Ashley owns Sports Direct. He went after Andy Burnham on Thursday. The fight was about plans to revive the UK high street. Ashley called those proposals populist and delusional. He said they would be disastrous for retail.
Burnham is the Mayor of Greater Manchester. He has pushed policies directed at aiding struggling high streets. Ashley rebuffed the stance. He said it was shaped by politics instead of practical retail knowledge. The two are at odds. They differ on how or whether government involvement can stop the slide of town centre shopping.