New Year's Eve incident in Blackpool paints a bleak picture of online discourse
Two incidents on New Year's Eve - one live and ongoing and one from October - fed the monster that is online discourse
Hello and welcome to The Blackpool Lead.
We don’t need to tell you that it’s a grim time to be online. Merely opening any social media app would remind you of that most days in 2025 - and 2026 is unlikely to see much in the way of change.
Increasingly, that’s true irrespective of the content you choose to engage with or what you believe your interests are.
But New Year’s Eve was an especially grim time online when it comes to Blackpool. One incident saw widespread interest after properties were evacuated due to fears around explosives. GB News even gave it some coverage - though they disappeared when it was revealed the explosives were, in fact, fireworks.
Another saw countless Facebook commentors do their best to justify an assault on a woman wearing a Niqab. Who knows what is underneath?
Spoiler: It was a frightened woman.
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Blackpool briefing
🛎️Multi-million pound plans to build a seven-storey block of luxury apartments on Blackpool seafront are anticipated to finally see fruition in 2027. The Ambassador Hotel, on the Promenade at North Shore, was demolished in 2020 after it became an eyesore and was deemed to be unsafe, especially after a huge blaze there in 2018. Ambitious proposals entail plans for a development of 26 two-bedroom, “5-star luxury” serviced apartments for holiday rentals after planners gave the seven-storey scheme the green light. It was initially anticipated that work would begin in early 2023, with a spring 2024 launch, but work has still not begun, three years down the line. However, it is hoped that the next stage of the scheme can press on in 2026.
🌳Volunteers at a Bispham Park are devastated by yet another vandal attack on their hut – but they say there is now a suspect and they have passed details on to the police. Firefighters were called out at 8:54pm on New Year’s Day to a blaze at the community hut at the Moor Park green space in Bispham. The wooden hut was severely damaged in the incident and will add to more needless expense for the volunteers who help to upkeep the park The incident came less than a fortnight after another vandal attack on the hut, which itself followed a string of previous incidents at the Blackpool Council-owned park.
🍴Plans to open a new restaurant and takeaway in an established Blackpool hotel have been withdrawn. Polish-born couple Maciej Wejdelek and Zyta Bukowska-Wejdelek were hoping to offer a new high-quality eatery from their holiday accommodation, the Brooklyn Hotel, on Wilton Parade in North Shore. Their idea was to offer both Polish and English cuisine from the premises. They lodged a planning application with Blackpool Council in September, seeking use of part of the ground floor as a restaurant and takeaway resulting in a mixed use facility on the premises. Maciej Wejdelek confirmed this week that the application had been withdrawn but did not want to divulge further details.
New Year’s Eve incident in Blackpool paints a bleak picture of online discourse
By Luke Beardsworth
Two incidents in Blackpool over the New Year period left police and politicians exasperated due to the hate and false claims expressed.
Homes were evacuated on New Year’s Eve after a number of improvised fireworks were discovered at a property in Gloucester Avenue at around 11.30am.
At the time of the incident, it was confirmed that a 16-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act and disposal teams were in attendance. It was only later confirmed as likely modified fireworks.
At that point, it was predictable that people would speculate and it was quickly shared that the person arrested was an asylum seeker or an illegal immigrant.
Or as Leyton Curtis asked on the Blackpool Gazette’s Facebook page: “Are we talking traditional ‘Blackpool boy’ or does the Gazette mean it in the ‘new’ sense?”
Or as Alan Shaw said: “Wow no description of the person, makes you wonder.”
Keith Langley responded to an update from Chris Webb, the area’s MP, to say: “Maybe one of the boat people your government love to welcome.”
The extent of the rumours meant that the area’s MP sought to clarify that neither was true.
Chris Webb, MP for Blackpool South, said: “I’m aware of the racist rumours being spread in these comments and elsewhere on social media.
“To be absolutely clear: the person in question was not an asylum seeker and not an illegal immigrant.
“These false claims are being deliberately pushed by people who want to stir up hate and division in our town. That will never reflect who we are, and it will never succeed.
“There is very limited information that can be shared at this time with the individual being under 18, which I know many will understand.”
The boy was later detained under the Mental Health Act, although no further description was released.
But The Blackpool Lead has learned, and verified, that the boy is White British and from Blackpool.
News provider GB News covered the initial story when potential explosives were discovered and homes evacuated but have not followed up the story when further facts became available.
This is despite the article stating “more to follow” as its conclusion.
Instead, their commenters were left to let their imagination fill in the gaps - and so it did.
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