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Boris Johnson confirms new restrictions in House of Commons statement

The Prime Minister addressed MPs in the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon ahead of his public address.

The Manc The Manc - 22nd September 2020
Number 10 / Flickr

Boris Johnson confirmed in the House of Commons today that the government would be implementing new restrictions to tackle the rise of COVID cases in Britain.

The Prime Minister said that office workers should now work from home where possible.

From Thursday, pubs, bars and restaurants in England must operate table service only – closing at 10pm.

The legal requirement to wear face coverings will be extended to retail, taxis and hospitality (unless drinking/eating), whilst COVID-secure guidelines will now become law.

Fines of £10,000 will be issued to businesses who do not adhere to the new rules.

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Those who do not wear a face covering where required to do so may also be liable for £200 fines – even for a first offence.

From Monday, a maximum 15 people can attend weddings and receptions. Up to 30 can attend funerals.

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Reintroducing sports fans to stadiums will not go ahead on October 1 as originally planned.

The Prime Minister gave the statement to his fellow politicians at Westminster on Tuesday afternoon, praising the fortitude of the British people but admitting the UK had reached “a perilous turning point.”

The announcement came just over 24 hours after a presentation from top medical advisers Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance – which revealed British cases could reach 50,000 per day.

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Johnson also used Spain and France as examples of how the numbers would grow “unless we act”.

Reports had already speculated that England’s hospitality sector would be subjected to new restrictions.

Michael Gove had also hinted at tighter measures during an appearance on BBC Breakfast, admitting the government were set to make a u-turn on their ‘Back to Work’ plan; changing their tune to ask for people to work from home instead.

As many as 11 million UK residents are currently living under social curbs.

Fines of up to £10,000 will also be introduced from Monday to anyone who does not self-isolate when asked/required to do so.

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Sir Jim Ratcliffe has increased his stake in Manchester United

Danny Jones Danny Jones Sir Jim Ratcliffe increases Manchester United shares

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has increased his investment in Manchester United Football Club, taking his current stake from 27.7% to 28.94%.

The Failsworth-born billionaire officially became a minority shareholder in Man United earlier this year, bringing in the Sports arm of his INEOS petrochemical company and plenty of new personnel with him following an initial £1.25 billion acquisition which saw him buy over a quarter of the club.

While his tenure at Old Trafford has been a somewhat turbulent affair so far – having pleased most fans by taking at least some control away from the family but making a number of less-than-popular decisions of late – he is, at the very least, putting lots of money where his mouth is.

First reported by sports journalist Mike Keegan, Jim Ratcliffe has now made another big cash injection into the club to increase his overall ownership to nearly 30% of the club.

As per multiple outlets, the 72-year-old has pumped a further of approximately £79.3m into Man United to increase his overall stake just before the end of the year.

This latest figure payment was actually promised as part of his initial partial takeover which was completed back in February, with a filing listed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirming the final payment this week, with Ratcliffe receiving additional shares in return.

It also detailed that the ownership of the shares has transferred from Ratcliffe personally to the INEOS Group as a whole, who also have stakes in French football club OGC Nice, the INEOS Grenaiders cycling team (formerly Team Sky), as well as Formula 1, sailing, rugby and more.

Although supporters will be pleased to hear that Ratcliffe is committed to investing in the club, Keegan’s article details that the money itself won’t be strictly put towards any potential signings in the upcoming transfer window.

Similarly, Press Associates (PA) understand that the funds will be put towards infrastructure rather than player recruitment, as it is also expected that some squad members could be offloaded this January.

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News of Ratcliffe increasing his United stake won’t do much for many of his early detractors, however, as the Greater Manchester local has been accused of ‘forgetting his roots’ and ‘betraying the working class’ with some recent internal steps.

In addition, making around 250 staff members redundant as part of widespread cost-cutting measures as he continues to streamline the club, he has been criticised for neglecting the women’s team and making them train in temporary facilities whilst Carrington is redeveloped.

Most recently, Sir Jim and his newly rebuilt executive board received immense backlash for increasing ticket prices for remaining games this season to a whopping £66 across the board, with no concessions made for young, old or disabled fans.

With sporting director Dan Ashworth having been dismissed after just five months – a man who spent just as much time on gardening leave at his former club as he did in his actual role at United – it’s fair to say Ratcliffe and co. could have been more economical.

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Featured Images — Bloomberg Television (screenshot via YouTube)/The Manc Group

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Record 29 million people expected to drive home for Christmas this year

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Drivers are being told to prepare for long queues, as a record number of festive trips are predicted across the UK ahead of the big day.

With the festive season generally known to make the roads nationwide busier than usual, travel warnings have now been issued to all those making Christmas getaway trips for the holidays – with an annual study by the RAC and INRIX suggesting that 29 million journeys are planned before Christmas Day arrives.

Nearly half of these journeys (14.3 million) are set to be crammed into this coming weekend.

But, as Christmas falls mid-week this year, the figures suggest there will be an extended period of ‘pre-Christmas panic’ on the roads, with 5.7m trips taken yesterday and today alone.

The true festive getaway kicks off tomorrow (20 December), with an expected 3 million trips on this day, before the figure then jumps up to 3.7 million and 2.9 million this coming weekend (Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 December) – which is the final weekend before the big day itself.

A record 29 million people expected to drive home for Christmas this year / Credit: Geograph

By far the single busiest day, however, has to be Christmas Eve, with 3.8 million separate getaway journeys expected by car, on top of the final flurries of commuter traffic.

To make matters worse for everyone, the RAC’s research has also revealed that a further 4.7 million trips are expected at some point between the 20 and 22 December, and 2.5 million on either the 23 or 24 December, all coming from motorists who haven’t yet decided which day they’ll travel.

When it comes to the best and worst times to travel over the festive period, the research has revealed that the worst time to travel along major routes will be between 1pm and 7pm, especially tomorrow and Saturday, so both the RAC and INRIX are suggesting that drivers set off early in the morning, or later in the evening when the heaviest of the traffic should have subsided.

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After the big day, there are an additional 4.4 million trips predicted on Boxing Day and 3.8 million on Friday 27 December.

On these days, drivers are advised to avoid major roads during the hours of 10am to 3pm, which is when journeys are expected to take significantly longer than usual.

Featured Image – Vladimir Proskurovskiy (via Unsplash)

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