The North of England is being “dictated to from 200 miles away” and “pushed around” by Westminster, Andy Burnham has said
The Mayor of Greater Manchester, who faced down the government this week seeking extra coronavirus support for his region, said he was left “open-mouthed” when he read that the government was unveiling new measures that he said would mainly help London.
Mr Burnham accused the government of “dividing and ruling” and taking “one approach for one and one for the other”.
“I was just opened-mouthed last night when I read the headlines there was going to be a support package that was billed as being for London and Birmingham,” he told a committee of MPs on Thursday morning.
“We’ve been under these restrictions for three months… that just doesn’t seem to have featured at all. Bolton had their pubs closed for three weeks with nothing, absolutely nothing despite the fact we did raise that on a regular basis.”
Chancellor Rishi Sunak today unveiled extra help for businesses under Tier 2 restrictions just as they are imposed in London. Greater Manchester and other areas of the country have laboured under similar rules for months.
Mr Burnham said the episode showed there “were major questions for the government to answer here on how it’s treated places”, calling for a “reckoning”. He said regional leaders had been expected to come to Westminster “on bended knee” and ask for help.
Speaking at the same committee hearing, Steve Rotheram, mayor of the Liverpool City Region, echoed the comments
“For far too long, too many decisions have been taken with the interests of the London, I have to say, but the London-centricity and I don’t just mean the area of London I’m talking about the overall London culture, that exists within parliament and that has been hugely disadvantageous to areas like ours,” he said.
Rishi Sunak on Thursday unveiled a £2,100-a-month grant to hospitality, accommodation and leisure businesses as part of a package to help the economy of areas under tier 2 coronavirus restrictions.
Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak announce new support measures for tier 2 restriction areas in the Commons on Thursday
The grants will go to up to 150,000 businesses in England, including hotels, restaurants, B&Bs which are not legally required to close but have lost business because of localised restrictions.
The government confirmed on Thursday afternoon that the grants would be backdated to August and thus help businesses that had been under Tier 2 previously.
“Honestly, can barely believe what I’m reading here,” Mr Burnham said of the back-dating.
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“Why on earth was this not put on the table on Tuesday to reach an agreement with us? I said directly to the prime minister that a deal was there to be done if it took into account the effects on Greater Manchester businesses of three months in Tier 2.”
Mr Sunak also doubled the value of upcoming grants for the self-employed from 20 per cent to 40 per cent of average profits, increasing their maximum value from £1,875 to £3,750.
And he reduced from 33 per cent to 5 per cent the minimum employer’s contribution to the wages of staff unable to work full-time, also cutting the minimum requirement from 33 per cent to 20 per cent of normal hours, so those working just one day a week will be eligible.
