City news in 250 words: Monday 29 November

STUPID THIEVES are heart warming on cold days. Two men have been arrested after a boiler was stolen from a house in Leigh. Officers attending the scene a few minutes after the alarm had been raised followed a trail of frozen water to a nearby address where they recovered a boiler and arrested two men, aged 38 and 29 on suspicion of burglary.

CITY INN has become Mint Hotel Manchester in advance of openings in London and Amsterdam. The owners have twigged that the current name makes them sound like a Premier Inn rather than the four star place they really are with a cracking restaurant and a progressive attitude to art display. Confidential thinks the new name is better although we’ll have to suck it and see.

ENGEL’S DAY has been celebrated in Manchester in unusual style. Friedrich Engels was born on 28 November 1820. A German, he lived 22 years in Manchester and was the joint father of the Communist Manifesto (part-written here) with Karl Marx. A tour and drinks yesterday included a visit to Chetham’s Library where Marx and Engels’ studied. In Angel Meadow the guide, Confidential editor Jonathan Schofield, led the party in singing ‘Happy Birthday dear Freddie’.

OLDHAM COUNCIL has proposed ending free parking for disabled blue badge holders in council car parks. This is to help the council reach its target of £25m budget cuts next year. At the same time the council proposes to fix parking fees and rents for market stall holders.

Out of the window forecast: Lovely cold, crisp and sharp, like an ice maiden’s stare across a polar wasteland. Toast anyone?