Business
The fall and future of Manchester Pride
Jasmine Sandhar,BBC Newsbeat and
Pete Allison,BBC Newsbeat
Getty ImagesWhen Saki Yew stepped off stage at this year’s Manchester Pride, she felt “joyous”.
The former Drag Race UK queen had spent weeks rehearsing and creating costumes for the performance at the city’s Sackville Gardens in August.
It was effort she was happy to make for one of the UK’s biggest LGBTQ+ events, and the reaction from the crowd made it worth it.
But when she asked Pride’s organisers for her payment, she says there was silence.
The charity behind Manchester Pride went bust this week, leaving dozens of performers, vendors and backstage workers unpaid.
In a statement confirming it had gone into liquidation, bosses blamed a “combination of rising costs, declining ticket sales and an ambitious refresh of the format aimed to challenge these issues”.
But some believe repeated warning signs about the sustainability of the event weren’t heeded.
Warning signs
Manchester Pride started in 1985 as a two-week fundraising event.
Since then, it’s grown in size and influence, becoming the first UK organisation to add black and brown stripes to the rainbow flag to represent LGBTQ+ people of colour.
By 2025 Manchester was one of the biggest Pride events in the UK, alongside London and Brighton’s annual celebrations.
With its increasing size came bigger names, including Ariana Grande, Sophie Ellis-Bexter, Anastacia and Zara Larsson.
This year’s star-studded line-up featured Nelly Furtado, Olly Alexander, and former Little Mix star Leigh-Anne.
But behind the scenes there were signs all was not well, according to people who worked on this year’s event.
Abbie AshallEvent manager Abbie Ashall had worked for Manchester Pride since 2023, and was a project manager for this year’s parade.
She tells BBC Newsbeat many charities were hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, and there was evidence Manchester Pride had also been affected.
Abbie says she was given strict budgets to stick to, and noticed that former colleagues who left were not replaced.
Yet, at the same time, Abbie says, Pride’s organisers launched Mardi Gras this year – a two-day, ticketed event at Manchester’s high-capacity Mayfield Depot.
Attendees reported that crowds were small, and Abbie says the event was not considered successful.
Contractor Chris O’Connor worked at Manchester Pride for five years as a runner, a role he describes as a mixture of organisation and “troubleshooter-slash-firefighter”.
He says working in the run-up to previous Pride weekends had been “a joy”, but that 2025 had presented “red flags” and “major issues” for him to resolve from the start.
He believes Manchester Pride, which reported a loss of about £468,000 in 2023, should have had better control of the finances.
‘I rely on that money to live’
Both Chris and Abbie say they are still owed money for their work on 2025’s event.
In Chris’s case, he says not being paid prevented him visiting his son, who has just started university in Ireland.
Saki Yew tells Newsbeat she has “a life outside of drag” and “bills and groceries to pay for”.
Like Chris, Saki believes Pride’s organisers could have been more transparent about their financial troubles while people waited for payment.
“It’s highly disrespectful,” says Saki.
“You’ve kept us in the dark, you’ve just disrespected every single person on what they do and what they provide for you.”
Getty ImagesSome suspect the lack of communication from Manchester Pride’s organisers over payment is linked to its failed bid to host 2028’s Europride.
The international event usually attracts huge crowds, and Abbie believes Pride bosses were banking on “the funding that would have come with that from Manchester City Council and beyond”.
When it was announced that Limerick and Clare, in Ireland, had won the bid earlier this month, hopes for potential Europride investment disappeared.
“I think they took a massive swing and it was a miss,” says Abbie.
The exact details of the circumstances leading up to Manchester Pride going into liquidation aren’t yet known.
However, the Charity Commission, which works to ensure organisations in England and Wales comply with the law, is “assessing concerns” after Pride’s bosses submitted a “serious incident report relating to its finances”.
There are also questions about future events in Manchester, and what shape they will take.
Getty ImagesOn the streets of the city, it’s not hard to find people who attended this year’s Pride and want to see the celebration return.
Kieran, 24, from Oldham, believes “it’s something that everyone in Manchester looks forward to”.
“It brings all types of culture and people together,” he says.
Lexi agrees Pride is “a big part of not only the culture of this city, but so important for the community itself”.
“If we don’t have Pride, what else do we have?”
Lexi says attending Pride events after she’d just come out was “a really important time” and “it would be horrible for people to lose that opportunity”.
‘A new chapter’?
Manchester City Council has said it will “support a new chapter for Manchester Pride weekend, which will take place next August”.
Lexi is optimistic.
“I would be happy to put my money into something, especially if it’s going to go back to the community,” she says.
There had been complaints about staging events outside Manchester’s gay village and focusing on spectacle over supporting LGBTQ+ causes.
“Maybe there’s a way around it in creating a cheaper, more sustainable Pride,” Lexi hopes.
But for the workers that may depend on, trust has been lost as well as money.
“This charity is there to platform and support queer artists and practitioners,” says Abbie.
“For all of those people to be at a loose end when this is the charity that is meant to raise them up more than anybody – that’s where it’s deeply frustrating and really upsetting.”
The BBC approached Manchester Pride for comment but it did not respond.
In a statement shared on social media, Manchester Pride’s Board of Trustees expressed “regret” for delays in communication, but said it was “keen not to jeopardise financial opportunities while our discussions were ongoing”.
It said it had hoped to find a way to continue to support those who had contributed, and was “sincerely sorry for those who will now lose out financially from the current situation”.
“We have put our hearts and souls into the celebration and community activities over two decades,” it added.
“We hope and believe that this leaves a positive and lasting legacy for the Pride movement in Greater Manchester.”
Additional reporting by Georgia Levy-Collins.
Business
CBDT acts against intermediaries filing tax returns with bogus deduction claims – The Times of India
NEW DELHI: After a massive nationwide operation, Central Board of Direct Taxes acted against several intermediaries involved in filing income tax returns with bogus claims of deductions and exemptions under the Income Tax Act.The move followed actions in July 2025, covering 150 premises, during which more than 102 suspicious RUPPs were identified for their role in facilitating bogus donation-linked deductions. Data analytics had flagged over 2 lakh taxpayers who claimed suspicious deductions under Section 80GGC, adding up to Rs 5,500 crore routed through suspicious or non-existent RUPPs and a similar amount of bogus donations to non-genuine charitable organisations, said officials.The enforcement findings have also prompted reversals of bogus deductions by taxpayers. Around 54,000 have already corrected their filings and withdrawn ineligible claims worth approximately Rs 1,400 crore and updated their returns after CBDT nudged them to revise their returns.Most of these taxpayers claimed deductions below Rs 5 lakh and a few companies claimed very high deductions.The exercise also revealed how intermediaries had established networks of agents to file returns with incorrect claims on commission basis. An intermediary was found to be advertising guaranteed refunds in cinema halls and on social media. It was found that there was a syndicate of professionals who was operating through WhatsApp and Telegram channels to find taxpayers looking at reducing tax liability through fake donations to RUPPs or charitable organisations.Instances of misuse of CSR-linked trusts, which facilitated bogus donation receipts in exchange for cash-back, were found during the probe.“It was observed that huge amounts of bogus claims have been made on account of donation RUPPs or charitable institutions and reduced their tax obligations and have also claimed bogus refunds.Evidence gathered from enforcement actions indicated that RUPPs many of which were non-filers, non-operational at their registered addresses, and are not engaged in any political activity were being used as conduits for routing funds, hawala transactions, cross border remittances and issuing bogus receipts for donations,” an official statement said.
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The move is expected to provide an immediate and substantial boost to Nepal’s economy, particularly its tourism and hospitality sectors, which rely heavily on Indian visitors
The original restrictions on high-value Indian currency were severely tightened in Nepal following the 2016 demonetisation in India, which withdrew old ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes. Representational image
Nepal is preparing to officially permit the circulation of Indian currency notes above the ₹100 denomination, marking the end of a nearly decade-long ban that has significantly complicated cross-border travel, trade, and remittances between the two countries. The move, currently in its final stages with the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) preparing to publish the official notice, follows a crucial regulatory shift by India’s central bank.
The original restrictions on high-value Indian currency were severely tightened in Nepal following the 2016 demonetisation in India, which withdrew old ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes. Even after new notes were introduced, Nepal maintained the ban on all denominations above ₹100 due to concerns over the smuggling of counterfeit currency and security risks. This policy forced Indian tourists and Nepali migrant workers to carry large wads of low-denomination notes, leading to financial hardship, confusion, and frequent incidents of travellers being detained or fined for inadvertent violations.
India’s Regulatory Green Light
The pivotal change that has allowed Nepal to reverse course came from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In late November 2025, the RBI amended its Foreign Exchange Management Regulations, formally allowing individuals to transport higher-denomination Indian rupee notes across the border.
The new rule specifies that individuals can carry Indian currency notes of any amount in denominations up to ₹100. Crucially, they are now permitted to carry notes above ₹100 up to a total value of ₹25,000 in either direction—both into Nepal and back into India. This amendment effectively removed the main legal constraint that previously limited the practical utility of higher-value notes for travellers.
Boosting Tourism and Easing Remittances
The lifting of the ban is expected to provide an immediate and substantial boost to Nepal’s economy, particularly its tourism and hospitality sectors, which rely heavily on Indian visitors. Businesses in border towns, casinos, and pilgrimage routes that cater to Indian tourists have been vocal in lobbying for this change, as the previous restrictions limited spending power.
Furthermore, the decision is a massive relief for the estimated two million Nepali migrant workers in India, who previously faced major security risks when bringing home their earnings in small denominations. The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) spokesperson, Guru Prasad Poudel, confirmed that the process is nearing completion, stating they are preparing to publish the notice in the Nepal Gazette before issuing circulars to banks and financial institutions, ushering in a new era of smoother financial integration between the two neighbours.
Click here to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google. December 14, 2025, 01:21 IST
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Business
8th Pay Commission: Railways to trim costs to accommodate higher wages; maintenance, procurement, energy sectors in focus – The Times of India
Railways is implementing focused cost-cutting initiatives across maintenance, procurement and energy sectors to fortify its financial position before dealing with increased wage expenses anticipated from the Eighth Pay Commission recommendations.Established in January 2024, the Eighth Pay Commission must submit its recommendations within an 18-month timeframe.The previous Seventh Pay Commission led to wage increases of 14-26% for railway staff. Its implementation began in 2016, with tenure concluding in January 2026. The national transporter is currently emphasising expense reduction to enhance operational efficiency over the next two years to prevent financial strain from the forthcoming recommendations.The Seventh Pay Commission increased the wage expenditure by Rs 22,000 crore, including salaries and pensions, whilst the current projection suggests a potential rise of Rs 30,000 crore. “We have planned for the additional fund requirement,” a senior official told Economic Times, stating that internal accruals, combined with projected savings and increased freight revenue, would cover the expenses.Indian Railways recorded an operating ratio (OR) of 98.90% in fiscal 2024-25, resulting in net revenue of Rs 1,341.31 crore. For fiscal 2025-26, the target OR is 98.43% with anticipated net revenue of Rs 3041.31 crore.Officials anticipate annual energy savings of Rs 5,000 crore following network electrification completion.Additionally, yearly payments to Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) are expected to decrease in fiscal 2027-28, as recent capital expenditure has been funded through gross budgetary support (GBS).Officials confirm no plans for new short-term borrowing. “Annual freight earnings will also rise by Rs 15,000 crore when higher wages need to be paid in 2027-28,” the official stated.The Seventh Pay Commission implemented a 2.57 fitment factor, raising minimum basic pay from Rs 7,000 to Rs 17,990. Central trade unions advocate for a 2.86 fitment factor for the Eighth Pay Commission, potentially increasing the national transporter’s wage bill by over 22%.“Railways will ensure its finances are in a good condition to absorb the hit. Funds would not be an issue,” the official confirmed.The Railways has allocated Rs 1.28 lakh crore for staff costs in 2025-26, increased from Rs 1.17 lakh crore in 2024-25. Additionally, Rs 68,602.69 crore is earmarked for the pension fund in FY26, up from Rs 66,358.69 crore in FY25.
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CBDT acts against intermediaries filing tax returns with bogus deduction claims – The Times of India
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