Burnham brands Boris 'dishonest' and demands 'straight answers' as toxic CAZ dispute rumbles on

Mayor Andy Burnham has accused Boris Johnson of 'playing dishonest politics' after the Prime Minister branded the Clean Air Zone proposal 'thoughtless'.

Mr Burnham has also demanded that the Prime Minister urgently tell Greater Manchester once and for all if a Clean Air Zone is legally required by the Secretary of State to bring air pollution down to safe levels.

Speaking in the House of Commons of the temporarily suspended scheme to charge high-emission vehicles in Greater Manchester, Mr Johnson said: "As somebody who once had to deal with a badly thought out emission zone, it is totally wrong to impose measures thoughtlessly that damage business and don't do very much to protect clean air.

"I think the Mayor of Manchester has done the wrong thing and I'm glad that we're delaying."

READ MORE: Boris Johnson brands Clean Air Zone plan 'thoughtless'

Mr Johnson was replying to a question from Bury South MP James Daly on whether the proposal - aimed at bringing nitrogen dioxide down to safe and legal levels - was based on 'flawed data' and should be scrapped.

Now Mr Burnham, who has said previously that he is 'open to any solution' that might cut pollution to legal levels without jeopardising jobs, has responded to the Prime Minister, and in no uncertain terms.

In a statement he said: “The Prime Minister has got to stop playing dishonest politics with the Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone.

“Only three weeks ago, his Government imposed a new legal direction on our councils mandating action.

"Yet today he pretends in Parliament that those letters were never sent.

“We will not put up with this any longer.

"We can’t have Ministers saying things to us in private which are then flatly contradicted by the Prime Minister at the