Boris Johnson wages war with ‘King in the North’ Andy Burnham

UK PM lands a devastating blow on Manchester mayor, placing the city into full lockdown after 10 days of skirmishes.

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a virtual press conference inside 10 Downing Street in central London. Picture: AFP

Boris Johnson has landed a devastating blow in an unholy row with Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, imposing the highest lockdown measures on the northern city after 10 days of skirmishes about retrictions.

Further, businesses forced to close were told they would receive just 60 per cent of wages rather than the 80 per cent covered in lockdowns earlier this year.

Major fracture lines have appeared between the north and south of the country, with even “Blue on Blue” conservative criticism of London-centric decisions on how to keep the economy ticking over amid a rise in infections.

On Tuesday it was announced that 241 deaths in the previous 24 hours were attributed to coronavirus across the UK — down on the 1000-a-day recorded during the March peak, but still rising sharply.

Deputy chief medical officer for England, Professor Jonathan Van Tam, said an upward trend in coronavirus deaths would continue.

Heat map from Jonathan Van Tam - runs up to yesterday pic.twitter.com/xpeQmdkQPA

— Alison Moore (@AliJaneMoore) October 20, 2020

“Part of that surge in deaths (today) is related to the weekly pattern of slightly lower figures at the weekend, and then a kind of catch-up earlier in the week,” Mr Van Tam said.

“But overall is the trend upwards? Yes. Do I expect the trend in deaths to continue upwards? Yes, unfortunately I do.”

Mr Burnham, a Labour mayor nicknamed “The King in the North” for holding a strong line against Downing Street, had wanted extra compensation of around £90m for staff and businesses forced to close its doors under tougher measures floated by the Johnson-government. Mr Burnham told reporters the council was prepared to lower that figure to £65m. Instead, Mr Johnson informed the mayor via Twitter that Manchester would get just 22m and go into tier three restrictions from Friday, meaning the closure of pubs, a ban on socialising indoors or outdoors and travel restrictions in and out of the area.

The government will “crush the spirit” if they do not agree to provide more money, Mr Burnham said.

I have fought for the ability to support low-paid people and businesses who will be most harmed by Tier 3 closures. Simple as that. Please don’t misrepresent my position. https://t.co/qh9dQ7E8KY

— Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) October 20, 2020

Manchester health authorities had argued that ICU units were running around 85 per cent capacity, but that mirrored or was slightly less than the situation for this time of year.

Others claimed statistics showed the virus had peaked in the area.

But Health secretary Matt Hancock said there were more COVID-19 patients in Greater Manchester hospitals than the whole of the southeast and southwest combined.

Mr Johnson, who had promised full co-operation with local authorities in implementing the local coronavirus measures — ranging from tier one to three — informed Mr Burnham of the final decision just when Mr Burnham was about to host a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

The Mayor of Great Manchester, Andy Burnham. Picture: AFP

Mr Burnham’s rebellion has galvanised a steely resistance in his region to blunt lockdowns which scientists are still not convinced have shown any results.

“I don’t believe we can proceed as a country on this basis, by grinding communities down through punishing negotiations,” a shocked Mr Burnham said immediately after he had been shown the social media announcement about the Downing Street decision.

He called on parliament to intervene, demanding fair financial compensation for regions in Tier 3 lockdowns, which might ultimately impact all parts of the country.

The local boroughs had costed the tougher lockdown will cost Greater Manchester £15m a month in social support. Mr Burnham said those now thrust into poverty would face “real hardship” and could not survive on the furlough payments of two-thirds wages.

A man wears a face mask as he sits outside the Central Library in Manchester. Picture: Getty Images

He questioned whether the government was playing poker with places and people’s lives.

“Are they piling pressure onto people to accept the lowest figure they can get away with?’’ he said, insisting the government was deliberately “levelling down”.

But the government didn’t want to give Manchester more support than what has been given to Merseyside and Lancashire, which went into tier three measures last week.

Mr Johnson said £465m had been provided to help all local authorities implement the new regulations.

He said of the Manchester brouhaha: “We wanted a deal — that was the best way forward. We have had to take action because of the urgency of the situation.

“I have described some of the funds that are already on the table. Other discussions undoubtedly will continue.’’

Mr Johnson said Greater Manchester had already received £196m of additional funding.

”We don’t want to do this in the way that we have had to. Obviously we are going to still talk to Andy Burnham and his teams.”