Glasgow and Leeds have become the latest Bonfire Night cancellation casualties as councils across the United Kingdom continue to scrap annual firework displays due to significant budget pressures.
Thousands of residents across the two cities had been hoping to enjoy their first public showing since 2019, with previous spectacles having been cancelled due to COVID.
But council chiefs have once again dealt the cities a crushing blow by dropping the events as they struggle to finance them amid skyrocketing costs and the necessity to prioritise essential services.
The two cities have become the latest to reveal their Bonfire Nights will go off without a bang, following the likes of Manchester, Cardiff, Liverpool, Dundee and Hackney whose celebrations have also fizzled out.
It comes as Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham appealed to the public to give councils some slack over their decision to scrap firework displays.
Andy Burnham said councils were putting all of their energy and resources into helping residents through the current financial crisis, and he said that seriously, the picture out there is really bleak, really bleak, and that all of their councils were putting all their energy and resources into that at the moment.
He said during a phone-in with BBC Radio Manchester that he thought people needed to cut them some slack, to be honest, because sometimes things have to give, and they were just putting their focus now into food, and warmth for people, rather than fireworks, and that this was just a reflection of the time we're living in.
In Leeds, the city council said it couldn't spare the £200,000 needed to run its Bonfire Night events.
In a double blow for residents, the council also said it was axing its popular German Christmas market, saying it not be feasible due to rising travel and work visa costs for its partners at Frankfurt council.
In a statement, the council said the decision has been taken due to significant budget pressures faced by the council and the current cost of living pressures on local residents which are having a significant impact on the council's demand for services and support.
They said, in addition, the council is facing an increase in the cost of electricity, gas and fuel and given the costs associated with restarting bonfires this year would be in excess of £200k, the decision to cancel the displays has been taken due to the need to identify any non-essential spend.
I'm assuming these councils have also sacked diversity officers and the assembly of advisors they use to save some taxpayers money, no of course they haven't. That would be far too sensible.
What about our unwanted guests that the council pay their hotel bills for? Stop inviting unwanted guests into our country and then the councils would have far more money to spend on people native to this country. We are paying millions to house the illegal immigrants coming to live in the United Kingdom. It's a pity Guy Fawkes isn't around now!
So, the cost of council tax goes up, but councillors won't be impacted by the cost of living crisis, awarding themselves pay rises.
Fireworks happen all year round now. It's like Beirut in some regions of London, letting them off illegally at 2 a.m. God forbid we should celebrate an actual UK tradition.
We pay our council tax, so where has all of our hard-earned money gone? And most firework displays you have to pay for before being let in. So, you pay your tax and still pay again to watch these displays... con, con, con!
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