Gemma Atkinson and Vernon Kay among the famous faces with a stern warning for Manchester's freshers

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,

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.

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

© @Copyright HELLO! Hello! Magazine was in for quite the treat when treated her to a surprise message from her boyfriend and star .On Monday's episode of Steph's Packed Lunch, the soap star-turned-presenter was overcome with emotion when she saw her partner's face pop up on-screen.The professional dancer, who has left Gemma and their daughter Mia in Manchester for the next few months due to his commitments on Strictly back in London, said: "Hello baby, I hope you are having a great show.

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

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.

There has been a ‘significant increase’ in the number of coronavirus patients in ICU beds across Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham has revealed. The mayor spoke out about the rising number coronavirus cases during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.The ‘significant rise’ in cases refers to those in ICU and non-ICU.There were 41 cases of Covid-19 in ICU beds across Greater Manchester hospitals in the week ending September 29, up from 28 the previous week. There were 228 cases of Covid-19

spilled into Manchester city centre streets and supermarkets on Saturday night at 10pm closing time after the new rule was introduced on Thursday in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus. The scenes prompted Andy Burnham on Monday morning to call for an urgent government review into evidence from police forces across the country.

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.

hugely damaging to residents' health, especially if they live with dementia.Now, care home bosses and charities are calling for a solution to enable safe visitation.Earlier this month, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham spoke of testing for residents and visitors and vowed 'to have a look' at the issue.But on Thursday, a spokesman from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority said: "Under the current central Government measures, local areas with increased restrictions are advised to not

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' political editor, Jennifer Williams, said the payment will be "welcomed" in Greater Manchester.

Manchester Evening News' political editor, Jennifer Williams, also appeared on The Andrew Marr Show to talk about the new support payment, which will be "welcomed" in Greater Manchester.

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.