Andy Burnham calls for urgent Cobra meeting with places for all English regions to resolve 'testing divide'

The government's new coronavirus furlough package will lead to 'multiple business failure', Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has warned.He criticised the financial measures proposed to come in alongside impending lockdown measures during a northern leaders press conference on Saturday afternoon (October 10).Greater Manchester and many other areas face new tougher restrictions as early as next week, included reported plans for the closure of pubs and restaurants.Despite no official

here"It would also run the risk of severe redundancies across the north of England, particularly when you combine the effect of any new local restrictions."We think it would be to do long term damage to the economy of Greater Manchester and the north of England, and would actually weaken recovery."This package is insufficient to protect our communities as we go into the rest of the autumn and the winter."The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, previously that under a new localised furlough scheme,

would be closed down from next week to try and combat soaring infection rates. The proposed move has sparked furious backlash from the region's leaders and businesses, with Labour MP Angela Rayner saying Boris Johnson was treating the north 'with contempt'.

led to the publication of the proposals being put back again while the details of a compromise are worked out.However speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Mr Burnham denied the clash over the industrial estate plans had thrown a spanner in the works at the eleventh hour.“I don’t think you could describe this as just a last minute objection, there had been concerns expressed about the site and I think there were ongoing discussions with both councils but then there was a planning

said it was unfair for students to continue footing £9k-a-year for tuition when they were not getting the ‘full university experience’. Most students at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) and the University of Manchester (UoM) will be taught online until at least October 30.

threatened to derail it and meant the document didn’t materialise. The row centres on a single site, the Bredbury Park industrial estate, despite it having been in the plan since the first version was published in 2016.

Andy Burnham has been told to ‘get a grip’ and ensure the region’s development masterplan gets over the line after a row over an industrial estate left it dangling by a thread.The third - and final - version of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework was due to be revealed on Monday, but it was pulled as Stockport and Tameside bosses continued to argue over plans to extend Bredbury Park industrial estate into the Tame Valley.It raises the incredible possibility that the blueprint, developed in

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDuring their talk at Fast Company’s Innovation Festival on Monday, Ariana Grande/ Justin Bieber manager Scooter Braun, Raised in Space cofounder Shara Senderoff and Island Recording artist Jessie Reyez spoke about how their artists, their artistry and their businesses have coped during the pandemic and what the prospects look like for the return to live touring that is still on the distant horizon.But the most attention-getting comments came from Braun when he was

Do you think the lockdown system should be changed? Have your say in the comments below It is believed no areas in England would immediately be mapped into Tier 3.Responding to the potential system, Mr Burnham said he believes 'the new approach could improve public understanding of the restrictions in different areas.'But he warned that 'it will not be acceptable if the policy is imposed by Whitehall without meaningful consultation, which so far has not happened.'The Mayor set out five 'key

A full list of all the projects is at the end of this article.Funded by the Mayor’s Challenge Fund, all of Greater Manchester’s 10 districts will benefit from a total of 35 projects, with the first Bee Network signage to be installed by next summer. Chris Boardman, Greater Manchester's cycling and walking tsar, told the Manchester Evening News: "I'm just so excited to see it happening at such a scale.

The government's introduction of tougher coronavirus measures in the north of England ‘could do more harm than Margaret Thatcher’, according to Andy Burnham.Greater Manchester’s mayor has warned that the north-south divide will ‘massively increase’ in the winter if millions of people in the region are still under the restrictions without further support.Mr Burnham said places like Bolton, where the hospitality industry has been shut down despite infection rates being higher elsewhere, had been

Bolton should come into line with everywhere else.  “Pubs should be allowed to open.

A Prestwich man has declared his intention to stand for Mayor of Greater Manchester – claiming his bid is ‘a move away from party politics’.Businessman Michael Elston, 39, intends to stand as a independent candidate in next May’s election, opposing current incumbent Andy Burnham.The election, which was due to take place in May, was deferred until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.Mr Elston grew up in Prestwich and was a keen Bury FC fan.

here"The government has said the 10pm curfew is based on Belgium, but they also have police to disperse people on the streets."My personal feeling is that the curfew is probably doing more harm than good as it’s creating a major incentive for people to carry on drinking and partying at home. And that is where we are told the virus spreads - gatherings in the home."He added: "If it is doing more harm and damaging businesses, then the government shouldn’t just plough on with it.

Manchester Evening News asked Mr Burnham about the position on care homes, as he had previously promised to take on the issue, after hearing heartbreaking stories from families. The M.E.N.

hereHe spoke of concerns over the performance of NHS Test and Trace in Greater Manchester, particularly the contacts of the people testing positive."The numbers are increasing each week as we see more positive cases," he said."So is the number of people not being reached.

hereSpeaking as the total number of cases rose to 4,368 in 24 hours and Covid-related deaths were recorded as 41,788, Mr Burnham also called on the Government to consult consistently with the regions - and invite more regional voices to the COBRA meetings, one of which is to be held today (Tuesday).He said: "If he (Boris Johnson) listens more to people at a regional level we would build a greater sense of national unity in facing this virus going into the rest of autumn and the winter."Referring

Manchester Evening News reported yesterday how 110 schools across the region now have confirmed Covid cases. Thousands of pupils with positive cases in their 'bubbles' have been sent home and told to self-isolate since schools reopened.