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Manchester's image 'marred by social breakdown'

08/11/2007

Manchester is one of the UK's greatest cities but is suffering from a high level of social breakdown, according to a former Tory leader.

Iain Duncan Smith, who recently led the Conservatives before being ousted, has said that despite the image of Manchester as a booming 21st century city, its residents are "being left behind".

Research by Mr Duncan Smith's Centre for Social Justice found that the proportion of men in Manchester admitted to hospital due to alcohol is the second highest in the UK, while the city's teenage pregnancy rate is double the average for England.

The study also discovered that Manchester languishes towards the bottom of the league table for truancy, while noting that there are seven gun-related incidents in Greater Manchester every day.

Mr Duncan Smith said: "Manchester is one of the greatest cities in the UK and its economic rebirth over the last 15 years is enriching the lives of many of [...] citizens.

"But many others are being left behind. On just about every measure of social breakdown, Manchester is scoring far worse than the national average and other big cities."

Last month, a study by the North West Public Health Observatory found that eight per cent of Mancunians are drinking "harmful" levels of alcohol. The figure drops to seven per cent in Salford and Rochdale.