Ashley owns Sports Direct. He hit out at Andy Burnham on Thursday. The fight 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 focused on bolstering troubled high streets. Ashley dismissed the stance. He said it was shaped by politics instead of practical retail knowledge. The two are at odds. They are split on how or whether government action can reverse the decline of town centre shopping.