Manchester People - Do You Agree With Andy Burnham?

[bednobs]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54575891
i must confess i had no idea that regional mayors could disagree and refuse to compply with national instructions.
I must admit i'm a bit confused - i thought AB was a person who was calling for greater lockdown measures, but is now refusing to let GM go to tier 3.
I can't understand his logic of it being "unfair"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54575891

[ichkeria]

Andy Burnham among with many others would prefer a total temporary lockdown

[jourdain2]

He has stated his case, whether one agrees or not. He must be terrified about the effect on the local economy. I stand to be corrected, but I think that the infection rate is less than in March. He is the Mayor, after all and has to think about small businesses and make a balance. Even a temporary lockdown would be devastating - and who guarantees that it would be time limited? He is trying to extract financial cushions. I don't envy him.

Politically, he is Labour and is probably hoping that the Govt. will enforce measures over his head. Clears him and gives Labour ammunition. C'est la vie.

[gulliver1]

Have to admire Andy for standing up against Boris . Well done Andy. You know Manchester better than Johnson does. Doubt if Boris even knows where Manchester is.

[Zacs-Master]

It was one of the first places he visited on becoming PM. But don’t let that get in your way of ignorance, Gull.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/boris-johnsons-manchester-shoelaces-undone-16655030

[237SJ]

Yes I do agree with Andy Burnham. It's about time someone stood up to Boris and his henchmen. It probably won't get him anywhere but there are things that need to be said.

[Zacs-Master]

The seeds of civil unrest are planted in Manchester’s fertile soil.

[237SJ]

And London's. It was only a matter of time.

[Canary42]

Not surprising it's so bad up North - all those Hooray Henrys charging up there in large numbers to slaughter the Grouse, happily exempt from the restrictions the plebs had to endure.

[Zacs-Master]

Nah, no one is loyal to London. It’s just made up of people living there for necessity, 80% of whom are foreign

[237SJ]

^ Some of us are.

[237SJ]

^ My Mum came from generations of Londoners. She lived in Devon fot 50 years but she never stopped being a Londoner.

[Zacs-Master]

I said 80%

[237SJ]

Oh OK. Sorry :(

[237SJ]

Actually, no I`m not. Not in a million years :)

[Ken4155]

From what i have seen and read, quite a few of Greater Manchester's Tory MPs back the stance of their Mayor. They too believe that the government should produce a suitable financial support package in order to attain Manchester's agreement. Which, of course, puts paid to Hancock's statement that it was based on party political divisions.

[iluvmargie]

Yes, I agree with him, he is like a lot of people sick to death of all the 'oh we'll open pubs now and help you to pay for your meal to encourage you to go' and then 'pubs will have to close at 10p.m. or shut altogether'. It's similar in Liverpool, some gym owners are refusing to shut their premises. Everyone is worried sick for their livelihoods and I don't blame them at all. I think Andy Burnham has got guts, but I think Boris will win.

[Ellipsis]

I am not surprised he is trying to get the max financial support possible for his region, if it is to suffer the max restrictions. That's surely what most people in his region would hope for.

Refusing to go to Tier 3 until he gets what he wants is kind of like going on strike. A natural thing for him to do.

[Sunk]

There is a great deal of hypocrisy from Johnson and his Government. Back in April London was one of the most affected areas while a great deal of the rest of the country was scarcely touched.

// London was initially one of the worst affected regions of England. As of 17 June, there were 27,354 cases,[1] and (on 16 June) 6,079 deaths of patients who tested positive for COVID-19 in London hospitals.[2] This underestimates the total deaths attributable to COVID-19; up to 1 May //

A Vallance and Witty recommended a National lockdown and it was imposed everywhere.
Now the Government has let the cases get out of hand again, Vallance and Witty are calling for a circuit break National Lockdown, but this time Johnson is ignoring the science. He prefers to concentrate on hotspots, which on the whole, don’t have many Tory boroughs in them.

Boris agreed financial help for Liverpool and Lancashire to go into Tier 3, but will not help Greater Manchester. No wonder they feel let down by the Government, and picked on.

Johnson has the authority to impose what he wants and will win the battle. But overall, such a strategy would be deeply damaging to him politically.

Meanwhile the evidence that many of us have been asking for that the jump in new cases is caused by the hospitality sector, has not been revealed (because no such evidence exists).

[New Judge]

//Politically, he is Labour and is probably hoping that the Govt. will enforce measures over his head. Clears him and gives Labour ammunition. C'est la vie.//

Unfortunately for all of us the virus crisis has been turning increasingly political. The Manchester argument is nothing to do with "keeping us safe" or "protecting the economy"; it is simply political points scoring.

The same can be said of the London restrictions. If the "Tier" system was designed to address local infection rates a blanket imposition across London is absurd. The rates in some outer London boroughs are extremely low and many people who live in them do not often venture to the areas where they are higher - especially with WFH. The one café, the Indian restaurant and two pubs in the village of Downe, in Kent (where Nigel Farage lives - population about 5,000) are under the same restrictions as those in Soho (where there are such establishments every 20 yards). This is because Downe (surrounded mainly by open space and farmland) is in the London Borough of Bromley (which as a whole has a far lower infection rate than the national average and lower than many of the adjacent areas in Kent which are not under T2 restrictions). But London as a whole has been placed in T2 because of the "North:South Covid divide" and accusations from those in the north that they are being treated unduly harshly.

People who believe this is all about "keeping us safe, saving lives and protecting the NHS" should have a good look round.

[lankeela]

Genuine question - if AB is a 'Labour' Mayor, how come he is going against what Keir Starmer is calling for?