually presented negatives, as well as the expected positives, in the area.

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