Ashley owns Sports Direct. He attacked Andy Burnham on Thursday. The clash was over plans to revive the UK high street. Ashley called those proposals populist and delusional. He maintained they would be disastrous for retail.
Burnham is the Mayor of Greater Manchester. He has pushed policies directed at supporting struggling high streets. Ashley rejected the strategy. He said it was driven by politics rather than direct retail knowledge. The two are at odds. They differ on how or whether government involvement can stop the slump of town centre shopping.