Ashley owns Sports Direct. He attacked Andy Burnham on Thursday. The clash was about plans to revive the UK high street. Ashley labelled those proposals populist and delusional. He maintained they would be disastrous for retail.
Burnham is the Mayor of Greater Manchester. He has advanced policies aimed at bolstering troubled high streets. Ashley rejected the strategy. He said it was driven by politics instead of hands-on retail knowledge. The two are in a feud. They are split on how or whether government involvement can stop the slide of town centre shopping.