GREATER Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has accused the Scottish Government of treating the north of England with "contempt". 

Mr Burnham said he will write to Nicola Sturgeon to demand compensation for those affected by a travel ban between Scotland and Manchester and Salford. 

The First Minister announced on Friday all non-essential travel to Manchester and Salford would be banned from tomorrow.

She pinpointed the areas as Covid hotspots, despite figures in the cities matching case rates in parts of Scotland.

Mr Burnham said his administration was not contacted before the announcement and accused the Scottish Government of "double standards" and "hypocrisy".

Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, the Labour mayor said: "I was really disappointed on Friday that the First Minister of Scotland just announced, out of the blue as far as we were concerned, a travel ban, saying that people couldn't travel from Scotland to Manchester and Salford and couldn't go the other way. 

"That is exactly what the SNP always accuse the Westminster Government of doing, just riding roughshod over people. 

"The SNP are treating the north of England with the same contempt in just bringing that in without any consultation with us."

Asked how he felt about Scottish football fans "dancing and partying" on the streets of London when they will be banned from travelling to Manchester, he said: "I just think it's double standards, it's as simple as that. 

"It's hypocrisy, because they've done to us exactly what they always complain that the UK Government does to Scotland.

"I'll be writing to the First Minister today. I'll be asking for compensation for the individuals who might lose holidays and businesses who might lose bookings. 

"Why should a couple from Salford who are double-jabbed who are about to go on a walking holiday in Scotland not be to go?

"It's completely disproportionate, in my view. We could have come up with a different arrangement if the First Minister had been in touch with us.

"The second thing I'll say to her is – we need an arrangement here. 

"The Scottish Government can't just impose things on parts of the north of England with no discussion with us. 

"That is simply wrong, and they need to live by the same standards that they've always called for from others."

Ivan McKee, the SNP minister for business, trade, tourism and enterprise, said there was a "significant issue" with case prevalence in Manchester and Salford. 

He said decisions are made quickly "because the virus moves quickly" and are then communicated across the UK's four governments.

He said: "Andy Burnham... is going to write to the First Minister about it, that's absolutely fine and I'm sure there will be a conversation about how we can keep him better informed in future."

But Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross, speaking on the same show, said: "We know that law was made on Thursday morning to introduce these restrictions into Greater Manchester and a ban on travel, yet it wasn't announced until over 24 hours later.

"If Ivan McKee says there's not good enough dialogue between the UK Government and the Scottish Government, there was 24 hours that passed before anyone in Greater Manchester knew of a decision taken by the Scottish Government a day earlier."