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.
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"We need to empower our police officers so that they have the tools to keep us all safe, but we also need improved mechanisms to hold Mayors failing on crime to account.
“The action that I am going to take will prevent reoffending and means those who persist in carrying a knife are more likely to be caught and put in prison. I will do what it takes to protect our most at-risk communities across the country.”
If Prime Minister, Mr Sunak has said he would work to introduce powerful scrutiny panels with the same authority as MPs on select committees to police "failing" mayors.
But Mr Burnham's team hit back, accusing Mr Sunak of using false figures to justify his attack.
A spokesman said: "Rishi Sunak’s campaign may be sinking. But that does not give him the right to lash out at Greater Manchester with false figures.
“His claim about violent crime is straightforwardly wrong. Many other force areas have a higher rate. Knife crime here is down 17% over the last 12 months and the number of arrests has significantly increased. There has also been a big increase in the use of stop and search by GMP, whilst there has been no increase in complaints.
“This is evidence of GMP’s huge progress under our new Chief Constable. Anyone who wants to lead our country should be supporting an improving police force not talking it down and misrepresenting its efforts for political ends.
“If you’re going to come at Greater Manchester, you had better get your facts right. Mr Sunak has failed to do that and should use the hustings here to apologise.”
Chief Constable Stephen Watson (QPM) said in a statement to the M.E.N: "Since September 2021, our police officers and staff have done a tremendous job of improving all areas highlighted as causes for concern by the HMICFRS, and the areas we know our communities rightly expect us to improve upon. We have appointed an effective leadership, set out a clear plan, and taken our policing approach back to basics, effectively fighting, preventing and reducing crime, keeping people safe, and caring for victims.
“In all key indicators performance shows that GMP is fast emerging as the most improved force in the country. However, we know that we need to maintain improvements and forge ahead at pace to deliver the police service our communities rightly deserve, leading a workforce that is fully supported and resourced.”
Meanwhile, Ms Truss has said ahead of Friday's hustings that she would have a 'Minister for the North' in her Government - with direct responsibility for local growth and levelling up.
She also recommitted to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail and a 'Levelling Up Formula', which would distribute funding in a similar way to the Barnett Formula in Scotland.
She said: "The defining mission of my government will be to get our economy growing again, cutting taxes to put more money into the pockets of hard-working people, delivering critical supply side reform, and using our freedoms outside of the EU to cut red tape.
"Thanks to the increased number of Conservative MPs in the north west, we have already started to level up the region but we know there is more to be done. I will continue this mission in a Conservative way; with Northern Powerhouse Rail, New Investment Zones, and more vocational training.
"I will do whatever it takes to pave the way for a brighter and more prosperous future for our country, including here in the north west."
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