PM outf lanks mayor in £65m cash lifeline row
THE Prime Minister sought to bypass Andy Burnham yesterday as the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester faced a furious backlash over his handling of funding for Covid restrictions.
Mr Burnham had turned down the Government’s offer of £60million to help businesses, claiming the area needed £65million as a ‘bare minimum’.
And yesterday Boris Johnson said the £60million offered was still available, but only if the money went straight to the region’s ten individual councils.
Conservatives last night accused Mr Burnham of grandstanding in the negotiations for cash, designed to help companies forced to close due to Tier Three restrictions. MPs said the mayor was ‘playing politics’ with lives by ‘inserting himself’ into the talks.
They pointed to other Labour mayors – such as Steve Rotheram in Liverpool and Dan Jarvis in South Yorkshire – who had reached Tier Three deals with much less fuss. Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick also accused Mr Burnham of ‘showboating’ by making it look as if he was finding out about the funding during the middle of a press conference when he had actually been told about the details two hours earlier. The mayor angrily rejected these claims.
Talks had broken down over the level of support for businesses hit by restrictions with Mr Burnham not budging on his demand for £65million. A separate £22million to help with local contact tracing will still be provided to the area, however, regardless of the funding dispute over businesses.
Last night, Conservative-run Bolton Council said it would be prepared to bypass Mr Burnham and talk to ministers to discuss an individual coronavirus funding deal. But Rochdale Council and the other Labour-run boroughs in Greater Manchester indicated they would stick with the mayor.
Mr Johnson made his announcement during Prime Minister’s Question Time yesterday. He told MPs: ‘Yesterday the mayor of Greater Manchester was offered a further £60million which he turned down.
‘So I can tell the House today that that cash will be distributed to the boroughs of Greater Manchester.’
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer criticised the PM for not finding the extra £5million for Mr Burnham, saying: ‘I really think the Prime Minister has crossed a Rubicon here, not just with the miserly way that he’s treated Greater Manchester, but the grubby take-it-or-leave-it way these local deals are being done. It’s corrosive to public trust to pit region against region, mayor against mayor, council against council, asking them to trade away their businesses and jobs.’
Alexander Stafford, Tory MP for Rother Valley, accused Mr Bunrham of ‘playing politics with people’s lives’.
And Steve Barclay, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: ‘The mayor of [Greater] Manchester in his discussions with Government expressly said Manchester should be treated differently to the other areas. I think that is a disservice to other local leaders who have also spoken for their areas, that have worked constructively with Government.’