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New Bank Holiday confirmed for Queen’s platinum jubilee in 2022

The Government confirms a four-day weekend in 2022 to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's astonishing 70-year reign on the throne.

The Manc The Manc - 12th November 2020
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2022 is increasingly looking like a year to look forward to. By the time it rolls around, the world could back in the swing of things.

Holidays. Gatherings. Gigs. Festivals. Live music. Nightclubs. You’d like to think they’d all be back in full force within 14 months.

What’s more, 2022 is also a year we’ll be getting a brand new Bank Holiday. Or in other words, an extra day off.

The Government has confirmed a UK-wide four-day weekend will be dedicated to commemorating Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne.

It’s the first time the milestone has ever been achieved, and there are apparently big plans in place to celebrate the longest-serving monarch in British history – including “ceremonial splendour and pageantry with cutting edge artistic and technological displays.”

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Wikimedia Commons

The May Bank Holiday will be moved to June 2, and an additional Bank Holiday will be added on Friday, June 3, to create the long weekend.

Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said the 2022 holiday would be a “fitting tribute to Her Majesty’s reign.”

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The minister added: “Her Majesty’s platinum jubilee will be a truly historic moment – and one that deserves a celebration to remember.

“We can all look forward to a special, four-day Jubilee weekend, when we will put on a spectacular, once-in-a-generation show that mixes the best of British ceremonial splendour with cutting edge art and technology.”

A palace spokesman stated: “The platinum jubilee offers an opportunity for the Queen to express her thanks for the support and loyalty Her Majesty has received throughout her reign.

“The Queen hopes that as many people as possible will have the opportunity to join the celebrations.”

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Tameside police officers hailed ‘absolute heroes’ after saving the life of a seven-year-old girl

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Two Tameside police officers have been hailed as “absolute heroes” after saving the life of a seven-year-old little girl.

It comes after emergency services were called to an address in the Greater Manchester borough of Tameside earlier this week (29 November), and found a young girl who was struggling to breath and coughing up blood after choking on a sweet.

Police Constables Aaron Kincaid and James Blundell, from Greater Manchester Police‘s (GMP) Tameside division, were first on the scene.

To the huge relief of the girl’s parents, who were said to be “understandably distressed” and concerned for her welfare, PC Kincaid jumped straight into action and was able to utilise his first aid training to full effect by going on to successfully dislodge the sweet from the youngster’s throat, and then helping to calm her down before the paramedics arrived.

Whilst PC Kincaid looked after the little girl, PC Blundell did “everything he could” to help the parents remain calm.

Paramedics then took over once they arrived, and the young girl was taken to hospital as a precaution.

Reflecting on the incident, and hailing his officers “absolute heroes”, Superintendent Mike Walsh, from GMP’s Tameside district, said: “PCs Aaron Kincaid and James Blundell acted without hesitation during the incident, and took control of the situation that they were faced with.

“They deserve every credit for staying calm under extreme pressure and for working together as a team and utilising their training to lifesaving effect, and I’m sure the girl’s parents and family will consider them to be absolute heroes.”

“We’re both glad that we were in the right place at the right time,” PC Kincaid added.

“I have a daughter the same age as the little girl who needed our help, and I cannot tell you how much of a relief it was when she started breathing normally and said she was okay after I had managed to dislodge the sweet.

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“I remember saying, ‘Thank God for that’.

“The little girl gave me a thank you hug before she went to hospital, but I couldn’t have done what I did without PC Blundell’s assistance, so it was a real team effort.”

Featured Image – GMP

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Someone has plastered posters advertising ‘authorised drug zones’ all over Manchester city centre

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson The fake posters promoting crack and heroin zones.

Posters promoting ‘authorised’ drug use and sales have appeared all over Manchester today.

The posters even include Greater Manchester Police and Manchester City Council logos – though, obviously, without the consent of either authority.

The fake posters have also been springing up in other cities, with locals in Leeds spotting them all over the place yesterday.

They read: “Crack and heroin zone. The sale and use of Crack and Heroin is authorised in this area.”

The fake posters have been spotted outside the Central Library and in the Northern Quarter, as well as at locations in other parts of the city.

They were quickly removed by authorities, who say they were posted illegally.

West Yorkshire Police said yesterday: “We are aware of fake posters that have been illegally posted at locations in and around Leeds city centre and are making further enquiries.”

Greater Manchester Police and Manchester City Council have also been approached for comment.

Manchester mayoral candidate Nick Buckey wrote on X: “The lack of action to the drug epidemic in Greater Manchester is so huge that people thought these posters were legitimate.

“When jokes seems like reality then we know we have a problem.”

It appears that the group behind the drug posters project is Pattern Up, a ‘young artist collective from Brighton making their mark on the streets with provocative and witty installations’.

Plenty of people seem to have fallen for the stunt, believing it’s real, with one person posting on Instagram: “Can’t find anything online so surely fake news unless someone has a source.”

Another wrote: “Hahaha f*ck off this can’t be legit.”

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Featured image: User submission

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