I am not someone who had previously ever considered standing for Political office and had been a Labour voter all my life ( including regrettably voting for Andy Burnham ).

I had twenty five great years serving in Greater Manchester Police ( before discovering wrongdoing ) winning numerous awards for making the most arrests, bravery in disarming persons with knives and guns and leadership awards during riots/serious disorder situations and tackling organised crime before I had cause to challenge challenge corrupt individuals

In 2016 I became aware of and reported corruption in relation to Senior officers in Greater Manchester Police. These people had lied, withheld or destroyed evidence.

These individuals promoted people who there was clear evidence against committing criminal offences and have covered up criminal /unethical behaviour against each other. The most culpable for this being the current Temporary Chief Constable Ian Pilling who has broken the law to protect himself and other senior officers. This man is responsible for wasting millions of pounds of public money due to his ineptitude and has created a legacy of corruption and incompetence.

The man who put him put in that position is the current GM Mayor Andy Burnham. Prior to this he had been spoken to in person, asked questions at a public meeting and has had documentary evidence sent to him about corruption ( not only by myself but by other serving and retired Police officers ).

He has recently claimed that the GMP leadership has not forwarded him full information to him when requested. If this is true ( and I have my doubts ) he has still been warned about lawbreaking on numerous occasions but has chosen to ignore it.

Mr Burnham and his Deputy Mayor Bev Hughes both break the law by not disclosing information as required under GDPR. This is the same Andy Burnham who in relation to Hillsborough has criticised South Yorkshire Police for not disclosing information and using the legal system and publicly funded lawyers to hide the truth. How hypocritical is he !!!!!

I have constantly asked Mr Burnham for a live debate about corruption but as cowards always do he never responds. One of the questions I have constantly asked him is as to why he treats the people of Greater Manchester with such contempt. He will comment straight away about matters affecting the people of Liverpool, but not his "own area."

Mr Burnham is only currently directly responsible for policing and the Metrolink system. The trams have been empty for almost a year and the policing responsibility he has had no interest in. Hence why millions have been wasted on a computer system that does not deliver and rampant wrongdoing amongst senior officers. Corrupt, lazy or incompetent ( or all three ).

Quite rightly I should be scrutinised about what other policies I have. However I would be lying if I said I could deliver anything at this stage. I am aware of corruption on an "industrial scale" that is occurring at the upper echelons of GMP and at the Mayor's office and would expect to find the same profligate waste of public money, poor decision making and incompetence throughout the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

I would have to investigate how bad the situation is before making any spending pledges. Staff reporting of wrongdoing and their protection would be of upmost importance.

Once "lockdown" ends life will never be the same as previously. There will be less reliance on office based working and that will lead to potentially large empty buildings and this will affect the viability of other ancillary business premises. I would urge another review of the GMSF ( home building ) to reflect this as do not want to have desolate town centres in a years time.

On a lighter note Greater Manchester is a great place to live and there are lots of positives to residing here.

However we need to challenge and scrutinise those in power otherwise we end up with the Mayoral debacle we have at present.

If any ordinary Police officer behaved in the way Mr Burnham and TCC Pilling do they would be sacked and potentially imprisoned. This is the arrogance of power.

Unlike Mr Burnham and TCC Pilling I revere those on the "front line" They both fail to support and/or then castigate people when things go wrong ( unless it is a senior officer ) .

Those who work unsocial hours dealing with the most nasty horrible and violent individuals need to be "backed." When Mr Burnham has criticised people for making split second decisions I have emailed him and asked about his experience in restraining people and told him to go out on a Saturday night with a uniformed officer. I will let you guess as to whether I got a reply !!!!

Points to ponder. I would only serve a maximum of one Mayoral term and would only claim half of Burnham's salary ( although £55K is an awesome wage !!!! ).

I have no desire to be a career politician but want Greater Manchester to be run for the benefit of its' residents and not its' rulers.

After reading this I hope you will donate and let your friends and family know what I am trying to achieve!!!

If there is any remaining cash it will be donated to foodbank charities in the Greater Manchester area.

Thanks in anticipation

David Sutcliffe