Staying Safe In Manchester.....

[mushroom25]

Tweet from GM Police

https://x.com/GMPCityCentre/status/1854859888507130359/photo/3

can anyone explain why Manchester's christmas markets need protection from armed officers with Armalite Rifles?

[barry1010]

Same at Birmingham's Christmas market. Any large, crowded public place is a target

[barry1010]

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/frankfurt-christmas-markets-visitors-asked-30285212

[naomi24]

Isn't it sad.

[fourteen85]

maybe they will be expecting trouble when the visitors see the price of the food

[10ClarionSt]

They WILL get trouble at the prices. Last year on one stall, a meat pie cost £8. Nothing special about it. Just your average pie. They were setting up when I went through Exchange Square on Wed. I'll be giving it a body swerve. 

[webbo3]

staying safe from whom ?

[naomi24]

It's no surprise prices are high.  I just read that stallholders have to pay £200 per day to trade at the Christmas market - and that was a few years ago.  That's quite a lot of pies - even before profit.

[barry1010]

Food traders pay £5300 for a stall at Birmingham from 1st November to 24th December - £100 a day.

The prices are extortionate 

[naomi24]

Manchester must be more expensive then, Barry, but they've still got to sell a lot of pies to make it worthwhile.

[DTCwordfan]

well after the Blessed Rachel's budget concession of 1p off the price of draught beer as to excise duty, the Mancunians can get totally blitzed - 500 pints and they get a free pint. Should keep them happy....

[naomi24]

The raised minimum wage and the extra cost of employer's NI contributions has actually added 5p to a pint of beer, DTC ... but we digress.  Sorry, mushroom, we went off at a tangent for a little while there.  Back to the topic.  

[DTCwordfan]

rachel doesn't want us to think about that, naomi....given what's on the news now about what's happened in Amsterdam, I'm not surprised that Manchester is taking precautions.....my daughter is only going to them on a limited basis and actually is preferring to go to the Borough Market when she visits the Big Smoke.

[naomi24]

I can't see them being trouble-free, DTC.  This atmosphere is just awful.

[DTCwordfan]

Malheureusement, Naomi, c'est le monde dans lequel nous vivons aujourd'hui, la ville ou le pays n'a pas d'importance.

[naomi24]

Indeed.

[New Judge]

"staying safe from whom ?"

From the many, many people who live in this country but who have no cultural connection to it,no particular affinity to it, who hate "The West" and who believe that anybody who is not like them are "infidels".

I'll leave you to work out the rest.

[webbo3]

I was being sarcastic New Judge but I think you knew that

[New Judge]

Just playing you along, webbo   🤣