well you had andy burnham, the labour mayor of manchester, welcoming it and so that is good news.t manchester airport which is the only airport in the united kingdom with two runways outside of heathrow. and that serves 28 million passengers every year. so we have got that. now we want to connect the major cities. and it is going to start with this manchester — lead a faster route. leeds. i represent a fairly rural constituency. the major town is clitheroe. and we want to make sure that money going into the real infra structure comes into areas like clitheroe. because we have got people who live in my constituency who want and need to get to manchester. the need to get to leeds as well so i was rather excited by what boris johnson to leeds as well so i was rather excited by what borisjohnson had to say today not just about the trains, not just about leads to say today not just about the trains, notjust about leads to manchester but also other cities but also about the bus network. and when you are wondering around this area you can't help thinking that there aren't many buses beca

andy burnham has used powers granted to him under the last government.chaotic at the moment, and the bosses don't work for the people who want to use them, they work for the private companies that want to make money out of them. soa that want to make money out of them. so a regulatorfor a london that want to make money out of them. so a regulator for a london style system is the right thing for manchester and the rural areas of the north which do not always get much attention. thank you very much. let's move on, now. us president donald trump has said talks are under way to agree what he says will be a "very substa ntial" trade deal with the uk after brexit. speaking after a phone call with the new prime minister yesterday, the president said borisjohnson would do a greatjob. boris and i just spoke. i congratulated him and he's all set to go. he's gonna be — i think he'll be — do a greatjob. we're working already on a trade agreement. and i think it will be a very substantial trade agreement. you know, we can do with the uk — we can do three to four time

the labour mayor of greater manchester andy burnham has said that to him it feels as though the north further up the agenda than it has been before. that has been welcomed. but people are saying we want to see the detail of how this will play out and want to see it moving along as quickly as possible. us president donald trump has said talks are under way to agree what he says will be a "very substa ntial" trade deal with the uk after brexit. speaking after a phone call with the new prime minister yesterday, the president said borisjohnson would do a greatjob. boris and i just spoke. i congratulated him and he's all set to go. he's gonna be — i think he'll be — do a greatjob. we're working already on a trade agreement. and i think it will be a very substantial trade agreement. you know, we can do with the uk — we can do three to four times — we were actually impeded by their relationship with the european union. we were very much impeded on trade. let's talk to drjennifer cassidy, a former diplomatic attache at the eu and un and now a lecturer in politics at oxford university. she's i

a short while ago, the mayor of manchester, andy burnham, gave this reaction to that news.y for our city and the recovery progress that's it's going through, and the attack on the manchester arena was an appalling act and many people suffered consequences of every it everything will day. it is right and proper that those people affected will now see a judicial process on british soil. today, we are thinking of the families and everyone affected, and we create —— recommit in manchester to support them every saturday. the fact that it has finally arrived is down to the determination of greater manchester police. i would particularly like to think the security minister, ben wallace, for his ongoing support to this whole process , his ongoing support to this whole process, but also to pay tribute to oui’ process, but also to pay tribute to our chief constable, ian hopkins, and all of his team for the exam flurry work with which they've handled this compact process. —— exemplary work. that is the mayor of manchester, andy burnham, reacting to the news of the arrest of hashem abe

remember, there was a period in the noughties, 2007, perhaps slightly earlier, when andy burnham wased about getting a consensus on this issue once and for all. one wonders whatever happened to that. man by the name of andrew del mott, i remember, a fairly extensive examination of all this, put forward a suggestion on policies and it's disappeared into the long grass since. a government green paper has been delayed six times since it was commissioned, as you say, in march, 2017 and is the latest in 20 years of government commissions, reviews and proposals to deal with a crisis that we are all aware of. and as you hinted about what was said in the conservative proposals at the last election, until this becomes a cross— party election, until this becomes a cross—party way forward, the other side is going to knock what the other suggests. some labour mps the other suggests. some labour mps the other day told me they had a similarly experience when they try to do this and the tories called it a death tax. it's easy to knock down for your opponent. you could say theresa may shouldn't have

andy burnham was saying earlier that for example, a train or bus to get can be four lead up train orcan be four lead up north and only £150 in london and that is because central government subsidises london more. given the conservatives have said they will invest in the north for all these years, why has it not happened and why should people believe boris johnson happened and why should people believe borisjohnson can deliver? george osborne today, the former chancellor, the man who was the architect of this idea of the northern powerhouse ideas ago launched all of these projects. he this morning said on twitter that after three wasted years that he is pleased that there is now a promise to progress but it is notable that it is five years since they started talking about the northern powerhouse and if you speak to people, whether in business orjust ordinary voters in the north of england, they say the northern powerhouse is broadly irrelevant and has done nothing yet. it is a big question for boris johnson has done nothing yet. it is a big question for borisjohnson whether he can be

there is a serious point, andy burnham, the mayor of manchester saying yesterday on the bbc that peoplester, it's £4. clearly the money has a put in. and a country girl who grew up when we had a couple of buses a week, it was more expensive to get around. it was highlighted in a stock—take of the northern powerhouse pledge, five year anniversary this year. one of the big think tanks did a big review and said that transport was one of the areas where we had the greatest inequality between the north and london and the north and the south. this is strategically a super smart move. he is also focusing on things like the police force, broadband, things that will appeal to the man on the street, people who aren't in this westminster bubble, the metropolitan bubble. where are all of these police officers going to work when they have closed the police stations? at the borders? you can put them on the road. you don't see any walking around. bobbies on the beat. let's look at the observer. x chancellor plotting with keir starmer, not so fast, prime minister. philip hammond made no secret that he

let see a bit about what andy burnham said, the mayor of manchester.ng about this visit today and indeed jeremy corbyn's visit yesterday is that it confirms the north of england is higher up the political agenda now than ever before. to be honest, not before time because people here have waited a long time for that. it is clear that the campaign by northern newspapers to power up the north has rattled a few cages in westminster. i get the feeling now that whenever the general election comes, the two main parties will be trying to outdo each other on what they can do for the north and it is myjob to get a bidding war going. he was pointing out that london transport is much more heavily subsidised by governments and the north has had until now. whether anyone should believe these promises and whether the government can afford them if there was an old deal brexit. do we know if that would be possible? —— and no—deal brexit. certainly borisjohnson possible? —— and no—deal brexit. certainly boris johnson is proceeding on the basis that this is something he

one of the reasons andy burnham talks about needing power and resources is, at the moment they don'tselves other than by putting up council tax and council tax is a kind of outdated, backwards, unfair attacks. we are already seeing our tax burden going up. mayors don't have any way of raising money for services apart from this so either you need the government to give a substantially more funding where they need to find some way or mayors to raise money themselves. there is only so much that mayors can do. to raise money themselves. there is only so much that mayors can dolj was only so much that mayors can do.” was talking about taking corporate tax revenues and spend them locally, so generated in a city and spent in a city? when boris johnson was mayor of london, this is something he called for but it would be interesting to see whether he still believes that now he is a number ten. he talked about areas being able to keep far more control over their business rates but also other taxes and physical devolution which is essentially keeping hold of the taxes that are raised here rathe

that has been welcomed by business groups like cbi and the northern powerhouse but andy burnham saysl been promised time and again over the last five years by previous conservative leaders and he questions whether borisjohnson has the ability to deliver it. sports direct says it regrets rescuing house of fraser and warned that there will be more store closures. sports direct boss mike ashley said the problems at the department store were "nothing short of terminal." andy moore reports. for house of fraser staff worried about their future, there's little reason for optimism in this set of results. the chain of stores employed around 17,000 people went mike ashley rescued it last year, and saved 31 of its 59 stores from closure. a handful of shutdowns since, but now, there's the prospect of more closures to come. the smaller stores are especially at risk. mike ashley said about the house of fraser buyout: mr ashley said some stores were still losing money, even though their rent had been cut to nothing. sports direct results were due to be published 11 days ago, but they were delayed t