Ashley owns Sports Direct. He went after Andy Burnham on Thursday. The fight 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 pressed policies directed at bolstering struggling high streets. Ashley rejected the stance. He said it was steered by politics instead of direct retail knowledge. The two are in a feud. They are split on how or whether government action can reverse the decline of town centre shopping.