A video has emerged on social media of a police officer apparently seen punching a worker outside a cafe where dozens of people were said to be dining.
The incident was confirmed to have taken place at the Kate & Luc Cafe Restaurant in Burnage yesterday.
The cafe was allegedly operating in breach of the rules of England’s third national lockdown, which permits hospitality businesses to provide collection / takeaway and delivery services, but does not allow patrons to sit inside the premises.
As well as the initial video footage which appears to show the assault taking place – posted by Twitter user @88gaz88, and amassing over 4K interactions and comments – a second video from the scene shows the staff member being led outside by Greater Manchester Police officers, with customers jeering and clapping.
Many of those same customers then followed the scene outside.
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Throughout both of the clips posted to Twitter, people can be heard shouting at the officers “He’s trying to earn a living”, “You will pay for this”, and “You will get what you deserve, have you got children?”.
Guys I am not after numbers or followings! This has just happened five minutes ago!! Greater Manchester Police have assaulted a man at the cafe in burnage. 4 seconds of your time and please share the absolute hell out of this!! @gmpolice you should be ashamed of yourselves pic.twitter.com/hIFxrbGuyn
The owners of the cafe have posted regularly on their Facebook page about remaining open, despite the current lockdown rules, and a further video released from the scene – which looks to have been filmed inside the cafe – shows children among the crowd of people sitting at tables, the majority of whom appear to not be social distancing or wearing masks.
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An eyewitness present at the scene provided an insight into the context of the incident, stating that: “[The cafe] has been open for takeaways, but recently we’ve seen people sitting inside [and] today there were about 50 or 60 people inside and outside.
“No-one was wearing a mask [and] it was like they were protesting [against the lockdown].
Greater Manchester Police confirmed it is “aware of the footage” from the incident circulating online and are “continuing to assess the circumstances of the incident”.
A police spokesperson said: “Police were responding to reports of non-compliance with COVID-19 restrictions by a café on Burnage Lane in Manchester,”
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“Officers attended and in line with procedure, attempted to engage with individuals and disperse attendees.
“This resulted in an officer being assaulted.
“GMP are aware of the footage circulating online and are continuing to assess all the circumstances of the incident, including this footage as well as other footage obtained, at what remains an early stage in the investigation.”
GMP is aware of a video circulating online involving a man who appears to be struck by a police officer.
This incident happened whilst a 38-year-old man was being arrested on suspicion of assault of an emergency worker and resisting arrest. pic.twitter.com/nI9MZa5UET
The force also confirmed that one of their officers sustained injuries during the altercation – which took place shortly after 12pm yesterday – but did not require hospital treatment.
Officers issued a total of 14 fixed penalty notices.
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Government to ban overseas recruitment for the UK care sector
Emily Sergeant
The Government has announced its intentions to end overseas recruitment into the care sector across the UK.
It’s just one of the measures outlined in the Government’s Immigration White Paper, which was announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer to Parliament today, and is aiming to ‘take action’ to bring down historically high levels of net migration.
According to the Home Office, care workers from overseas have made a ‘huge contribution’ to social care in the UK for several decades, but too many have been subject to shameful levels of abuse and exploitation.
Overseas workers in the sector arrived in the country to find themselves saddled with debt, treated unfairly, or in extreme cases, even discover the jobs they were promised did not exist.
Immigration has played a key role in the success of the UK and our services.
But we cannot ignore the facts.
The system does not work.
Care workers have been widely exploited through the immigration system which is why we are closing new applications from abroad.
More than 470 care providers had their licence to sponsor international staff suspended since 2022, the Home Office revealed this month – which is why the Government ultimately wants to ‘put an end’ to any more overseas recruitment.
The crackdown on ‘rogue care providers’, as the Government called them, has seen around 40,000 workers displaced, many of whom are ready to rejoin the workforce, and under the plans outlined today, it’s said that they will be given the opportunity to ‘do the jobs they were promised’, while long-term plans are drawn up to train homegrown talent into the care sector.
International workers who are already sponsored to work legally in the sector, however, will still be able to continue to extend their stay, change sponsors, and apply to settle.
The Government is banning overseas recruitment for the UK care sector / Credit: Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street (via Flickr)
“Together, these measures will move the UK away from a dependence on overseas workers to fulfil our care needs,” the Government said in a statement.
Despite the plans announced today being received well by some, they have been met with some criticism from industry figures – with Care England describing it as a ‘crushing blow to an already fragile sector’.
“The Government is kicking us while we’re already down,” explained Professor Martin Green OBE, who is the Chief Executive of Care England.
“For years, the sector has been propping itself up with dwindling resources, rising costs, and mounting vacancies. International recruitment wasn’t a silver bullet, but it was a lifeline, and taking it away now, with no warning, no funding, and no alternative, is not just short-sighted, it’s cruel.”
Featured Image – Kampus Production
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Social media unite in search for ‘crazed’ fan who stole drum from AO Arena gig last night
Thomas Melia
This past weekend, people online began pulling together to try and find a fan after they stole a drum from a major music artist’s concert at the AO Arena on Sunday night.
When you say the words, “I’ll never forget that gig”, it usually means you had a really great night and, for this fan in particular, we think it’s fair to say that they be forgetting this night anytime soon – you know, many because they took a piece of the set home with them.
That’s right, following Twenty One Pilots’ massive Manc gig at AO Arena as part of their ongoing world tour, some fans were practically frothing at the mouth as the alternative duo did what they do best.
In fact, one individual clearly loved the concert so much that they just had to claim a keepsake, to such an extent that they want as far as steal band member Josh Dun’s drum directly from the stage.
As far as merch and memorabilia go, that might just be the biggest souvenir we’ve ever seen someone swipe from a rock show.
In terms of the night itself, the highly anticipated return to Manchester was a huge success, with the band playing out to flurries of red, orange, yellow and black, thanks to fans sporting the same colours as Twenty One Pilots‘ latest album cover, Clancy.
In the video, the drum – which features the band’s logo on a red-splattered drumhead in the Clancy aesthetic – can be seen being carried out of the venue by a fan from the general standing floor area.
As a result, not only did people on social media quickly begin sleuthing and trying to find the drum thief, but they’re also questioning why fans near the culprit weren’t doing more to get it back to the band.
One user wrote, “Ok but like I would have stopped her?” while another commented, “So I was scared to even take too much confetti with me and she casually STOLE THE DRUM??”
The fan who originally uploaded the video online aid in a subsequent post, “Guys, please, don’t put us to blame for not stopping her, we did all we could but literally no one around us cared about it.” They went on to add: “You’re not putting the blame of her stealing the drum on us, I’m sorry but I’m not having it.”
As you can see, the instrument was eventually located, with Twenty One Pilots’ videographer Sax uploaded a picture to his Instagram profile along with the caption, “We have the drum”, thanking fans for all their efforts in helping track down its whereabouts.
The Manc -
8th February 2021 
