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This afternoon, Andy Burnham is holding a press conference with other northern leaders in response to the latest government shutdown plans.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester will set out his current position on the situation, which has seen plans for the closure of pubs and restaurants in the north of England reported to the national media, but not officially announced or detailed.
However, the prime minister is expected to announce new restrictions on Monday as part of a new framework for local closures, with additional rules likely to be imposed in some parts of the country on Wednesday.
But while in Merseyside the leaders have some clarity on what that will look like in their area, in Greater Manchester and many other areas, it is not.
Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson confirmed this morning that he expected the city’s pubs and bars to close in the middle of the week as the government prepared to place it at ‘level three’ of its new framework.
However, the leaders here don’t know exactly how the framework would apply to Greater Manchester, including which trigger point the government is using to place areas in the top group of the most stringent measures.
Last night’s talks between Number 10 and the conurbation council leaders, officials and Andy Burnham ended inconclusively, with those there reporting that no actual details of the planned lockdown measures were described to them.
Instead, a wealth of data was presented describing the severity of the Covid-19 situation in the Northwest, along with analysis purporting to show that hospitality was driving the problem.
High-level local figures on the call expressed immense frustration afterward, with several describing it as a “waste of time.”
A press conference reaction is also expected to the Chancellor’s announcement yesterday that employees of companies forced to close under new locks would receive just over two-thirds of their salary, as part of a new localized leave scheme.
Andy Burnham has already raised concerns that the payment is not enough to help those affected by the closures, including the hospitality industry.
“They will push a lot of people into difficulties and they will not prevent companies from collapsing,” he tweeted last night about financing plans.
“We will continue fighting.”
The press conference starts at 12.30pm and you can follow the updates live here.
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