Andy Burnham is set to invite Donald Trump and other world leaders to a former railway station that closed decades ago for next year's G20 summit.
The government is expected to confirm Manchester as the host city for next year's G20 gathering in the next few weeks, it is understood. Well-placed sources have named the venue where the world's elite will converge - a former railway station that closed decades ago, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Manchester Central as the venue
It is thought the Manchester Central exhibition centre will be the G20 venue, less than half-a-mile from Burnham's Number 10 North office. It was built in the 1870s as a railway station bearing the same name, before being closed in the 1960s by sweeping rail reforms.
After laying empty for more than a decade, it reopened as a conference centre. Since 1986, it has hosted multiple major political events like Conservative Party conferences and election counts, and acted as a Covid-19 Nightingale Hospital.
Invitation to world leaders
Next year's G20 event will see leaders from across the globe including US President Donald Trump invited to Manchester city centre for the international event. Asked to comment on the details of the event, a government spokesperson said: "We do not comment on speculation. Details on the UK's G20 Presidency will be announced in due course."
The move to host the G20 in Manchester was reportedly set up months ago, after Andy Burnham became Prime Minister in what some see as a move to shift power away from London. Burnham used his first phone call with Trump to invite him to the city, and which is said to have been accepted by the American President.
It is understood that planning has already started for the enormous gathering which will require the biggest security operation Manchester has ever seen. Since reports of Manchester potentially hosting the event were published earlier this year, details of the gathering have been kept closely under wraps, with several senior political and local authority figures in Manchester understood to have signed non-disclosure agreements relating to the G20.
Impact on the region
G20 countries represent around two thirds of the world's entire population and the annual event was first set up in 1999 with the aim of promoting financial stability and cooperation between the world's leading economies. The event is marked by a major gathering of world leaders from 19 nations, as well as the EU and the African Union.
The summit is expected to bring both opportunities and headaches for city leaders in Manchester, with the chance to boost the region's profile balanced against the huge amount of planning and security needed to make it run smoothly.
Robert Downes, from the Federation of Small Businesses in Greater Manchester, described the G20 as an 'absolute win-win-win' for the region in July. He said at the time: "Political elites and decision makers from around the globe will be in town for a few days to see and soak up what makes our part of the world special, with Mancunian hospitality hopefully being grandstanded."
The UK hosted the G20 in 2009 in London and the cost of the security operation at the time was an estimated £7.2m.
