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Andy Burnham calls on men to ‘change their behaviour’ at drink spiking protest in Manchester
‘This one is on us: men, lads, boys’
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham urged men to ‘change their behaviour’ and ‘call out mates’ at the End Spiking Now protest in Manchester’s city centre last night.
Hundreds of people descended upon St. Peter’s Square as part of a boycott of nightclubs, demanding that drink spiking be taken seriously amid a rise in incidents across not only Manchester, but the whole country.
The mayor was also in attendance at the protest, where he stressed that the issue is on ‘men, lads and boys’, according to The Guardian‘s Helen Pidd.
Pidd tweeted: “Spoke to @AndyBurnhamGM at the End Spiking Now protest in Manchester tonight: ‘This one is on us: men, lads, boys. That might mean calling out mates for their behaviour or it might mean changing our own behaviour.’ #GirlsNightIn.”
Greater Manchester Police are currently investigating a number of cases across Fallowfield and city centre venues following reports of drink spiking.
The force said in a statement: “Detectives are investigating several reports of drinks being spiked in the Fallowfield area of Manchester and people can expect to see extra patrols in the area this weekend visiting pubs and bars.
“GMP is aware of five incidents of drinks being spiked in Fallowfield on three dates – September 5, 28/29 and 29/30. The victims are all females and all displayed the same symptoms including vomiting. All the victims are being supported by specialist GMP officers.”
Detective Inspector John Robb of GMP’s City of Manchester south division stressed that all reports of drink spiking are taken seriously and that all while people on nights out should ‘still be having fun’, they need to ‘remain alert’.
He said: “We encourage everyone on a night out to have fun, but remain alert and if anyone sees anything suspicious to report it to us right away.
“Whilst we will do all we can to tackle this, we recommend taking preventative measures too, such as not leaving your drink unattended and never accepting a drink that you haven’t seen being prepared.”