Mayor Andy Burnham accuses Government of treating North as 'canaries'

Boris Johnson’s Tory Government was accused of treating the North “as thecanaries in the coalmine” for an experimental regional lockdown strategy.Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said the North was “fed up of beingpushed around”, claiming the region was being treated “as the canaries in thecoalmine” for an experimental regional lockdown strategy.

The Government’s ownscientific advisers have told him such a strategy has no guarantee of success,claimed Mr Burnham, and will result in job losses and hardship.