Andy Burnham has said he will hold talks with Nicola Sturgeon on Wednesday to discuss the ban on all non-essential travel from Scotland to Manchester and Salford.
At a press conference on Tuesday the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester told reporters he was seeking a “political route” out of the dispute.
He said: “I anticipate having the opportunity to discuss it with the First Minister tomorrow and obviously we will want clarity on elements of the policy that are currently unclear to us in terms of the criteria that are being used here, the exit strategy, the process for lifting the restrictions on the boroughs affected.”
He added: “We just want to seek resolution and a better way of doing things going forward. The political route is the route to pursue. That’s obviously what we would seek to do. To put in place better dialogue, better lines of communication which clearly aren’t there at the moment.”
Earlier Scottish deputy First Minister John Swinney ruled out any move by the Scottish Government to compensate people and businesses from Manchester for the travel ban, as Burnham demanded.
In the latest flashpoint in a growing row between Scottish ministers and Burnham, the Covid Recovery Secretary, John Swinney, said they would not acquiesce to Burnham’s demands for compensation.
Burnham said his office had received more than 50 emails about the ban and also said one hotel in Greater Manchester had reported the loss of 200 room nights.
Speaking in Holyrood on Tuesday, Swinney said: “The Government does not believe that would be appropriate.
“Travel to the north west of England has previously been prohibited last year, before local levels regulations were introduced and no compensation was offered.
“We are all responsible for putting in place, in our respective parts of the United Kingdom, the financial support to arrangements for business and that’s exactly what the Government will continue to do here in Scotland.”
The announcement came after the Scottish Government was rebuked for not announcing the ban on Manchester and Salford to MSPs, but through a written question, despite the Scottish Parliament sitting when the announcement was made.
Burnham claimed the announcement without consulting his devolved authority was hypocritical of the Scottish Government, which he claimed regularly complains of being steamrolled by Westminster.
Holyrood’s Presiding Officer, Alison Johnstone, rebuked the Scottish Government for how the change was announced.
Initially, a Government-initiated question – a written question from an SNP MSP which is used to announce policy – was answered by John Swinney on Thursday, detailing the change before it was announced publicly by Nicola Sturgeon on Friday at the coronavirus briefing.
The Scottish Parliament was, however, in session on Thursday and Johnstone, along with opposition MSPs said the announcement could have been made then and scrutinised in Holyrood.
Burnham said his office had received more than 50 emails about the ban and also said one hotel in Greater Manchester had reported the loss of 200 room nights.
