Ashley owns Sports Direct. He went after Andy Burnham on Thursday. The fight was about plans to revive the UK high street. Ashley labelled those proposals populist and delusional. He said they would be disastrous for retail.
Burnham is the Mayor of Greater Manchester. He has pressed policies aimed at bolstering struggling high streets. Ashley dismissed the strategy. He said it was driven by politics rather than practical retail knowledge. The two are at odds. They disagree on how or whether government involvement can stop the decline of town centre shopping.