Boris Johnson has decided to allow 25 December celebrations go ahead this year, narrowly avoiding becoming the prime minister who cancelled Christmas for the second year in a row. Another man who knows how it feels to be accused of cancelling Christmas is Michael Chubb, the former head of events at Birmingham city council – and the legacy has not been short-lived. Photograph: BPM/News Team InternationalLooking back 23 years on, Chubb is amazed that his team’s suggestion to promote two months of events in Birmingham city centre under the banner of “Winterval” continues to resonate. The saga also provided the basis for further claims about Birmingham, with the Mail claiming the following year that the city council wanted to “scrap Easter”. The news story about pen-pushing officials trying to erase Christmas has now become an annual event.

Source: The Guardian December 23, 2021 17:02 UTC