The Chairman of the Young Conservatives in Manchester has slammed party leader Boris Johnson over the UK”s latest COVID-19 restrictions.
On Tuesday, the British government imposed Tier 3 restrictions on Greater Manchester, the second-largest urban area in the UK.
From Friday, pubs and bars in the region will only remain open if they serve substantial meals, while household mixing is banned indoors and outdoors in nearly all circumstances.
But Prime Minister Boris Johnson had failed to reach an agreement with local authorities on financial support for businesses and employees affected by the lockdown.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has engaged in a public dispute over funds, accusing the Conservative government of enforcing policies that would “increase levels of poverty, homelessness, and hardship”.
The UK government said the opposition Labour Party mayor had rejected an offer of £60 million pounds (over €66.4 million) in additional funding which would be distributed directly to the city’s boroughs.
The prime minister has insisted that the offers were “generous” and proportionate to amounts given to Merseyside and Lancashire, two other UK regions already under tier 3 restrictions.
But on Tuesday, the Manchester Young Conservatives launched a scathing attack on Boris Johnson over his handling of negotiations.
“Boris has lied about helping us in the North. It’s time for him to go, the group said in a series of now-deleted tweets
“He’s not a conservative. He’s got no backbone or genuine deals. He’s incompetent.”
The chairman of Manchester Young Conservatives, Cameron Cosh, confirmed that the Twitter thread had been deleted by the account, and said that he himself had lost faith in Boris Johnson over the summer.
“U-turn after, U-turn, incompetent move after incompetent move,” Cosh told Euronews.
“I don’t speak for every single member of the group, some disagree with me, some do agree, but it’s clear to me that it’s time that he has to go”.
The Chairman also added that he was against further lockdown restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic and expressed surprising support with Mayor Andy Burnham’s hopes for the region.
“The Tories for decades and decades have tried to call themselves the party of business and party of a strong economy and you can’t do that if you’re doing these lockdowns,” said Cosh.
