Andy Burnham has been crying out for local control and funding of test and trace and more support for local businesses for weeks and weeks and weeks.
Boris Johnson has now decided he will agree to this on condition that Manchester agrees to a tier 3 lockdown. He's really, really plugging this local package of measures and praising Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson to the skies for his cooperation.
Central government will give no help to local authorities until things are bad enough to be tier 3. The message to mayors, local authorities etc. is 'we won't let you control your own affairs until central government has already fucked it up'.
It's nasty manipulative politics and it doesn't bode well for people living anywhere in England. If the package of local measures are so great and effective then why not offer them to all local authorities or at least all at tier 2? Why not do everything you can to prevent things getting so bad that a tier 3 lockdown is necessary? Who benefits?
However this is the only deal on the table right now and it may be better than tier 2 for people in Manchester, not because of the extra restrictions but because of the additional support. If local control and funding of test and trace can be retained when Manchester goes down to tier 2 again then it's probably worth it even though it's sickening.
TL;DR Manchester will limp along in tier 2 until either Andy Burnham capitulates or until things get bad enough for it to be politically acceptable for Boris Johnson to override him. Then Manchester will be in tier 3. I give it less than a week but let's see what happens with Liverpool. Interesting times.