Why Andy Burnham is right to say this fight is not over

The coronavirus crisis has always been intensely political, but it has only recently become intensely party political. With the confidence of a man who has fought many Westminster and internal Labour battles, before finding clarity of purpose in a mayoral post, Andy Burnham has spoken up for Greater Manchester and every area that will soon enter Tier 3. This is why the government backlash has been so fierce: not only do they resent a politician who can talk like a normal person while giving voice to very real concerns on the ground; ministers are determined to preserve the messy – and crucially opaque – local negotiation approach to keep us quiet. Agreeing to an 80% furlough for employees and the self-employed in Tier 3 would have been a victory for the whole country and a huge concession by this stubborn government.

The 4pm press conference by Andy Burnham and other Greater Manchester leaders was the start of an extraordinary few hours in the coronavirus crisis yesterday. Announcing that the government had walked away from negotiations after rejecting the local leaders’ proposals, the mayor asked whether they were “playing poker with people’s lives” and declared that “this fight is not over”. He was then shown a message that said Greater Manchester MPs had been told the area would only be getting £22m, which turned into a viral clip. Tories are frustrated because apparently this amount is only for test and trace and the £60m is still “on the table” – but the Prime Minister refused to confirm as much in his 5pm press conference, and it was only suggested by Matt Hancock in a 7pm statement that this was the case.

UK Labour will today back up Burnham’s efforts with real action. Since last week, the party has replaced its original ‘fire and rehire’ and social care opposition day motions with debates on free school meals and a “fair deal” for those living under Tier 3. Both of these votes should make Tory MPs feel deeply uncomfortable. Conservative Robert Halfon, a former minister, has said he will vote with Labour today on free school meals unless the government backs down in the face of Marcus Rashford’s renewed campaign. This is highly unusual for an opposition day motion. The other vote will force Tories to admit that they do not want a “fair one nation deal” for those living under the toughest Covid restrictions. The motion explicitly calls for 80% furlough, rather than 67%, and the government struggles to defend the lower rate because it is unjustifiable. Why would people deserve 80% in March but only two thirds now?

Burnham is right: this fight is not over. Robert Jenrick claims there is a formula being applied to every Tier 3 area, which is £8 per head for track and trace and £20 per head for business support. But as Lucy Powell points out, this would mean a better-off rural area with fewer businesses and more retired residents could receive more than an area with a high concentration of business and low-paid, working age residents. “The very definition of levelling down, not up.” Meanwhile, ministers intend to cut Universal Credit back to its pre-Covid rate in April, despite repeatedly referring to the benefit as justification for the less generous local furlough scheme. Yet we don’t know what the pandemic will look like next year, and what we can accurately predict is that unemployment and poverty will have risen. And while the North-South divide is key in all of this, London is not protected from hardship either: the government is threatening to take direct control of Transport for London unless Sadiq Khan accepts a hugely enlarged congestion zone and higher fares including cut concessions for children and pensioners. Playing poker with people’s lives, indeed.