London(UK)- The prime minister has urged councils to approve last-minute requests for street parties to mark the platinum jubilee. As four million could end up hosting illegal celebrations this weekend.
The official spokesman for Boris Johnson said that councils should be ‘as accommodating as possible’, for the Platinum Jubilee.
As many as 15 million Brits are preparing to mark the occasion. But just 16,000 applications to close roads for parties have been approved across the country.
The prime minister’s comments are out of line with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Which urged people to host informal ‘street meets’ if their parties did not get approved.
Research suggests that 3.8 million people are planning on going to an unofficial street party this weekend. That may be broken up by police if celebrations block traffic.
Killjoy councils are ‘ruining’ plans for Platinum Jubilee street parties by issuing warnings. About ‘unauthorised’ bunting and refusing to lift public boozing bans.
And ministers yesterday urged local authorities to be ‘flexible’ about late applications for Platinum Jubilee street parties.
Culture minister Chris Philp appealed for town halls to ‘accommodate people’ amid fears millions could see their celebrations thwarted.
He called on councils to ‘show a little flexibility’ for party applications that had passed the deadline.
The Local Government Association (LGA) – which represents local authorities – said councils were ‘pulling out all the stops to help their communities celebrate a historic day for our country’ and urged Britons to get their street party applications in ‘as soon as possible’.
It said that it ‘may be possible’ to approve last-minute street closures, and urged people to speak to their councils directly about the requests. Some local authorities had a deadline of March.