Mayor Andy Burnham critiques Health Secretary’s ‘vague’ late-night Tweet announcing new rules

Andy Burnham reacts to the new measures put in place in Greater Manchester, including criticising the lack of detail. 

Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, has said that while the government chose the ‘right action’ to take in the north of England as COVID-19 cases have changed, he has criticised ministers for ‘lack of detail’ on the measures at the time of the announcement.

Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, announced in a series of Tweets at 9:16pm last night: “We’re constantly looking at the latest data on the spread of coronavirus, and unfortunately we’ve seen an increasing rate of transmission in parts of Northern England.

“We’ve been working with local leaders across the region, and today I chaired a meeting of the Local Action Gold Committee. Based on the data, we decided that in Greater Manchester, parts of West Yorkshire & East Lancashire we need to take immediate action to keep people safe. 

“The spread is largely due to households meeting and not abiding to social distancing. So from midnight tonight, people from different households will not be allowed to meet each other indoors in these areas.

“We take this action with a heavy heart, but we can see increasing rates of COVID across Europe and are determined to do whatever is necessary to keep people safe.”

Burnham described the measures as ‘modest steps’ but critiqued the vague announcement.

Speaking to Sky News he said: “What I would say to them (ministers) is I understand the need to make announcements, I understand the need for decisive action, but when ministers go in front of the cameras, make sure you’ve got the detail ready to go exactly at the same time,” 

Labour leader, Keir Starmer also criticised the government’s handling describing it as a ‘new low’. 

Speaking to BBC Breakfast this morning, Andy Burnham states that Manchester has a ‘rising rate in nine out of 10’ Greater Manchester boroughs.

He described this as a ‘general spread beginning to take place within our communities’. He added that he ‘wasn’t surprised’ when he received a call from the Health Secretary yesterday. 

He also explains that these measures have been put in place to prevent a ‘more severe’ local lockdown.