'Watching American TV this week made me realise how big Greater Manchester is'
18.03.2023 - 09:43
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
‘Breaking America’, they say, is an indication that you’ve made it.
The Beatles famously did it on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964, propelling the loveable likely-lad Liverpudlians that had a UK-hit-making habit into global icons. But it was the turn of another man born in Merseyside to launch his ‘invasion’ this week.
That was, of course, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who made an appearance on Morning Joe, the MSNBC breakfast programme watched by nearly a million Americans every day. And his five minute segment made me realise something about our city.
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“The Mayor of Greater Manchester is on a great American road trip,” said anchor Joe Scarborough, sitting beside his wife and co-host Mika Brzezinski. Then, we got five minutes of platitudes-and-pun ping pong.
“I was blown away by Manchester when I visited,” Scarborough served with. “I grew up listening to the sound of the city, and I expected post-industrial rot, but it’s extraordinarily vibrant.”
“The Manchester of old with grime is not today’s Manchester,” the Mayor hit back with. “Cities like Charlotte have a lot in common with us, as does Austin. We are the football and music capital of the UK.”
Then, we had some actual policy chat, before a pun or two about football. Scarborough — a Liverpool FC fan — ribbed Evertonian Burnham about the two teams’ contrasting fortunes.
And then, it came to an end. “The interest in our city-region over here is huge and I’ve been so proud to fly the flag for it,” Burnham told the MEN after the appearance, and after some reflection, it seems he’s right.
The evidence is there, at the top of the segment. Scarborough just said