Andy Burnham has called for 'tougher' sanctions on Russia following its invasion into Ukraine.

The Greater Manchester mayor reflected on his time as Labour's shadow home secretary, claiming Jeremy Corbyn's top team tried to ‘water down’ his speech on Russia, and said he saw people in Parliament becoming too close to Vladimir Putin.

Speaking on BBC Radio Manchester, he answered questions on the Clean Air Zone (CAZ), buses and the impact HS2 might have on the Metrolink.

He also argued that stopping free Covid testing ‘contradicts the NHS principle’ and urged people to isolate if they are unwell despite isolation rules ending.

Burnham described Ukraine as a ‘democracy under attack’ and said the sanctions imposed on the Russian state so far are ‘not good enough’.

The Labour mayor praised the ‘show of strength and unity’ from Western countries so far, but said the UK’s sanctions ‘have not lived up to the talk’.

He said: “These are really, really dark times for the Ukrainian people. We’ve just got to stand with them and stand up to somebody who, if we’re honest, has been making unacceptable threats for at least 15 years now. We’ve got to recognise that we’ve not done enough to stand up to him up until this point.”

Reflecting on his time as an MP, Burnham said he saw ‘too many people get too close’ to Russian money – but this was not just a problem on the right.

He claimed that Labour officials tried to ‘water down’ a statement he had prepared for Parliament which ‘pulled no punches’ on Putin and his regime.

The ex-shadow cabinet member said he ‘couldn’t get [his] head around’ why people would be ‘under the spell’ of the Russian regime or Putin apologists.

The Greater Manchester mayor also shared the latest updates on the CAZ.

He said that the controversial charging scheme which was due to start this May but has now been paused is ‘in the government’s hands at the moment’.

The scheme aimed at cutting pollution by charging commercial vehicles which do not meet air quality standards is set to be redesigned with a new deadline.

The mayor has said he hopes the revised CAZ scheme will minimise charges.

He called for a ‘coalition’ of people to lobby government for a better scheme, acknowledging the ‘anxiety’ it has caused.

He said his office offered ‘a number of dates’ to meet the Rethinkgm group which has campaigned against the CAZ – but he said they have not met yet.

Burnham also denied that he has altered sequencing on traffic lights in Greater Manchester to manipulate the data from air quality monitoring.

The metro mayor also agreed that potential cuts to transport services caused by the end of emergency Covid funding ‘undermines’ the case for a Clean Air Zone and called on the government to invest in the region’s transport network.

He also told listeners that he would be seeking to change the HS2 proposals which would see Metrolink services to Ashton stopping for around two years.

Asked whether he would still isolate if he contracted Covid, he said he would.

It comes as the legal requirement for those who test positive to isolate ends today (February 24) and free Covid tests will no longer be available from April.

Burnham said the removal of free testing ‘contradicts the NHS principle’ because it means that those on the lowest incomes would be most at risk.

He said: “I’m not going to say that we need to keep restrictions in place unnecessarily. But I do think they’re going too far, too fast.”