The music world has shared their support for Manchester as they prepare to enter a Tier 3 lockdown starting this Friday (23 October). Manchester’s citizens have expressed feelings of abandonment by the government, who have pledged a £22 million support package for the city during this period of intensive restrictions – many had hoped it would be higher, considering the extent of the Tier 3 regulations. Every part of the economy will invariably be affected as households can no longer mix indoors, and pubs and bars that do not serve food will be asked to close.
Mayor Andy Burnham said the following, in the midst of his negotiations with Downing Street: “What we’ve seen today is a deliberate act of levelling down … I don’t believe we can proceed through this pandemic by grinding people down. We need to carry them with us, not crush their spirit.” At this point he had failed to secure a financial support package – subsequently, Boris Johnson has announced an additional £60 million will be divided between Manchester’s boroughs.
Manchester has always had a huge and vibrant music scene, and it has always inspired a huge amount of local pride in the musicians it has cultivated. Many of them turned to Twitter today to voice their discontent. These range from the eloquent, to the cryptically rude.
A Certain Ratio simply declared, “We’re with you @AndyBurnhamGM, and everyone in Greater Manchester.” Primal Scream took a firm and political stance with their tweet, “Good on @AndyBurnhamGM standing up for the people of Manchester. Tories hate the working class north in the same way they despise Scots / Welsh / Irish / Blacks / Muslims. #ClassWar #ToryCorruption #HitTheNorth.”
We’re with you @AndyBurnhamGM, and everyone in Greater Manchester.
— A Certain Ratio (@acrmcr) October 20, 2020
Good on @AndyBurnhamGM standing up for the people of Manchester. Tories hate the working class north in the same way they despise Scots / Welsh / Irish / Blacks / Muslims. #ClassWar #ToryCorruption #HitTheNorth
— Primal Scream (@ScreamOfficial) October 21, 2020
The lead singer of Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly held a similar, angry position to Primal Scream with the following: “The north of England and the devolved Nations deserve a lot more respect from Central Government. It’s embarrassing and frankly insulting to millions of people.” Blossoms’ drummer, Joe Donovan, shared a photo from an edited Transport for London service board that has been circulating in the #IStandWithManchester hashtag.
The north of England and the devolved Nations deserve a lot more respect from Central Government. It’s embarrassing and frankly insulting to millions of people. — Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly (@forgetcape) October 20, 2020
— Joe Donovan (@JoeDonovan92) October 21, 2020
Finally, many have interpreted the following Liam Gallagher tweet as a response to the government’s handling of Manchester’s predicament. Gallagher is notoriously prolific online.
SHIT SHOW — Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) October 21, 2020
The music world is already painfully familiar with the way that the pandemic is capable of bringing absolutely everything to a standstill. Just today, it was estimated that up to 170,000 jobs in the live music industry could be lost – before the end of 2020. Andy Burnham’s statement about not grinding one another down takes on even more significance in this worrying context.
