MAYOR: I WISH WE COULD HAVE FOUGHT LOCKDOWN
MAYOR BACKS BURNHAM OVER CASH STAND-OFF
LEICESTER’S mayor has backed his Greater Manchester colleague in his fight against stricter coronavirus restrictions, saying he wished he could have done the same when the local lockdown was imposed on the city.
Sir Peter Soulsby made his comments on Radio 5 Live, where he was also quizzed about his own breaches of lockdown in the summer.
He was taking part in a discussion of the three-tier system and the level of involvement local leaders have when decisions are made.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is battling the government to secure a better financial deal if stricter rules are imposed in the region.
Sir Peter was asked by 5 Live whether he wished he had done the same, and replied: “I wished we’d have been able to.”
He said: “Leicester was picked out for an extra lockdown just as the rest of the country was released, they picked us out and really gave us no choice.
“We did say to them a few things at the time, first of all ‘where is the evidence?’ but also, ‘make sure you give us the financial support, particularly for our businesses’.
“They promised it, but it just never arrived.
“Now, on the back of our experience and particularly with the extra powers Andy Burnham has got, he’s making the stand I wish we’d been able to.”
When asked whether he had let local people down, he replied: “I think the people of Leicester were let down by the government.
“We were locked down much more severely than even tier three.”
Host Emma Barnett went on to question the city mayor about his claims over the validity of the figures.
“At that time there was a single testing centre in Leicester,” the mayor told her. “The government was passing on none of the detailed information about who had the virus.
“Although it’s got a bit better, we all know the test and trace system is creaking at best and broken in many places. We just didn’t have the data.
“We’ve done our very best at a local level at making the information that has come through to us pay off and to intervene ourselves and that has had an impact and our figures have fallen, but that’s very much down to local action, nothing that central government has imposed.”
Sir Peter said mayor Burnham was right to challenge the government and its “very dubious” figures. He said people had “a much greater trust in their local councils and their local mayor than they do in the current government”.
Sir Peter was then asked about his own breach of lockdown rules, which he described as “a fairly dim and distant memory, certainly to people in Leicester”.
When asked whether it had been difficult to regain public trust since he was seen visiting his partner during the national lockdown, he said: “No, it has not.
“Local leaders are very understanding of our communities and the rules that apply to them.
“Going to help somebody briefly, during a period of long lockdown because they happened to be sick at the time is not something that most people, locally, hold me particularly culpable for.”
A listener then sent in a message, which said: “A dim and distant memory, ha ha. He shouldn’t be in work and neither should Cummings and that’s why trust breaks down when leaders break restrictions they put on us.”
Sir Peter replied: “There are those who would wish to keep raking it over, but going to the assistance of somebody who was ill, for a very brief period, is something that perhaps needs to be explained but it is something that in the circumstances is... while not excusable, understandable.”