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 said they would be disastrous for retail.
Burnham is the Mayor of Greater Manchester. He has advanced policies directed at aiding troubled high streets. Ashley rebuffed the stance. He said it was driven by politics instead of hands-on retail knowledge. The two are in a feud. They disagree on how or whether government intervention can undo the slide of town centre shopping.