NEW: Understand No 10 may now withdraw the offer of £60m for Greater Manchester, after @AndyBurnhamGM is reported to have rejected it.
No 10 source tells me, "That will have to be determined. £60m was part of a negotiation, he has walked away from that."
No 10 source tells me, "That will have to be determined. £60m was part of a negotiation, he has walked away from that."
Surely the optics of this would be toxic. Conservative MPs in Greater Manchester would be in uproar. A less inflammatory approach would be for No 10 to offer the £60m on the basis of proportionality with Liverpool and Lancashire and try to move on.
At the end of the day, this isn't really about Boris Johnson or Andy Burnham. It's about the people who will lose their jobs under Tier 3 and need financial support. Leaving the vulnerable without vital funds because politicians can't agree would be the worst of all outcomes.
For all the above reasons, I'd be surprised if the money is really withdrawn. But the fury on both sides here is palpable. No 10 accuse Andy Burnham of simply wanting to outdo Liverpool and Lancashire. Burnham's press conference suggests it was far more principled than that.
On the possibility of the government withdrawing the £60m, @AndyBurnhamGM asks:
"Are they playing poker with people's lives during a pandemic?"
"Are they playing poker with people's lives during a pandemic?"
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