Joe Anderson: Liverpool City Region devolution detractors 'should pull out' of deal

Liverpool Mayor Anderson says council leaders opposed to the idea of having an elected mayor for the whole region should "walk away"

Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson wants plans for Merseyside devolution to go ahead even if some of the region's council leaders do not support them.

Devolution allows local government to control certain budgets and services in exchange for a directly elected mayor.

Of the six councils in the proposed Liverpool City Region, St Helens and Halton are believed to be sceptical.

But Mr Anderson told the BBC: "If people don't want to be part of it, then they should walk away."

His comments came after a government minister told the BBC that Merseyside was not ready to get a so-called "devolution deal" following a "disappointing" bid.

Mr Anderson said he was "surprised" to hear this criticism and insisted he was "confident" the bid would meet the government's expectations.

Liverpool City Region includes Merseyside's five councils as well as Halton in Cheshire

He also said it would proceed even if some of the six councils - five in Merseyside plus Halton, which is geographically in Cheshire - do not support the idea of a mayor for the whole area.

They have previously insisted they wanted a referendum on whether to have a directly elected leader.

Mr Anderson said: "What I would say to people who don't want to be part of the process is to be honest about that, talk to us about that and, no hard feelings, pull out of it.

"This is a deal. It's not something that's being forced upon anybody and I'd much rather say that if anyone's not happy with it or dissatisfied with it, to walk away."

Asked whether devolution could proceed without the full support of every council leader in the region, Mr Anderson said he "wanted everyone to be involved".

But he added: "The government have made it clear that people can drop out of the process.

"That is something they would honour. If people don't want to be part of it they would try to do a deal with those that do."

Earlier this year Mr Anderson said critics of plans to devolve more powers to the region were "bringing the area into disrepute".