Greater Manchester given midday deadline for Tier 3 decision

Andy Burnham and other local leaders have been given until midday today to reach an agreement. 

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said ten days of discussions of moving Greater Manchester to Tier 3 have not resulted in an agreement. Jenrick warned that the prime minister would have to intervene if no deal is made by the deadline.

Andy Burnham and other local leaders are demanding further economic support for those businesses that would be affected by the new tighter restrictions in Tier 3. 

Last week, Burnham explained that there is a £62m gap per month between what the government was offering and what they thought was necessary. 

Burnham said he was meeting with council leaders this morning to come up with a ‘fair funding framework’ to help compensate the regions poorest workers, many of whom will suffer under the Tier 3 restrictions. 

He said: “This is about people who work in pubs, people who work in bookies, people who drive taxis, generally the people who Westminster politicians ignore,”

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme Burnham said: “A late-night ultimatum briefed to the media was a slightly provocative move, but I’m not coming on to rise to that. I’m going to try to be positive and respond and find a way forward.”

Jenrick’s ultimatum said: “We have offered an extensive package of support for local people and businesses, proportionate to the approach we have taken in the Liverpool city region and Lancashire and in addition to the wider national support.”

However, Burnham insisted: “We’ve never been given a figure for that additional support. So what I will be proposing to the Greater Manchester leaders, when we meet this morning, quite early, is that we write to the government with what we think a fair figure is, given we have been under restrictions for three months and that has taken a real toll on people and businesses here.

“The second thing we would need is full flexibility to support the people who we think are going to need to be supported under a tier 3 lockdown.”

Burnham recognised that London asked for support for businesses and workers hit by Tier 2 last week and added: “I don’t disagree with them and I support them in that call. But I hope people will support us in recognising the position that we are in and all along this has been about standing up for people and businesses which otherwise are going to be seriously harmed by a lockdown which at this point in time is not fully funded.

“And it’s really important to stress that this unites everybody in Greater Manchester. This isn’t posturing. It commands the support of our MPs and all of our council leaders.”

One of Greater Manchester’s nine Conservative MP’s (Bury South), said while he was not insistent on 80% furlough wage like Burnham there should be a ‘minimum floor’.

He added: “If it’s not 80%, it’s no lower than a set amount, whether that’s minimum wage or something else, so that we are not forcing people into destitution.

“I appreciate the knock-on effect that has because you couldn’t just introduce that for Greater Manchester, but I do think that’s an area that has unity between Conservatives and Labour. I don’t want to be a member of parliament who pushes someone into destitution so they can’t put food on the table just before Christmas.”

“There needs to be that minimum floor, the threshold beneath which you know you are not going to go, especially as we are approaching winter months. It’s one thing saying 80% during the summer but when a lot more money is going on heating your home we really do need to focus on that.”

Burnham said he made no apology for fighting for a ‘fair financial framework’ that would benefit Greater Manchester’s 2.8m residents, and the rest of England.

“We are standing up not just for ourselves but everywhere. Because there is a very good chance that every part of England will find themselves in tier 3 over the coming winter,” he said.

Manchester City Council leader, Sir Richard Leese told BBC2 Newsnight: “I am hoping that tomorrow (Tuesday) morning we will be able to sit down again with ministers and come to an agreement which will serve the best interests of the people of Manchester,”

“Clearly if Government imposes Tier 3 – and I hope that won’t happen – we will clearly need to comply with that.”

On Sky News this morning, Andy Burnham said ‘this is not about politics’, adding: “I’m coming along today to say I still want to work to try and get a resolution, but I just hope your viewers will understand that this is not about politics.

“I have the support of Conservative MPs here for what I am saying – it is not posturing.”

“I do worry that if the Government is going to go down this route of imposing these punishing lockdowns on local areas, I think it will lose the public support that it will need to try and help us all as a country rise to the fight against this pandemic this winter.”

Burnham further explained that he wanted to ensure the lowest-paid people in the region would be supported if Tier 3 restrictions are put in. He said, ‘these are the people that Westminster politicians traditionally ignore’ 

Adding: “We are not going to do that here. If you’re going to impose a lockdown here, it’s going to cause certain harm … to all of the people that I’ve mentioned.

“That is why we have stood firm, because we don’t believe we can consign our residents to hardship in that way.”