Yesterday, a small civil parish town in Cheshire – just half an hour from Manchester – became the focus of unprecedented viral fame and proved that grassroots British democracy is alive and well in northwest England.
Tens of millions of people have now watched footage of Handforth Parish Council’s planning and environment committee meeting as it descended into chaos.
Just 24 hours ago, ‘Jackie Weaver’ and ‘Aled’s iPad’ were merely words that meant nothing, now, they are global internet stars – and it’s all thanks to one 17-year-old from East London of all places.
i’ve never missed in person meetings more than i did watching this parish council meeting descend into chaos pic.twitter.com/I75zi1fIK5
To summarise the content, what started as your typical, run-of-the-mill Zoom call between several members of Handforth Parish Council in Wilmslow, quickly descended into what can only be described as absolute chaos, with swearing councillors trading insults left, right and centre.
With the tension between councillors continuing to build and plenty of passive aggression having been traded in the lead up, the meeting eventually culminated with the Handforth Parish Council Clerk himself being booted off the call entirely by none other than now-extremely-famous Jackie Weaver.
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“You have no authority here, Jackie Weaver”.
Those were the Clerk’s famous last words before Jackie Weaver exercised the authority she actually did have, and removed him from the meeting.
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And it all went rapidly downhill from there.
But how did it all start? Why and how did it end up online? We need answers, and thanks to the BBC, we have a few already.
Speaking to Radio 1 Newsbeat, 17-year-old Shaan Ali, who found the original clip on YouTube and sent it viral on Twitter, said: “I had like 200 new Twitter followers – it was crazy. Piers Morgan, Richard Osman and some great drag queens had sub-tweeted it.”
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He continues: “I then woke up today to Greg James mentioning it on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show and I was like ‘ahh this is amazing'”.
According to the BBC, Shaan is studying politics as part of his A-Levels and has got quite into watching local council meetings in his spare time – which are usually quite dull.
“I guess I’m just fascinated by what local authorities do and the role they play up and down the country,” he says.
"I was once booted off a Parish Council Zoom meeting by Jackie Weaver, for telling her she had no authority". pic.twitter.com/WpIAPNcxIG
“You have big borough councils and county councils, but it’s the parish councils who directly work with communities and it’s so fascinating because [they argue] over the smallest issues.”
He says that there is always “hilarious stuff” going on in these meetings.
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“You know, old men struggling to use Zoom, fun arguments – there’s always something fascinating going on.”
“You have to have a lot of determination – as you see in that video, Jackie had to deal with everyone and it’s not an easy job – I don’t think I could handle it!”
Rúben Amorim’s Man United press conference interrupted by Old Trafford roof leaking – again
Danny Jones
Manchester United manager Rúben Amorim has been given plenty doses of reality since arriving at Old Trafford but surely there can’t be any more telling than the stadium’s roof leaking into his press conference?
Poetic irony timed to perfection.
Not only did the new head coach have to sit in front of journalists as he tried to wrap his head around another Premier League implosion following the 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth – a team now sat in fifth, it’s worth noting – but he also got to witness the condition the stadium first hand.
And when we say first hand, we mean literally right in front of his face.
In case you wanted a summary of how much work there is to be done at Man United, the roof started leaking during Ruben Amorim’s press conference. 💦
In this instance, not only was the leak internal but Amorim’s post-match press conference was actually briefly interrupted as drops of water fell on the desk in front of him.
You can hear reporters asking what it is (they knew full well) before United’s press officer can be heard off-camera asking them to quickly move on. Sports writer Sanny Rudravajhala quipped, “A new meaning to the leaks at #mufc”, in reference to dressing room talk and lineups still being fed to the media.
Make what you will of Amorim‘s expressions in this moment but let’s just say he can’t have been expecting to have to worry about things like this when he accepted the job.
A penny for the Portugueseman’s thoughts when he looked up and saw that leak coming from the ceiling:
The moment Ruben Amorim's press conference is interrupted by a leak at Old Trafford pic.twitter.com/gqc8fW20Om
Although many are deeply reticent to let the iconic Theatre of Dreams go after more than a century of history and sporting memories, scenes like this certainly go a long way to arguing the case for a whole new home ground rather than simply renovating as it appears to be in such a sorry state of disrepair.
But even with a brand-new state-of-the-art footballing arena, it doesn’t do anything to address improving performances on the pitch as even with eye-watering sums invested in the squad over recent years, they still look way off it and serious work needs to be done for them to catch up with the pack.
You can watch the highlights from Man United vs Bournemouth below:
The leaking roof wasn’t the only thing raining down on Amorim as the derby day high was followed by a frustrating festive low.
Featured Images — BeanymanSports (screenshot via YouTube)
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A new study has revealed the exact age that ‘hangovers from hell’ begin
Clementine Hall
Still nursing a Christmas hangover? There might be a reason for that.
That’s because a new study has officially revealed the exact age that “hangovers from hell” start and begin to ruin our lives.
Picture this, you’re a 20-something-year-old who’s woken up after a night of heavy drinking only to feel a faint headache and a craving for greasy food. One fry up and one lucozade later, you’re feeling right as rain by 3pm and ready to go again.
Fast forward a few years and a glass of red wine or two will knock you out for days as you reach for the paracetamol and hide away from any bright light whilst you swear to never ever drink again (until the next weekend).
Gone are the days where you could stay out all night and only feel a slight hangover the next morning.
But at what age does this drastic decline take place? When does our ability to handle alcohol slip through our sticky, tequila covered fingers? Well, a new study carried out by greeting-card company Thortful has found that the age of 34 is where it all starts to go downhill.
A new study has revealed the exact age that ‘hangovers from hell’ start / Credit: Kraken Images (via Unsplash)
A survey of 2,000 people aged from 18 to 65 found this to be the age where hangovers really start to sting and you begin to question whether that last gin and tonic was really worth it, and it doesn’t just stop there, as age 35 was found to be the year when hangovers last for two days which is the ultimate punishment.
We all know there’s nothing worse than rocking up to work on a Monday morning still feel hazy eyed and more dehydrated than a cactus.
Sadly, it’s not until age 37 when we finally learn from our mistakes (supposedly) and start to recognise our limits – with the consensus being that people feel ‘too old’ to go out at age 38, and subsequently start to feel more drunk after just two drinks at age 39.
At least it’ll be a cheap night out.
Long gone are the days when you would wake up feeling fresh as a daisy / Credit: Kinga Cichewicz (via Unsplash)
The science behind it is as follows – Dr. Deborah Lee of Dr Fox Online Pharmacy, said little research has been conducted on the severity of hangovers with regards to ageing, but explained they worsen due to ‘the breakdown of alcohol and the persisting presence of its toxic metabolite – acetaldehyde – in the body’, the Metro reports.
“Hangovers are likely to worsen with age because the activity of the key enzymes involved in alcohol breakdown becomes less efficient with age,” Dr Lee explained.
“Also, older people have less muscle and more fat, plus the distribution of water within the body alters as we age.
“The end result is higher levels of blood alcohol which take longer to metabolise.”
So, if you’re still in your 20s and deliberating whether or not to have that extra shot of tequila then use this information to your advantage and go for it, as sooner or later that extra sip might have you bed bound and out of action for a few days, so enjoy it whilst you can.
The Manc -
6th February 2021 
