Wigan Taxpayers are going to be hit with an Andy Burnham Tax in April

Back in 2014 the people of Greater Manchester were asked if they wanted to have an elected Mayor. The result was a firm NO! Labour leaders across Greater Manchester welcomed this. However, the two main parties said why should we listen to the people. We don't normally.

So the then Chancellor George Osbourne and the Labour Leaders of Greater Manchester did a deal against people's wishes and did a devo manc deal where labour would run health services directly in the area and we would get a directly elected Mayor that no one wanted.

When the Mayor elections were held Labour's candidate Andy Burnham won the vote with less than a third of people voting. Why so low? Because no one wanted the position in the first place and secondly hardly anyone could understand what they actually did.

Now it has come to light that in April in your Council tax will be an added £10 to pay for Andy Burnham's office. This is will raise £2-£3 million but no one wanted the Mayor in the first place now we are being forced to pay more tax. It had been mooted that Andy Burnham wanted to charge £20- £30 per household but Labour Leaders thought this was a bad idea. Probably because it would hit them hard in the Local Elections. So a lower figure of £10 seems likely however no final figure has been agreed yet.