Mayor blows early whistle on key Peterborough council meeting to see England World Cup clash
There will be no extra time at a key meeting of Peterborough City Council with the fixture set to clash with England’s first World Cup knockout game
Mayor of Peterborough Councillor Chris Harper has ruled that councillors and officers should be able to get away from the full council meeting on July 1 in plenty of time to cheer on England who are widely expected to finish top of their qualifying group to take on Cape Verde on that night.
So Cllr Harper has ordered that kick-off for the meeting should be 3pm instead of the traditional 6pm start time.
It is hoped this will give members plenty of time to tackle an intriguing line-up of business that gets under way with ‘petitions’, ‘notices of motion’ and then peters out with ‘appointments to committees’
.Cllr Harper, who says he will definitely see the vital World Cup tie, said: “I’ll be watching the game but I m not sure from where yet.
"I have seen both England games..
"The second half of the first game (a 4-2 victory over Croatia) was brilliant while the whole of the second game (a 0-0 draw against Ghana) was disappointing.
He said: “I decided to change the time of the meeting because this is the national team and I know lots of councillors, staff and the public will want to watch this important match.
"I think all responsible employers, where possible, should ensure their staff should be able to get away on time to support their national team.”
Has the mayor made his change too soon?
However, it is not a given that England will finish top of their group as they have still to play Panama on Saturday, June 27 with kick off. at 10pm.
A win guarantees England top spot and a clash with Cape Verde on July 1.
However, any other result and then it gets complicated and relies on the scores elsewhere..
Cllr Harper said: “If England do not play on July 1, well I haven’t yet decided if the starting time of the full council meeting should go back to 6pm.”