Government clarifies lockdown stance on buying non-essentials at Asda, Tesco, Aldi, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Lidl

Grant Shapps had appeared to blame the row for Greater Manchester's high coronavirus infection rates.

Wigan Athletic and Rochdale in League One, with Bolton Wanderers, Salford City and Oldham Athletic in League Two.

Town hall leaders are preparing for the ‘most dire financial position we have ever faced’ in light of the Covid-19 pandemic as they try to balance the books next year.

straight to your inbox every day, free Manchester United have no plans to re-sign Cristiano Ronaldo, despite recent reports. Transfer gossip columns have been filled this week by the suggestion United could look to sign the five-times Ballon d'Or winner in the next summer transfer window amid uncertainty over his future at Juventus.

they warned of 'major disruption' to schools amid the pandemic.

The government has U-turned over providing free meals to disadvantaged children during the Christmas holidays.It comes after Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford called for an end to child hunger in the UK.His petition to extend free meals into the school holidays gathered more than one million signatures.But Tory MPs voted down a Labour bid to extend support to struggling parents through the October half-term.The government has now U-turned and promised to lay on £170 million of extra

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We want to hear how you feel about the new national lockdown and how it will affect you. You can fill out our survey below. Click 'display interactive content' or follow this link if you can't see it on your device. A statement issued by the Arndale says: "Manchester Arndale – which sits at the heart of the city - continued to provide access to key services such as pharmacies, supermarkets and banks throughout the lockdown in spring."Many of these essential services can only be reached through

heartbreaking reports of how isolation was exacerbating existing conditions like dementia.Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester mayor, welcomed the news as positive, adding: "I think the government has made the right decision in allowing care homes visits in those controlled circumstances because the distress that's been caused to people who have not seen loved ones for months was too much and something needed to be done and it has been done."He said he would ensure that visits would be allowed 'in

straight to your inbox every day, freeManchester United have no interest in signing AC Milan playmaker Hakan Calhanoglu, according to reports.The 26-year-old is out of contract with the Serie A side next summer and would be free to negotiate a pre-contract agreement with foreign clubs in January.Reports emerged last week claiming United were interested in signing the former Bayer Leverkusen man on a free transfer next summer, with Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport suggesting they were prepared

Manchester Airport says the government needs to  urgently come forward with a support package for the aviation industry - and introduce passenger testing or risk thousands of jobs.

It was only at the beginning of October that bars, restaurants and many other business were allowed to reopen in Bolton after struggling through weeks of some of the harshest local lockdown rules in the country. Conservative Bolton Council leader, David Greenhalgh, has slammed the government, saying he feels the package being proposed by Greater Manchester was 'justified due to the disproportionate way Bolton businesses had been affected over the last months'.

coronavirus restrictions will be in place in Greater Manchester from 00.01am on Friday.

Greater Manchester has now been placed in Tier 3 by the government - the 'very high' Covid alert level. Manchester had been placed in Tier 2 just days ago.Under Tier 3 rules, all shops are able to remain open - even those which were classed as 'non-essential' earlier this year.However, shoppers will be required to follow certain rules when in supermarkets, high street stores and hardware shops - to name a few.The official government guidelines state that 'shops following COVID-secure guidelines

Andy Burnham has accused the Government of “playing poker with people’s lives” after talks about a Tier 3 deal broke down.The Greater Manchester mayor said that after days of fraught negotiations between the region’s leaders and ministers, the Government “walked away”.Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to announce new restrictions for the area in Parliament later today after Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said discussions had failed to produce a deal because leaders were “unwilling to

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has said discussions with Greater Manchester had failed to produce a deal because Greater Manchester is 'unwilling to take action required'.Talks have been going on for most of the day between the government and local leaders, including mayor Andy Burnham.Mr Jenrick put pressure on the region by announcing late on Monday night that leaders had until midday to come up with a solutions.But this deadline passed.He tweeted: "I'm disappointed that despite

here"Last night, the Communities Secretary [Robert Jenrick] offered £22m for our City Region of 2.8 million people.