In this evening’s press conference, Boris Johnson confirmed that Greater Manchester is to be placed under Tier 3 despite continuing opposition from local leaders. With the government previously offering £60m for the area in negotiations with metro mayor Andy Burnham – which was rejected as local leaders pushed for £65m – Johnson refused to be drawn on whether that offer of support remained. However, shortly after the press conference ended Downing Street confirmed that the offer was still there.
Had Johnson announced this during the press conference, he would have had an easier time in the Q&A session where the issue was brought up repeatedly. It’s still unclear how exactly the process will roll ut from here with the potential for individual deals with council leaders. As John explains on Coffee House, relations between the government and Burnham are deteriorating fast.
However, there was one piece of good news for the Prime Minister from the press conference. As Johnson comes under pressure to put in place a circuit breaker from Sage and various devolved administrations, deputy medical officer Jonathan Van Tam spoke out against the idea of one. Speaking at the presser, he suggested it would be unfair to force parts of the country with low infection rates into harsh restrictions when ‘the epidemiology is so varied across the country that I think it would be difficult to justify for some areas’. With No. 10 determined to stick with the regional approach, this is likely the best news Johnson received all day.
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