Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, has hit back at a suggestion in an interview from Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, that he is being selfish.
Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM)It’s not about what we want for ourselves, @DominicRaab. It’s about what we want for low-paid and self-employed people everywhere: fairness. https://t.co/diqnm8lmA1
October 16, 2020
Some papers, like the Telegraph and the Sun, are reporting that Boris Johnson will impose tier 3 restrictions on Greater Manchester and Lancashire today.
But my colleague Helen Pidd is sceptical about claims that local leaders in Lancashire are close to agreeing to this.
Helen Pidd (@helenpidd)Hmm. The Lancashire politicians I spoke to yesterday didn’t sound close to rolling over on Tier 3 unless there’s a much better support package in place. But the Sun seems to think the county has agreed - or is about to - along with the north-east. https://t.co/ttXfLfn5xK
October 16, 2020
Raab accuses Burnham of holding government 'over a barrel'
Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, was doing the morning interview round on behalf of No 10 and, on the prospect of moving Greater Manchester into tier 3, the very high alert level, where the strictest restrictions would apply, he said that ultimately action would have to be taken. Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, was “holding the government over a barrel”, he said.
Ultimately we need to take action - we can’t have a situation as we have seen in Manchester where Andy Burnham is effectively trying to hold the government over a barrel over money and politics when actually we need to take action.
The cases there are 470 per 100,000 so it is very serious, and we must take action in the interest of the people of Manchester and the wider area, and if we take those targeted actions in those areas most affected... we get through this and we avoid the national level lockdown.
But Raab also claimed that the government was still hoping to reach agreement with local leaders on what would happen next - instead of having to impose tier 3 unilaterally. He said:
We will keep talking and we’ll keep working. Obviously in the last resort the government has the powers to proceed in any event, but we would much rather work with the local leaders if at all possible.
Good morning. Boris Johnson faces two big, and largely unrelated decisions, today, and it’s not 100% clear which way they’re going to go. His administration has multiple flaws, but you can’t complain that it ever gets dull.
First, what is he going to do about the high-Covid areas of England where tighter restrictions need to be imposed (more or less everyone agrees) but local leaders won’t agree? This is mostly about Greater Manchester and Lancashire, and at the moment there’s deadlock. Here is our overnight story.
And, second, what’s he is going to do about the UK-EU trade talks? In September Johnson said: “If we can’t agree by [15 October, the EU summit], then I do not see that there will be a free trade agreement between us, and we should both accept that and move on.” Well, that was yesterday, this is no deal, and yesterday EU leaders issued a statement that was relatively intransigent. Johnson has to decide whether to implement his threat from last month to walk away, or keep talking.
One way or another, we will hear from him today. There will be a Downing Street lobby briefing. It is possible he may record a clip for broadcasters. Or we may even get a press conference. No 10 won’t say if one is being scheduled, but this morning Downing Street posted this on Twitter - normally a sign that a press conference is imminent.
UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet)Ask a minister a question at the next coronavirus press conference: https://t.co/AciuhAKREC
October 16, 2020
Apart from all that, it is also a key day for Covid data. Here is the agenda.
9.30am: The ONS publishes reports on Covid mortality rates by ethnicity, and on the social impact of coronavirus.
12pm: The ONS publishes its weekly Covid infection survey - seen as one of the most reliable guides to the prevalence of the virus in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
12.15pm: Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, is due to hold her regular coronavirus briefing.
12.15pm: Mark Drakeford, the Welsh first minister, holds a coronavirus briefing.
Lunchtime: The government publishes its latest estimate for R, the reproduction number, and the Covid growth rate.
Politics Live has been doubling up as the UK coronavirus live blog for some time and, given the way the Covid crisis eclipses everything, this will continue for the foreseeable future. But we will be covering non-Covid political stories to, like Brexit, and if they seem more important or more interesting, they will take precedence.
Here is our global coronavirus live blog.
I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.
If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow.
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