England’s Chief Medical Officer has insisted that England’s imminent lockdown could end on December 2 as planned.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a nationwide four-week lockdown last weekend – closing businesses, banning travel and forbidding household mixing.
The stricter measures will come into law on Thursday and remain in place until at least December 2 – when the government will conduct a review.
Already there has been wide speculation as to whether it will be possible to lift the measures within four weeks.
But England’s top medical officer Chris Whitty has suggested that the hopes of exiting lockdown on December 2 remain realistic.
Asked if lockdown would end as scheduled, Whitty responded: “The aim of this is to get the rates down far enough that it’s a realistic possibility to move into a different state of play at that point in time.”
As reported by Reuters, Whitty said that England could get the R number below 1 during this period, meaning restrictions could be lifted.
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However, the professor – who has been flanking the Prime Minister throughout the pandemic press conferences – did say that other measures would be needed to get through winter.
As things stand, the government may revert back to their localised tier system – which categorises regions based on their ‘risk’.
The government has suffered criticism for enforcing measures later than other nations, with Northern Ireland and Wales both entering lockdowns in October.
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Back in September, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) encouraged England to partake in a “circuit breaker” – stating that interventions were required to “prevent [an] exponential rise in cases”.
But the recommendation was ultimately ignored even as the infection rate rose, and only when Johnson saw new data projecting alarming hospital rates did he decide to stray from the tiered approach to blanket restrictions.
Labour’s Keir Starmer has blamed the government for its hesitancy, saying the new lockdown would now be “longer and harder” than it needed to be.
Whitty stated during the lockdown press conference that: “If we did not act now, then the chances of the NHS being in extraordinary trouble in December will be very, very high.”
In order to combat rising COVID rates, testing has been ramped up this week – with Liverpool set to become the first city where every resident and worker will be eligible for a free test, regardless of whether they have symptoms or not.
The scheme is part of Operation Moonshot, which aims to give people a ‘freedom pass’ to work and travel whilst the pandemic continues.
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Entertainment union Equity makes £1 bid for Manchester Pride to protect workers from ‘further exploitation’
Emily Sergeant
Performing arts and entertainment trade union Equity has made a £1 bid for Manchester Pride.
You may remember that, back in October last year, Manchester Pride – the charity / organisation that ran the Manchester Pride Festival – entered into voluntary liquidation, and news emerged last week that the assets were being sold off to the highest bidder by liquidators.
By offering a ‘symbolic’ £1 for the assets – which include the Manchester Pride brand name and associated domain names – Equity says its bid has been made to give workers the opportunity to ‘decide the future’ of the event.
The bid is also said to have been made to prevent a repeat of 2025 – which apparently left Equity union members more than £70,000 out-of-pocket in unpaid fees.
Equity’s variety organiser, Nick Keegan, warned that selling the Manchester Pride brand to a commercial buyer risks ‘undermining the values’ of the event and the community that built it.
He worried it could also leave performers and workers ‘vulnerable to further exploitation’.
“Manchester Pride is not just a city-wide party,” Mr Keegan explained. “Its roots in protest are as important today as then.”
He added: “Manchester Pride was built by the LGBTQ+ workers of Canal St and beyond who provide a space and a community for LGBTQ+ people all year round. The event should not be treated as a commodity to be bought and sold off to the highest bidder.
“The cultural workforce are at the heart of Pride, without them, there is no festival.
“After what happened in 2025, with members left tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket, we don’t want to see history repeat itself.”
Equity says that if its bid is successful, the workers will have control over who the ‘asset’ goes to.
“Our bid is about protecting Pride as a community asset, not a commercial one,” the union’s statement continued.
“Allowing the people whose labour was used to build this ‘asset’ to decide how the trademark of Manchester Pride is used in the future will help protect them from further exploitation, as well as preserve the values and the longevity of the event itself.”
Featured Image – Manchester Pride (Supplied)
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New police hub to be set up in Piccadilly Gardens to help reduce anti-social behaviour
Emily Sergeant
A new police hub is set to be established in Piccadilly Gardens.
In case you missed it, it was announced last week that council tax in Greater Manchester could be increased to help fund improvements to policing, and that a consultation on it has been launched – with local residents urged to have their say.
The police precept helps Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to build on a range of improvements, including the speed of answering 999 and 101 calls, road and transport safety across Manchester city centre, and bringing more sex offenders to justice, among many other things.
Greater Manchester council tax is set to be increased again to help fund improvements to policing, and a consultation is now live. 🏘️🚔📝
But on top of this, Mayor Andy Burnham has also pledged to deliver a new police hub in Piccadilly Gardens as part of a wider drive to improve policing.
GMCA says its ‘top priority’ is to build strong communities where people feel safe, and it is Mayor Andy Burnham and his Deputy Mayors’ responsibility to enable GMP to be an ‘effective and efficient’ police force.
Local leaders say their ambition for 2026 is to maintain a ‘high-performing’ police service by tackling crime and anti-social behaviour, and protecting residents and businesses along the way – and part of this ambition is to increase police visibility in Piccadilly Gardens, which is a much-maligned part of the city centre, by launching a new ‘prominent’ police hub.
The increase in the police precept is also being touted to help increase ‘hot spot policing tactics’ in town centres and other key locations to help drive down theft and other violent retail crimes.
A new police hub is to be set up in Piccadilly Gardens to help reduce anti-social behaviour / Credit: Gerald England (via Geograph) | Rawpixel
“We need GMP to be properly funded if it is to continue to deliver an effective and responsive service for people in Greater Manchester,” commented Mayor Andy Burnham. “The cost of running a modern police force is going up and this is at a time when our city region has become the fastest-growing economy in the UK, with visitor numbers increasing year after year.
“So much is happening here and that includes a number of major and complex incidents over the past year, including a terrorist attack. These incidents added significant pressure to police resources.
“We recognise the ongoing impact of the rising cost of living and do not take the decision to increase the precept lightly. But right now, this increase is our only option to ensure GMP can continue delivering an effective police service that ensures that people feel safe in their own communities.”
The Manc -
4th November 2020 
