Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Newcastle council leaders say local lockdowns are not working
In a letter addressed to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Liverpool leaders warned that they would not support any further lockdowns.
Leaders in Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Newcastle have joined forces in an attempt to stop “counter-productive” local lockdowns – claiming they do not support the implementation of further economic restrictions in their cities.
The four northern regions are among some of the worst-hit in the country by coronavirus – with the government placing each under tighter measures in an attempt to control spiralling infection rates.
Manchester has had an ‘indoor ban‘ in place since July.
But as cases continue to rise, council leaders have called on the government to change their approach – arguing that “local lockdowns are not working”.
Leeds
In a joint letter addressed to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, Leeds’ Judith Blake, Manchester’s Sir Richard Leese, Newcastle’s Nick Forbes and Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson also warned that they would not support any further “economic lockdowns.”
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Instead, the council leaders are calling for a more robust, localised test and trace system – as well as additional powers to punish those who break rules.
“The existing restrictions are not working, confusing for the public and some, like the 10pm rule, are counter-productive,” the letter states.
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“We want to be clear we do not support further economic lockdowns.”
The five-point plan proposed by the “extremely concerned” leaders includes:
Local decision-making to agree additional lockdowns before they happen and additional powers to take immediate action on non-compliance, for example closing premises.
A locally controlled Test and Trace system that is sensitive to local knowledge and needs of communities.
An improved Business Compensation Package to support those most affected.
Financial support for everyone who needs to self-isolate.
Improved monitoring of the impacts of the additional restrictions that have recently been put in place to understand their effect on COVID-19 rates
The latest figures show that the North West of England has suffered more than any other area of the UK since the pandemic began – with over 106,000 residents testing positive for COVID-19.
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Manchester currently has the highest infection rate in the country – registering 561.6 cases per 100,000 people.
Rishi Sunak, who is under fire from the hospitality sector for persisting with the 10pm curfew, has said it is too early to determine the effectiveness of the local lockdowns and enhanced restrictions.
“You need to give things a little bit of time to see how they work,” the Chancellor told ITV.
“It’s too early to tell… we need to watch and see how the numbers evolve.”
News
Police uncover more details in investigation into remains of ‘Baby Ava’ found in Little Hulton park last year
Emily Sergeant
More details in the investigation into the remains of a baby found in a park in Little Hulton last year have been uncovered.
Detectives have now released images of clothing found next to the baby’s remains.
Need bringing up to speed? It was on 20 November 2024 that Greater Manchester Police (GMP) received a call from a member of the public reporting the discovery of what appeared to be human remains in a park in the Little Hulton area of Salford – but it was only when officers and detectives attended the scene that they determinted the remains to be that of a baby girl.
At the time, police referred to the baby simply as ‘Baby A’, but it was revealed that they later chose to name her Ava.
Since that day, a dedicated team from GMP’s Major Incident Team has worked ‘tirelessly’ to uncover the truth about who Baby Ava was and what led to her being left alone.
Police have uncovered more details in the investigation of Baby Ava’s identity / Credit: GMP
Detectives have followed up on hundreds of public tips, conducted thousands of hours of house-to-house enquiries, reviewed extensive CCTV footage, and collaborated with police forces and agencies across the country in pursuit of identifying who baby Ava was and securing justice for her.
Now, fast approaching a year since the investigation began, police are sharing with the public some new details they have uncovered – including pictures of ‘distinct’ clothing found next to Baby Ava’s remains.
#APPEAL | Detectives leading the investigation into the discovery of Baby Ava in Little Hulton last November have reappealed on @BBCCrimewatch today.
We continue to appeal directly to Ava’s mum or dad to come forward and speak to us.
Following detectives’ earlier updates, where they revealed a piece of fabric had been recovered from the scene, they have now been able to confirm that this fabric is a pair of ladies’ size large underwear, with a ‘distinct pattern’ of what they believe is cartoon donkeys on them.
Enquiries so far have led police to believe the underwear is not manufactured in the UK, but can be shipped wholesale.
“We hope given their distinctive nature that somebody recognises them,” GMP said in a statement.
The ‘distinct’ underwear found by detectives at the scene / Credit: GMP
Unfortunately, DNA recovered from the underwear, as well as trawls of several public databases, have not furthered the search for Baby Ava’s parents as of yet, however GMP says it does believe Ava was born at around 38 to 39 weeks gestation, and that the pregnancy may have been ‘concealed or unregistered’.
Police have also revealed that Baby Ava was found on top of a layer of snow next to an area that may have been disturbed by animals, so they believe she had been buried initially.
Anyone with any information that may be of assistance is asked to contact police on 101, quoting log 1319 of 20/11/24, or by heading to the Major Incident Public Portal here.
Featured Image – GMP
News
Royal Mail fined £21m by Ofcom failing to meet its delivery targets
Emily Sergeant
Ofcom has fined Royal Mail a whopping £21 million for failing to meet its delivery targets in the last financial year.
Each year, it’s the watchdog’s job to look at and measure Royal Mail’s delivery performance against nationwide annual delivery targets, and for the 2024/25 season, the company was required to deliver 93% of First Class mail within one working day of collection, and 98.5% of Second Class mail within three working days.
If Royal Mail misses its annual targets, Ofcom will first consider evidence of any ‘exceptional circumstances’ beyond the company’s control, and whether it would have achieved its targets had those events not occurred.
However, even after accounting for extreme weather events, Royal Mail was still found to have fallen short of its targets… and this time, they’ve been fined their highest sum so far.
We have fined Royal Mail £21m for missing its 2024/25 delivery targets, without justification.
The company must now urgently publish, and deliver, a credible improvement plan.
This is the third time in a row that Ofcom has found the company to be in breach of its regulatory obligations, after it was first fined a substantial £5.6m in November 2023, and then a further £10.5m in December 2024.
Royal Mail only delivered 77% of First Class mail and 92.5% of Second Class mail on time between April 2024 and March 2025.
Ofcom says it has therefore decided that the company breached its obligations by failing to provide ‘an acceptable level of service’ without justification, and took ‘insufficient and ineffective’ steps to try and prevent this failure.
“Hiding behind the pandemic as a driving factor in failures at Royal Mail does not cut it.”
Royal Mail has been fined £21m by Ofcom failing to meet its delivery targets / Credit: Royal Mail
The watchdog says this is likely to have impacted millions of customers who did not get the service they paid for.
“Millions of important letters are arriving late, and people aren’t getting what they pay for when they buy a stamp,” explained Ian Strawhorne, who is the Director of Enforcement at Ofcom.
“These persistent failures are unacceptable, and customers expect and deserve better.
“Royal Mail must rebuild consumers’ confidence as a matter of urgency, and that means making actual significant improvements, not more empty promises.
“We’ve told the company to publicly set out how it’s going to deliver this change, and we expect to start seeing meaningful progress soon. If this doesn’t happen, fines are likely to continue.”
The Manc -
7th October 2020 
