Burnham told the Observer that by offering to pay only two-thirds of the wages of people hit by new closures – as opposed to the 80% which applied nationally under the original furlough scheme – ministers would be punishing people in the north in a way that was completely unacceptable.

Burnham said the Conservatives were betraying the people in so-called “red wall” seats who they had persuaded to vote Tory at the general election last December with pledges to “level up” the country.