It is always healthy to have one’s prejudices punctured. I’ve always been sceptical about the majority of  Youth Councils. Then, lo and behold, we hear of the Salford Youth Council accusing the Salford City Council of censorship  and deciding to boycott the Council’s self-congratulatory in-house magazine, Life in Salford.  All this is the result of the Council’s attack on the Salford Star, an independent and critical media voice.

The Salford Youth Council explain:

Our committee was presented with an emergency motion this evening:

“SUPPORT THE SALFORD STAR”

Membership calls on the Youth Council Committee to:

1. Condemn the decision by the Budget Sub-Group of the East Salford Community Committee to turn down the funding application made by the Salford Star.

2. Boycott the city council’s “Life IN Salford” publication and no longer provide content to them via the youth service run youth local forums on the following grounds:

a. Unfairly biased in favour of the city council’s executive department and does not provide any form of representative outlet for local people to express their views on the services provided to them.

b. Produced at an obscenely high cost – which is passed on to the public at the expense of other public services which are currently being cut by the city council – including Children’s Services.

3. Petition local councillors in our respective wards to overturn the decision by the East Salford Community Committee.

4. Agree to support the continued work of the Salford Star by whatever means necessary.

This motion was PASSED unanimously.

In response Rachel Cavendish (Co-Chair of the Salford Youth Council committee) commented:

“The denial of such a minuscule sum of critical funding designated for independent community projects like the star has clearly been influenced by those who wish to censor freedom of speech. There are elected and unelected officials who represent the people of Salford who simply to do not wish the public to hear the truth about how the their local authority is failing them. It is crucial young people stand up to this type of censorship and are made aware of the actions of the city council. This is a disgrace.”

Read More at Salford Star and Salford Youth Council