Ashley owns Sports Direct. He attacked Andy Burnham on Thursday. The row was over 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 advanced policies directed at aiding struggling high streets. Ashley dismissed the approach. He said it was driven by politics rather than hands-on retail knowledge. The two are at odds. They disagree on how or whether government involvement can undo the slump of town centre shopping.