Prime Minister Boris Johnson forced to deny that he is ‘at war’ with the North of England

Boris Johnson had to say during this afternoon’s press conference that he was not “in a war with local leaders” in the North of England.
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The Prime Minister stood alongside the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak for Thursday’s (October 22) press conference where he denied that he was “at war” with local leaders across the North of England.

Mr Johnson said that the North had not been neglected in terms of financial support as the Government set out new measures to help businesses that can’t operate as they normally would due to Covid-19.

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The PM said: “The issue is really one of basic fairness between various parts of the country that are having to experience regional restrictions, that’s what we were trying to achieve in the last 10 days.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had to deny that he is "at war" with the North of England during this afternoon's press conference. Photo: PA.Prime Minister Boris Johnson had to deny that he is "at war" with the North of England during this afternoon's press conference. Photo: PA.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson had to deny that he is "at war" with the North of England during this afternoon's press conference. Photo: PA.
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“What we are doing now is bringing forward measures that are designed to help businesses that can’t trade as they normally would and who are experiencing a fall in income.

“And we are doing it across the whole country, it’s backdated to August.”

Chancellor Rishi Sunak added: “This is simply about fairness, it’s about treating people the same wherever they live and whatever their situation.”

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It comes as talks over tier three lockdown measures between local leaders in the North West and the Government broke down, with the mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham condemning the actions of the Government.

They commented: “We welcome today's announcements and have lobbied for additional support for businesses, so we are pleased the Chancellor has listened.

“While we await full details, this package recognises the ongoing difficulties businesses are facing and extra financial support was needed regardless of the level of restrictions in place.

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“We now need to be given the resources to process cash grants in a timely manner for businesses in High Alert Level (Tier 2) regions that, despite being able to remain open, are under huge financial constraints as the Chancellor himself recognised.

“It is our hope that today’s announcement offers some comfort to businesses and workers who have persevered remarkably during the pandemic.”

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