Boris Johnson refuses to say how much financial support Greater Manchester will get as he forces it into Tier 3

Boris Johnson has refused to say how much financial support Greater Manchester will get as he forces it into Tier 3.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson refused to say how much support the region would get

The region's mayor Andy Burnham held last-ditch talks with the Prime Minister today and has now accused him of creating a "winter of real hardship" for residents.

Mr Burnham is believed to have been offered £60 million, but after refusing to accept, the amount announced this evening is now just £22m.

Appearing at this evening’s press conference in Downing Street, the PM suggested there would be other support, but refused to say how much.

He said: “This offer was proportionate to the support we have given Merseyside and Lancashire, but the mayor didn’t accept this unfortunately.

“I’ve simply got to look at the data, alas the number of deaths, hospital admissions and we have to act.

“Because not to act would put Manchester’s NHS, and the lives of many of Manchester’s residents, at risk."

Asked five times for an actual number of how much support the region would get, Mr Johnson instead insisted it was a “generous package”.

He continued: “The £22m that I described that’s additional to other support, we are of course always happy to consider that.

"Greater Manchester will have access to all kinds of funds, particularly to help with testing and tracing.

"The funds are there, they're massive.

"What we couldn't do, was do a deal with Greater Manchester that would have been out of kilter with agreements already reached with Merseyside and Lancashire.”

Pubs and bars will be closed, unless they are serving substantial meals, for a 28-day period, along with betting shops, casinos, bingo halls, adult gaming centres and soft play areas.

The measures are expected to come into effect at 12:01am on Saturday.

Communities secretary Robert Jenrick said in a statement earlier today: "I'm disappointed that despite recognising the gravity of the situation, the mayor has been unwilling to take the action that is required to get the spread of the virus under control in Greater Manchester and reach an agreement with the Government.”

It comes as the UK recorded another 21,331 COVID-19 cases - up from 18,804 yesterday.

Earlier at a separate press conference, Mr Burnham was applauded by members of the public as he claimed it was the PM who had walked away from negotiations.

He said: "Are they playing poker with people’s lives? Is that what they’re about?

“This is not the way to run a country, to try and grind people down to accept the least they can get away with.

"That is what we believe we needed to prevent poverty, to prevent hardship, to prevent homelessness.”

The Labour mayor accused the Government of doing local lockdowns "on the cheap" and that the national spirit in the fight against the virus had been "completely lost".

He said: “The whatever-it-takes moment of earlier this year has gone.

"We are asking a lot of the public, we need to carry them with us not crush their spirit".

Despite the PM's failure to explain, tonight a Downing Street source insisted the £60m offer remains on the table.

A message from the Editor:Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.