Grantham, Lincolnshire

Maggie memorial: Council plans to underwrite the £100,000 cost of a ceremony to mark the unveiling of a statue of Margaret Thatcher in her home town have reignited deep divisions about the Iron Lady’s legacy. The 10ft-tall statue was offered to Grantham in 2018 after a proposal to erect it in Parliament Square was rejected. The council agreed last week to fund the cost of the event next year, saying the money would probably be recouped from donations

– a decision critics described as an “insult” to struggling locals.

Liverpool

Mayor arrested: The Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, was arrested last week on suspicion of conspiring to commit bribery and witness intimidation. In a statement, the 62-year-old, who was later released on bail, said that he was “cooperating fully” with the investigation into the awarding of building contracts in the city. The Labour Party has suspended him pending the result of the inquiry. However, many Labour politicians have urged him to also step aside as mayor. “He can’t carry on,” said ex-minister Peter Kilfoyle. “The only conceivable thing to do now is to scrap the mayor’s office and to move to the old system of council leader and cabinet.” According to the BBC, Derek Hatton, the council’s former deputy leader, was arrested alongside Anderson.

Nottingham

Market shut: A popular Christmas market in Nottingham was closed down last weekend, due to overcrowding. Winter Wonderland opened on Saturday and had been given council approval to run until Christmas Eve, despite residents’ concerns about the spread of coronavirus in the city, which is in Tier 3. But eight hours later, after photos of packed crowds were circulated on social media, its operators took the decision to close it again, citing “unprecedented” footfall. The next day, the council announced it would not be reopening, and apologised for licensing the event in the first place. “We thought we would support the economy in a managed way, but obviously it was not managed well enough,” said council official Dave Trimble.

Cardiff

Lockdown warning: There were warnings this week that Wales could soon be back in lockdown owing to a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases. Health Minister Vaughan Gething described the situation as “incredibly serious”, and suggested that ministers might even have to reconsider the agreed relaxation of restrictions around Christmas – though he added that he was “not convinced” that any change now would “lead to more people doing something different”. This week, there were more than 1,800 people in Welsh hospitals with confirmed or suspected coronavirus – 400 more than at the April peak. According to UK government statistics, on 1 December Wales had a seven-day case rate of 267.9 for every 100,000 people. That compared with 149.8 in England, 141.2 in Northern Ireland, and 100.4 in Scotland.