Mayor of Manchester calls for alcohol sales to be banned in all shops after 9pm

He has called for an ‘urgent review’ of the 10pm curfew


Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Manchester, has said that he believes there ought to be a 9pm curfew on the sale of alcohol in supermarkets and shops.

He has also called for an ‘urgent review’ of the 10pm curfew rules, he said: “My gut feeling is that this curfew is doing more harm than good.”

Mr Burnham said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he has been receiving police reports of supermarkets being “absolutely packed out to the rafters and lots of people gathering after 10pm”.

When talking about the curfew, Mr Burnham said: “It is potentially contradictory. It creates an incentive for people to gather in the streets or more probably, to gather in the home.

“That is the opposite of what our local restrictions here are trying to do.

“I’m not here to score points, I’m looking for solutions here. I can understand what the government is trying to do.

“Let me give some suggestions. Perhaps there could be a 9pm curfew on the sale of alcohol in supermarkets and shops that would prevent the rush to shops once pubs have closed. That’s what we certainly saw on Saturday.

“The government has said the 10pm curfew is based on Belgium, but they also have police to disperse people on the streets.’ ‘If it is doing more harm and damaging businesses, then the government shouldn’t just plough on with it. It certainly requires urgent attention.”

Council leaders have warned the hospitality sector faces ‘complete decimation’ in Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester if coronavirus restrictions are not immediately reviewed.

They have stated the Government’s new crackdown will “result in mass-market failure, huge levels of redundancies and depleted and boarded up high streets”.

Related stories recommended by this writer:

‘Cruel’ and ‘pathetic’: Manc students on a potential Christmas student lockdown

• Banned signs and increased security: What we know about the chaotic MMU halls lockdown

• 1,700 MMU students forced to isolate after 127 Covid cases confirmed in halls