Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has vowed to fight any restrictions imposed on the region that come with inadequate support.
Speaking on BBC’s Question Time on Thursday evening (9 October), the region’s leader appeared to be losing patience with the government after being kept in the dark at crucial points during the pandemic.
The Mayor said he had learned of the looming hospitality closures in northern England on the front page of a newspaper, and pledged to “challenge them in any way” he could if they did not come with necessary compensation.
“I didn’t know about [the measures], nobody told me,” Burnham said on the BBC programme.
“But it doesn’t really matter about me… what about the people who work in those pubs and restaurants?
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“This has got to stop.
“We cannot face a national crisis with the government just imposing decisions from the centre with no agreement from the people who have to face the real world today – people saying: ‘We can’t go in another lockdown, our businesses will finish.'”
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If the Government closes businesses across the North without providing proper compensation and a local furlough scheme for staff, then, yes, I will challenge them in any way I can. https://t.co/ra0MOraaXa
Burnham said he had attempted to establish a dialogue with Westminster regarding a local furlough scheme for hospitality workers – citing the example of Bolton whereby pubs and restaurants were banned from operating without financial aid to help them.
“The message I’ve given to the government is a pretty clear one: There can be no restrictions without support,” Burnham stated.
“If it’s going to be the Tier Three restrictions, effectively a national lockdown, we have to go back to a full furlough scheme for those staff [and] support for those businesses.”
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David Dixon
The Mayor warned that the north of England was at risk of being “levelled down” by the new measures, are apparently set to bring about the full closure of pubs, restaurants and cafes.
“I will not accept it,” Burnham added.
“I will not accept restrictions without support.
“I will not accept the government just imposing restrictions these decisions upon us, briefing them to newspapers late at night. They need to treat the people of the north of England with more respect.”
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Manchester Airport issues update for anyone flying today after hundreds of cancellations yesterday
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Airport has issued an update for anyone catching a flight today after hundreds of cancellations yesterday.
In case you hadn’t heard, hundreds of flights at several major UK airports – including Manchester Airport – were disrupted by a technical fault at air traffic control provider National Air Traffic Services (NATS) yesterday (8 September 2026), with the incident grounding planes and resulting in numerous cancellations.
According to Flightradar24, more than 1,000 flights were cancelled nationwide, and many passengers were told to expect disruption for the rest of the day.
One of the worst-affected airlines was said to be Ryanair, with around 65,000 passengers affected by the cancellations and delays.
Manchester Airport issued its first statement addressing the matter at 3:15pm yesterday, stating: “We are aware of an issue affecting NATS’ air traffic control service at UK airports, which may result in delays to some departing flights from Manchester Airport today.
“Passengers due to travel are advised to check the latest status of their flight with their airline. We will continue to monitor the situation and share further updates as more information becomes available.”
Now, although the issue has been resolved, Manchester Airport has issued further statements informing anyone travelling today what they can expect.
The airport started off by saying that it is ‘operating as normal’ today, but that passengers are advised to ‘check with their airline for the latest information’.
“A full flight schedule is expected to operate [today] but the airport may be busier due to rescheduled flights,” it added.
Passengers were then thanked for their ‘patience and understanding’ over the past 24 hours.
Featured Image – Ivan Shimko (via Unsplash)
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Hundreds of staff at four Greater Manchester hospitals to strike AGAIN next week
Emily Sergeant
Another round of strikes has been called at a handful of major Greater Manchester hospitals.
Amid ongoing disputes following the first set of strikes at the end of last month, it has now been announced that more than 350 Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust (NCA) employees – including nurses, clinical support workers and housekeepers – who are members of the union UNISON will once again walk out for three days next week.
According to the union, the dispute centres on the NCA’s use of an outside agency called NHS Professionals (NHSP) to manage overtime.
When covering staff shortages, workers are entitled to time-and-a-half pay – however in some cases, staff earn less than they would on a normal shift, and some have even been missing out on more than £80 per shift, the union added.
Operating theatre staff were previously on picket lines in June, and although an option to resolve the row was initially tabled by NCA bosses, this has now fallen through.
Hundreds of staff at four of Greater Manchester’s hospitals are set to strike next week / Credit: Stephen Andrews (via Unsplash)
This means that staff at Salford Royal Hospital, Royal Oldham Hospital, Rochdale Infirmary, and Fairfield Hospital in Bury are walking out next week on Monday 14, Tuesday 15, and Thursday 17 September.
The union’s North West regional organiser, Kevin Dolan, said the trust had given ‘no indication’ that it’s willing to re-enter negotiations, adding that operating theatre services were ‘chronically under-staffed’ and staff were choosing to work extra shifts to cover shortages.
Ahead of the August strikes, the trust declared a critical incident to help it secure extra support and keep urgent surgery running, while also announcing that some procedures would have to be postponed.
Understandably, some disruption is expected at each of the hospitals on strike days.
But Gertie Nic Philib, who is the chief people and strategy officer at the Northern Care Alliance, said that the trust will do ‘everything we can to minimise the impact on patients’ and ‘maintain high standards of care and quality at all times.’
“We also have contingency plans in place for emergency situations,” they concluded.
The Manc -
9th October 2020 
