Rishi Sunak has accused Andy Burnham of 'failing' to get a grip on crime in Greater Manchester - and has pledged to give councillors greater powers to hold mayors to account if he wins the race to Number 10. The comments come as Mr Sunak, who is trailing rival Liz Truss in the polls, heads to Manchester for a Tory hustings event on Friday.
The former Chancellor told the Manchester Evening News he would give Greater Manchester Police new powers to stop and search convicted knife carriers in a bid to reduce crime in the city. Mr Sunak said: "I have made it clear that I will crack down on crime if I am elected Prime Minister.
"It’s not right that Greater Manchester Police has been in special measures since December 2020, and I will do something about it.
