In his first press conference since being re elected as Greater Manchester’s Mayor Andy Burnham painted a broadly positive picture across the city region.
However he had once concern which is Bolton where there has been a ‘significant increase in the all age groups over the last week or so.
The Mayor confirmed that Greater Manchester has written to the JCVI to ask that all over 16s are vaccinated not only in Bolton but across the region and added that a localised vaccination policy had been called for from the region previously.
Ahead of the move to Phase 3 of the removal of lockdown measures, he said that he supported the roadmap but wants to give a more cautious message to the people of Greater Manchester.
He told people to take note of Bolton and maybe not ‘fully take advantage of all of the freedoms that are being made available next week.
Turning to the Queen’s speech, the Mayor said he does not see anything in the speech that will do anything to improve the levelling up agenda in the next decade.
He also had concerns about plans to demand that people carry photo ID for voting which he says will be detrimental and also does not support plans to move to first past the post for Mayoral election voting citing that there was little confusion in Greater Manchester over the preferential voting system.
Asked by us whether last week’s electoral results could resulyt in a return to the politics of the 1980’s where islands of Labour councils such as in Liverpool and Manchester fought against the Government of the day, the Mayor repiled that in some respects the last decade had been like being in the 1980’s.
He warned the Government over funding being in his words “scattered amongst favoured regions” saying that this would create a more polarised country and that if levelling up remains ‘top down’ and unequal then ‘we could see a very divisive political climate continue”
