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Leaders of Greater Manchester and Merseyside have accused the government of only providing additional support to companies affected by the coronavirus once restrictions were imposed in parts of southern England.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak on Thursday expanded support for companies and workers affected by localized COVID-19 measured with billions of pounds of extra help.
The announcement came just two days after the government abandoned talks with Greater Manchester leaders about a financial support package to accompany the region that is placed on Level 3 restrictions.
Measures at levels 1, 2 and 3 of the UK blockade system
The ministers were accused of failing to grant an additional £ 5 million which would have secured the agreement of local leaders and prevented Prime Minister Boris Johnson from having to unilaterally impose new measures.
The chancellor’s announcement of increased financial support, parts of which companies will be able to make retroactive claims from August, angered politicians in northern England.
They claimed that Sunak had only acted after the imposition of Level 2 restrictions in London last week, even though other parts of England, including Greater Manchester, had been living under similar measures for months.
Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester who has recently been embroiled in a bitter political feud with ministers, posted on Twitter: “Honestly, I can hardly believe what I’m reading here.
“Why the heck wasn’t this put on the table on Tuesday to come to terms with us?
“I told the prime minister directly that a deal could be reached if the effects on GM’s business of three months at Tier 2 were taken into account.”
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Sir Richard Leese, the leader of Manchester City Council, tweeted: “It seems that Rishi Sunak agrees with the leaders of Greater Manchester. Too bad he couldn’t have done so two weeks ago.”
And Steve Rotherham, the mayor of the Liverpool city region, said: “It is a pity that London has had to undergo new measures for the Chancellor to take action to support jobs and businesses.”
London, most of Essex, and Elmbridge in Surrey were included in Tier 2 measures last week, meaning people should not socialize with other homes indoors, even in pubs and restaurants.
Similar measures had been taken in much of the Northwest since the summer.
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The latest dispute over the government’s new three-tiered approach to localized lockdown rules came when ministers were warned by Dan Jarvis, the mayor of the Sheffield city region, that the coronavirus had put North England ” on track to level, not rise, “in contrast to the prime minister’s general election promise.
Jarvis opened the Great Northern Conference on Thursday, in which Johnson said: “I have to be honest with you, this winter is not going to be easy.
“But I am confident that the people of the North of England will face this crisis with the strength and disinterest that we have seen.”
