Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has rallied against the reintroduction of local lockdowns in parts of England with high COVID case rates – claiming they “simply do not work”.
The government has so far refused to rule out reimposing tougher sanctions in English regions where a more infectious variant of coronavirus – first identified in India – is causing cases to climb once again.
Bolton is one of the areas to suffer some of the biggest rises – with transmission rates in the borough more than 14 times the national average.
Speaking to Sky on the weekend, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “Given though Bolton has been in some form of a lockdown for a year, it’s not a step we want to take but of course we might have to take it and we will if it’s necessary to protect people.”
But GM Mayor Andy Burnham has fought back against talk of local lockdowns this week – claiming that regional restrictions “turn lives upside down, ruin businesses and put young people’s lives on hold – with little effect on containing the virus.”
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Writing in The Mirror, Burnham suggested that people in lockdown areas would simply travel to other parts of England, causing the virus to circulate further.
He stated: “The trust of the public will be lost if local lockdown restrictions are imposed on them just at the time when the Government is easing them everywhere else.
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“And it will be harder for mayors and local leaders to ask the public to observe local lockdowns when the Government hasn’t even tried other solutions that might have prevented them in the first place.”
Burnham claimed the real solution was “staring us right in the face” – and that people needed full income support during self-isolation, whilst high case areas like Bolton should be given permission to vaccinate all people right down to the age of 16.
Greater Manchester is no stranger to local lockdowns.
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In Autumn last year, several boroughs were living under different sets of ever-changing rules. At one stage, Trafford and Bolton were given the green light to lift social curbs on meeting others indoors – only to have the restrictions reimposed on the same day they were due to be removed.
On September 8, Bolton hospitality was blamed for high case rates and the sector was restricted to takeaway-only – with all venues temporarily required to close from 10pm to 5am.
Now, with case rates rising once again, business owners in the borough are concerned that similar restrictions could return; just days after bars, cafes, pubs, cinemas and culture venues reopened to the public on May 17.
Testing has however been ramped up in Bolton to slow the spread and a new vaccine centre has opened – with more than 6,000 local people queuing up to get a COVID shot over the weekend.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has refused to commit to a course of action yet, but said there was nothing yet in the data to suggest England would need to deviate from its roadmap to exiting lockdown.
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He stated: “We’re looking at all the data as it comes in from places like Bolton, Blackburn, Bedford, Sefton” and added that the situation was “under very careful, close review.”
Paddy McGuinness admits he thinks Bolton is ‘still in Lancashire’ not Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Paddy McGuinness has admitted that he believes “Bolton still falls under Lancashire” and not Greater Manchester.
The famous comedian and TV presenter – who was born and raised in Farnworth in 1973, back when it genuinely was still categorised as Lancashire – made the somewhat controversial declaration to his millions of followers on Instagram this week as he shared some pictures of himself that are currently featuring as part of a photography exhibition.
McGuinness is one of dozens of local famous faces forming part of the ‘Greater Mancunians’ project by The Manchester College.
150 students have participated in the landmark photography project – which is currently on display down at Manchester Central Library’s Main Exhibition Hall – and it features images of some of Manchester’s most famous and influential people shot at numerous locations across the city.
Noel Gallagher, Johnny Marr, Ricky Hatton, Andy Burnham, Angela Rayner, Maxine Peake, Jonathan Warburton, and Professor Erinma Bell MBE are among the 100 contributors featured in the project, alongside McGuinness.
The 50-year-old, who is most well-known for his acting and presenting roles in Phoenix Nights, Max and Paddy’s Road To Nowhere, Take Me Out, and Top Gear, says it was “a real honour” to be featured in the exhibition.
McGuinness wrote on Instagram: “It was a real honour to take part in the Greater Mancunians project with the students at The Manchester College. The exhibition is full of people from music, comedy, politics, poetry, television, medicine and beyond.”
He then said it’s “well worth popping in if you’re in town”, before dropping the final Bolton-related bombshell: “PS, I’m still saying Bolton falls under Lancashire.”
In case you’re unfamiliar with the borough’s history, Bolton was considered to be a part of Lancashire until Greater Manchester was formally established all the way back on 1 April 1974 – but still to this day, the town is located within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire.
After making the bold claim about Bolton’s geographical location, McGuinness has been met with praise and has received hundreds of comments from other Bolton and wider Greater Manchester residents agreeing with him and sharing their similar opinions under the post.
“I think they should redefine Lancashire back to its old borders, it would bring unity to the area and create a northern powerhouse,” one person commented.
Another fan wrote: “Bolton will always be in Lancashire for me”, while a third commented: “ALWAYS Lancashire. Can’t move land boundaries, they’re not pieces of paper,” a fourth shared a similar sentiment: “They can tell us we’re Greater Manchester, but I know Im a Lancashire lass,” and a fifth added: “Lancashire all the way lad.”
“BOLTON WILL ALWAYS BE LANCASHIRE,” another clearly strong-viewed comment reads.
What’s your take then? Do you think Bolton is still in Lancashire, or is it part of Greater Manchester? What about the rest of the boroughs?
We know full well we may have opened a can of worms with this one but that’s all part of the fun.
Featured Images – BBC
Bolton
Greater Manchester clubs and Kellogg’s team up for free kids’ football camps this summer
Danny Jones
A whole host of Greater Manchester clubs are teaming up with cereal brand Kellogg’s this summer to hold tens of thousands of free football camps for kids this summer.
Joining the nationwide initiative alongside dozens of other teams across the country, local sides including Manchester City, Bolton Wanderers, Salford City and more will be taking part in a glorious sporting summer helping the opportunity to stay active and entertained during the holidays.
Kellogg’s Football Camps and similar schemes from the company have been running for many years and this latest edition is set to be the biggest yet, with 300,000 completely free days of footballing fun set to be offered out to children aged 5-14 all over the UK.
With the multiple clubs from in and around the region enlisting their help, not to mention Euro 2024 and the Olympics just on the horizon, it’s going to be a great couple of months for the little ones.
With the likes of Stockport County, Wigan Athletic and other nearby organisations such as the Foundation 92 (the educational charity arm formed by the Man United’s Class of ’92 group) getting involved, the physical activity-driven programme will be a great outlet for kids this school break.
This fresh push for physical activity comes after recent research found that 90% of parentsin the North West would like their child to experience less screen timeand take part in more outdoor activities and 7/10 of mums and dads from the region feel there aren’t enough accessible activitieslocal to them.
Entry for the Kellogg’s camps kicked off this month and will run until 24 June, with around 2,500 places released every week. The sessions themselves will run throughout July and August 2024 as well as a handful in June and September.
To mark the occasion this year, they also revealed the world’s longest football scarf featuring a total of 74 different teams from England, Wales, and Scotland, measuring approximately 100m long.
The vast majority of parents polled said they felt participating in team sports can help build crucial life skills and that’s exactly what the campaign is hoping to achieve. Brilliant stuff.
Kellogg’s has long held not only a local connection to Greater Manchester but a partnership with English football in general (if you have one of those old footy cereal bowls you know all too well), so it’s nice to see them still getting involved and help parents keep their kids occupied for a little while this summer.
The sign-up process is pretty simple: merely grab a promotional box of the brand’s cereal which millions of British kids already eat for their cereal, scan the barcode to validate the purchase and then select your desired club via email to book your kids onto the free football days. You can see the T&Cs HERE.
As it happens, they aren’t the only food brand offering similar sporting freebies this year:
Featured Images — Supplied/Bolton Wanders FC (via X)