There were more than 30million reasons why Andy Burnham had to be on top of his game as he trotted up the front steps of Trafford’s imposing Victorian town hall shortly before 10.30am on Friday, September 29, 2017.
He was about to chair a monthly meeting of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA). And on the agenda was a hugely important financial decision.
Specifically, the body, whose voting members consisted almost entirely of Labour councillors, was due to decide whether to give £31.2million in taxpayer-funded loans to a pair of property companies named New Little Mill and Vesta Street.
As the mayor was
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