News

What new travel rules have now been introduced in the UK?

The Prime Minister said relaxing travel measures is a way to "live with COVID without letting our guard down".

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 7th January 2022

Pre-departure testing for travellers entering the UK, and the need to self-isolate on arrival until receiving a negative PCR result have now been scrapped under new COVID travel rules.

Speaking to MPs in the House of Commons on Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that several changes would be made to relax the rules that are required to be followed by travellers entering the UK with at least two doses of a COVID vaccine.

The changes came into force from 4am this morning (7 January).

The changes mean that new vaccinated arrivals will no longer have to self-isolate until they get a negative PCR test result, and instead, will have to take a lateral flow test at the end of their second day in the UK, and if that result is positive, they will then require a follow-up PCR.

Unvaccinated passengers will still need to take a pre-departure test and self-isolate for 10 days, ensuring they take a PCR test on day two and day eight.

ADVERTISEMENT

Read more: Covid travel rules will change again this week, Boris Johnson confirms

The Prime Minister explained when he announced these new and more relaxed rules, that previous pre-departure measures were said to be having a limited impact because the Omicron variant is so prevalent.

ADVERTISEMENT

He said the change to measures is a way to “live with COVID without letting our guard down”.

“When the Omicron variant was first identified, we rightly introduced travel restrictions to slow its arrival in our country – but now Omicron is so prevalent, these measures are having limited impact on the growth in cases, while continuing to pose significant costs to our travel industry,” he said in his statement.

Johnson continued: “All these measures are balanced and proportionate ways of ensuring we can live with COVID without letting our guard down.

ADVERTISEMENT

“And we can only do this thanks to the biggest and fastest booster campaign in Europe.”

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he hopes the move will make travel “easier and cheaper” for passengers who are fully-vaccinated.

The decision to relax the rules on travel comes after the travel industry had been consistently calling for the removal of all COVID testing restrictions, arguing that it would have no real impact on Omicron infection rates and would actually help to restore consumer confidence.

Read more: Follow-up PCR tests scrapped for asymptomatic people who test positive on lateral flows

Reacting to the news at the time, Charlie Cornish – CEO at Manchester Airport Group (MAG) – said: “Today’s announcement is very positive news and will help restart the recovery of the travel and tourism sector [as] the removal of these temporary measures is important recognition that travel restrictions should not remain in place if they no longer help prevent the spread of the virus.

ADVERTISEMENT

“By removing barriers to travel in what is a critical period for forward-booking, passengers, airports, airlines and business across the UK can now plan ahead with confidence.

“We look forward to working with Government on a roadmap for the removal of all remaining restrictions, in order to help our prized aviation sector enjoy a full recovery.”

The Prime Minister said relaxing travel measures is a way to “live with COVID without letting our guard down” / Credit: Manchester Airport

Since the changes were announced on Wednesday, a number of travel companies have now reported a spike in interest for international travel, with easyJet revealing it had seen a boost of almost 200% in bookings, with demand for some destinations up more than 400% week on week.

British Airways also told Sky News that its holidays arm had seen a rise of almost 40% in web searches compared with the previous week.

Featured Image – Unsplash (Iwan Shimko)

News

What punishment could Manchester City face for FFP breaches?

Danny Jones Danny Jones Manchester City punishment options

With the news of their numerous breaches of Financial Fair Play, the question on everyone’s mind now is what punishment could Manchester City face if found guilty?

The reigning champions were charged with more than 100 breaches of FFP regulations on Monday following the conclusion of a four-year investigation by the English top flight.

Despite the club denying the allegations as they did with the previous UEFA sanctions, eventually having their two-year ban overturned and the fine reduced by two-thirds, they cannot appeal the decision through the same means as last time and it looks increasingly likely that at least some charges will stick.

That being said, there a numerous steps that the Premier League, FA and other governing football bodies could take next if they are found guilty of even a portion of the offences.

Here are some possible options being suggested at present:

What action could be taken against Manchester City?

1. Fines

The first and most obvious ramification for their alleged financial infractions is a simple fine: typically the most common outcome whenever clubs find themselves in hot water when it comes to rule breaches.

When they were alleged to have gone beyond UEFA’s FFP regulations back in February 2020, they were initially slapped with a £30 million fine before it was eventually reduced to £10m not long after.

However, given the length and severity of this latest raft of accusations — at least a century of offences for nearly a decade — any penalt(ies) would likely result in a much more considerable total sum or even compensation paid to other clubs.

2. Points deduction

One of the most popular suggestions thus far is that City should suffer a points deduction in the current 2022/23 season, not unlike the action recently taken against Juventus for also failing to declare the full truth about the nature of their finances.

The Italian giants were docked 15 points for “false accounting” and could even face a further 20-point bombshell for “undeclared wage payments” to players and other members of staff thought to date back to at least March 2020.

City are accused of similar during Roberto Mancini’s tenure, the man who helped them lift their first Premier League title, as well as with members of their squad in at least two seasons, including as recently as the 2015/16 campaign.

Once again, the supposed offences committed at the Etihad are said to date from 2009 to at least 2018, when the club “stopped cooperating” with the inquiry. If the independent commission find evidence to punish for this period and perhaps beyond, it’s hard to say if points alone would be sufficient enough.

3. Stripped of titles

Alternatively, another possibility is that the now six-time Premier League winners could be stripped of every single one of their titles since their 2008 takeover, meaning the narrative of the last few years would look very different indeed:

While obviously a more severe choice, it is perfectly plausible — especially when considering Juventus once again, who were also hit with this punishment back in 2006 after the ‘Calciopoli’ scandal which saw them stripped of their previous two titles due to match-fixing, pressuring officials and more.

Given that the charges lobbied against City are strictly related to the Premier League, it would be unlikely that any of their other trophies won over the nine-year period in question would be rescinded, but you never know; the inquiry could spark further investigation.

4. Relegation/expulsion from the Premier League

While many have mooted that they feel the Blues should be issued with a ban from the competition — the length of which could be significant given the prolonged offending period and for football fans to make peace with potentially 9-14 years of financial wrongdoings.

However, circling back to the Juventus example once more, the ‘Old Lady’ was also relegated to Serie B (the Italian second division) for the first time in their history after Calciopoli. If that was the judgement for two years of breaches, what sort of punishment would fit City after nearly a decade, maybe more?

Keeping that in mind, it has also been suggested that the club could be expelled from the league. Though a permanent expulsion would be extremely improbable, with this course of action by far the most brutal, the problem again is deciding how long to expel/suspend them and whether to do so immediately or for the following season(s). Again, this is the most unlikely outcome of them all.

Read more:

While this list is obviously not exhaustive, Sky Sports shared a graphic on social media the various steps the commission could seek as Manchester City’s punishment.

Moreover, as alluded to earlier, City cannot appeal CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) like they did last time according the current Premier League regulations. This means that, in theory, whatever the commission finds and the league ultimately says goes.

ADVERTISEMENT

You can see the full list of charges levelled against Manchester City HERE.

What punishment do you think would be suitable for Manchester City’s litany of FFP breaches?

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Image — Manchester City

News

This Manchester restaurant is selling fondue burgers drenched in Guinness gravy

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

A restaurant in Manchester has brought back its popular Guinness gravy-drenched fondue burgers, and we’re absolutely chuffed about it.

Initially created to mark the feast of St Patrick’s last year, Honest Burgers has put its special Guinness-soaked burgers back on the menu for the whole of February.

Comprised of Honest’s classic hand-shaped beef patty, candied bacon, molten fondue, a Guinness beef and bacon gravy, crispy onions, rocket and pickles, it’s made in collaboration with the Irish dry stout makers themselves and is quite the naughty delight.

To create the special Guinness gravy they are using 52 pints of the black stuff in every batch – so you know it’s got some heft.

Image: Honest Burgers
Image: Honest Burgers

Available at the burger restaurant all month for £14, the Guinness gravy fondue burger is served with Honest’s signature rosemary and sea salt fries and, for this month only, you can also enjoy a pint of draught Guinness on the side to wash it down with.

Read more: District to close as new Deep South-inspired dive bar eyes its Northern Quarter home

Priced at £14 in the restaurant or £15 for at-home delivery, the limited edition burger is available at all Honest Burger restaurants from 1 to 28 February.

Adam Layton, Honest Burgers Head of Food, said: “Our Guinness Fondue burger is a fan favourite and packed with pints and pints of the ‘black stuff’.

Read more: Gary Usher’s new pub inundated with over 500 bookings in two days, despite £19.50 burger controversy

“We make beer fondue cheese with cheddar and mozzarella for the essential cheese pull shot and keep plenty of Guinness aside for our homemade stout & bacon gravy, which is of course applied liberally.”

Feature image – Honest Burgers

More News

City Centre

A new Deep South-inspired dive bar is coming to Manchester’s Northern Quarter

Man City charged by Premier League FFP breaches

Business

Manchester City charged with ‘around 100 breaches’ of Financial Fair Play since 2009

Eats

Gary Usher’s new pub inundated with over 500 bookings in two days, despite £19.50 burger controversy

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches