Withington’s unemployed workers ‘suffering at the hands of the government’ can look forward to a ‘radical’ new community service to turn to for help and support as a new centre launches today.

The number of Manchester residents relying on food banks for their next meal is set to surge with the welfare cuts announced by George Osborne in the Tory’s 2015 Budget, according to new research.

Benefits are being stopped for ‘ridiculous’ reasons, punishing the poorest and most vulnerable, according to Ashton MP Angela Rayner.

Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Debbie Abrahams is calling for an end to the ‘injustice of delayed payments to disabled and terminally ill people’.

The rally, outside Manchester City Library in St Peter’s Square, was led by those who have taken up residence in tents around the corner in Albert Square and was also attended by supporters and representatives from RAPAR, the Manchester-based human rights organisation.

In March 2012, the government-run body Remploy, which since 1946 had directly employed disabled people in specialised factories, announced the closure of 36 of its 54 factories.

Four Greater Manchester districts feature in the UK’s top 20 job seeker sanction hot-spots – making it one of the most heavily penalised regions in the country.

Jobcentre staff were encouraged to force claimants off benefits by trying to get them to fall foul of the rules in Salford and Rochdale, an ex employee has revealed.

The number of single parents on Jobseeker’s Allowance has almost halved in the last two years

Bedroom tax is not just hitting Manchester residents hard, but their pets too, as the benefits squeeze makes people feel they have no choice but to abandon their four-legged friends

More than 320 people were summonsed to court every single day last year as Manchester City Council hunted down nearly £12million in unpaid council tax, MM can reveal.