The withdrawal of the tenth version of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) in December was no Christmas present.  It is now held back until after the local elections, including the one for Greater Manchester Mayor, and previous experience suggests that keeping it hidden does not promise good news. 

The climbdown this time was forced by Stockport Council – previous participants who now want none of it.  Key to this were Stockport’s near 50% Liberal Democrat councillors.  Yet again we see that the Liberal Democrats are the only serious opposition to GMSF.

GMSF has even stirred up the local Conservatives.  They proposed a motion to council – their first this century – against it. 

Unfortunately their record is at odds with their deeds.  Locally they welcomed the government’s even worse proposals as a ‘brighter future’; their last Greater Manchester mayoral campaign was in favour of GMSF; and GMSF is put forward by both Labour and Conservative council leaders.