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Hello,
Adorable festive ornaments, cartoon-like reindeers, happy leaping Santas, jaunty waving gingerbread men - is this Christmas on acid? No, just Christmas in Birmingham, according to Dianne Bourne.
Our intrepid Lifestyle editor betrayed…sorry no…briefly left Manchester for an afternoon in order to visit our rival city’s festive attraction. And though she has always championed Manchester’s Christmas markets, it seems this time we have simply been outdone.
Please leave your Manc walk and chippiness at the door while you read this piece explaining why.
As Dianne explains, the Brum markets are just more festive. “It's as if a Christmas Market has been spewed out of a classic Disney movie and brought to life on the city streets,” she writes.
I must say her description of spotting ‘the occasional sinister elf’ in the Midlands city flummoxed me. ‘Is that like an occasional table?’, I wondered.
Then I spotted the haunting, faceless figures below and all became clear.
The problem with Manchester’s markets this year, Dianne concludes, is that the loss of Albert Square while the Town Hall renovations continue is just too great.
Birmingham's Town Hall and historic buildings make Frankfurt Market look ‘picture postcard pretty’ as opposed to the ‘shipping containers and tipis of Piccadilly’, she says.
While the addition of a nativity scene also reminds punters that ‘the real meaning of Christmas is not actually sausages and beer’.
However, she notes that Manchester does win on value for money with our markets undercutting Birmingham on beer, Gluhwein and sausages.
Councillor Pat Karney - Manchester’s Mr Christmas - was warned not to read Dianne’s piece. But it seems he’s taken things in his stride, promising to visit Birmingham himself and ‘pinch’ some ideas. “There are moans but the Manchester market sites are packed out,” he says. And he's not wrong.
In the meantime, we’ve got Manchester’s first ever Christmas Parade to look forward to. Due to take place this Sunday, performers including a full toy procession, candy cane stilt walkers, dancing snowmen and a very festive version of the Town Hall clock. Here are all the details and a map of the route.
I’ll be heading down to the markets myself this weekend as I’ve so far abstained from sausage and Gluhwein.
And though I will certainly miss Albert Square too, I’m quite glad to be at least 80 miles away from those sinister elves.
Manchester's tourist 'tax'
If you are visiting Manchester from out of town, you’ll be faced with a new tourist ‘tax’ from next year.
As Ethan Davies reports, those staying in city centre hotels will have to contribute to the new Manchester Accommodation Business Improvement District (ABID) from April. But it will only cost guests £1 per night.
Some 74 hotels and short-stay serviced apartments within the city’s inner ring road will be charging the fee - expected to raise around £4m annually.
The funds will be used for marketing the city as a destination, to draw in more ‘large-scale events’ such as conferences and festivals during the off-season, increase the cleanliness of streets in the vicinity of hotels and ‘improve guest welcome’.
Council leader Bev Craig says Manchester is looking forward to ‘exciting times’ as new hotel rooms are added and with attractions such as Factory International and Co-op Live set to open.
“We believe that targeted investment through the Manchester ABID will help support the accommodation sector – which plays such a vital role in supporting jobs in our city and adding to its overall vibrancy – to thrive," she says.
Lowry Hotel manager Adrian Ellis says the move brings Manchester’s sector in line with ‘European counterparts’.
Planes, trains and automobiles
The chaos that ensues in that classic John Candy film might have nothing on the travel trauma British travellers could face in the coming weeks.
With industrial action planned in the rail and aviation sectors, paired with some very cold weather, it's looking increasingly like Christmas could be a bit of a damp squib.
The intensifying wave of planned strikes over conditions and pay this month have extended from nurses, paramedics and rail workers to Border Force officials, with staff at Manchester Airport set to strike for eight days from December 23 to New Year’s Eve.
Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, has warned industrial action by border officials would cause chaos for thousands if they go ahead, despite plans for the Army to take some of the strain.
“If they go ahead with those strikes there will be undeniable, serious disruption caused to many thousands of people who have holiday plans,” she said.
Northern today put out a rare ‘do not travel’ warning to passengers ahead of the RMT strikes on December 13-14 and 16-17. RMT workers at Network Rail will also strike from 6pm on Christmas Eve until 6am on December 27.
The union has accused the Government of ‘blocking’ a deal to end their long-running dispute and warned a resolution is now further away.
Meanwhile, members of the Public and Commercial Services union at National Highways, working in operational roles on roads and in control centres, will take part in a series of staggered strikes from December 16 to January 7.
GP slams Strep A myth
With 15 children now confirmed to have died in the UK from invasive Strep A illness, a Manchester GP has warned about a dangerous myth doing the rounds on social media.
Helen Wall has slammed TikTok videos falsely linking the child flu vaccine to Strep A.
As Greater Manchester’s lead for immunisations, she says the uptake of the nasal spray protecting youngsters from the illness is ‘far too low’ and children can become more vulnerable to illnesses if they are already ill with another.
“We’ve got lots of children going to hospital and ending up in critical care with flu, and then this Strep A has caused some concern which is very understandable,” she said. “But there are things circulating on social media now linking the nasal flu vaccine to Strep A.”
New data from the UK Health Security Agency shows 13 children under 15 have died in England since September. Two other deaths of children have been recorded in Belfast and Wales, taking the UK total to 15.
The UKHSA says there is no current evidence that a new strain is circulating and the rise in cases is most likely due to high amounts of circulating bacteria and increased social mixing.
Weather etc
- Friday: Yellow weather warning of ice. 2C.
- Road closures: A560 Stockport Road Eastbound closed due to water main work between A627 Dowson Road and Hill Street.
- Trains: Special timetable operating on Transpennine Express and Avanti West Coast due to shortage of train crews.
- Trivia question: When were Manchester's first Christmas Markets held?
Manchester headlines
Surprise: Stockport band Blossoms gave a surprise performance at Night & Day in Manchester last night and threw their support behind the music venue amid its ongoing court hearing regarding a noise abatement issue. Blossoms appeared at the venue as part of a Co-op Live preview party, ahead of its opening next December. More here.
A gift: Greater Manchester’s Night Time Economy Advisor has launched a festive campaign to support the city-region’s hospitality industry. The scheme encourages people to gift family and friends a night out to their favourite nightspots over Christmas. Sacha Lord says it will go a long way in supporting local landlords and independent venues. “We all know the difficulties that our favourite restaurants, bars, theatres and hotels are going through, and January is always the bleakest time of the year for the sector,” he says. More here.
Barred: A former Greater Manchester Police constable who was convicted of offering to deal steroids would have been sacked had he not already resigned, the force's chief of police has ruled. Aaron Jones' name is now due to be added to the College of Policing's 'Barred List', said GMP Chief Constable Stephen Watson, after a misconduct hearing the ex-cop did not attend. Jones, who was 36 at the time, pleaded guilty to two counts of offering to supply class C drugs when he appeared in court in Liverpool and was sentenced to a 12-month community order, with 80 hours of unpaid work. It followed an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which said it found he offered to supply steroids in January 2019 contrary to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. More here.
- Extension: A multi-million pound new extension to the Royal Oldham Hospital which will address ‘health inequalities’ and a shortage of beds for patients has been given the green light. Members of Oldham’s planning committee heard that the plans for the development would address ‘historic under-investment’ at the Rochdale Road site. A shortage of beds at the hospital has meant that during high-pressure periods patients are regularly treated in corridors while they wait for spaces to open up on wards. Construction of the new £28m building forms part of the Royal Oldham’s redevelopment and will start following the completion of phase 4A in August next year.
Worth a read
Ethan Davies headed to the city centre yesterday to speak to rough sleepers who woke up on the streets on the coldest day of the year so far.
Among them he found Arthur, who said: “I have got so much chapped skin from the cold. I’ve also got two blisters from the hand warmers.
"I have been out here since March. The outreach is really good here, but the housing is a joke.
"I had a place but I was not told for a week, so I lost it. It’s like smashing your head against a brick wall.”
You can read the full piece here.
That's all for today
Thanks for joining me. If you have stories you would like us to look into, email beth.abbit@menmedia.co.uk.
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The answer to today's trivia question is: 1998.
