Boris Johnson should have faced his critics in Liverpool instead of “skulking in and out” of the area for his meeting with Irish PM Leo Varadkar, the city’s mayor has said.

Joe Anderson was not the only one offended that the prime minister swept into a country hotel half an hour from Liverpool as a “neutral” venue for crunch Brexit talks with the Irish PM, Leo Varadkar.

Johnson’s standing in Liverpool was shredded 15 years ago when he was blamed for writings in the Spectator magazine, which he edited, suggesting Liverpool was a self-pitying city that thrived on victimhood in the wake of Hillsborough and other disasters.

“He’s pretty cowardly to skulk in and skulk out again,” said Anderson, Labour’s mayor since 2012. “As prime minister, he can’t stay away from Liverpool. I think he should man up and accept the fact that if you do something wrong, that you should apologise then make amends.”

Johnson prompted widespread indignation in the city in 2004 when the Spectator accused the city of wallowing in “victim status” over the murder of” Ken Bigley in Iraq and the 1989 Hillsborough football stadium disaster. He apologised at the time and again in 2012, saying: “I was very, very sorry in 2004 that the Spectator did carry an editorial that partially repeated those allegations, I apologised then and I apologise now.”

The article repeated the allegation made by the Sun, which is still boycotted in the city, that “drunken fans” might also have been to blame for the Hillsborough disaster in which 96 people lost their lives. While Johnson did not write the piece, he was held responsible for its publication as editor.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Joe Anderson. Photograph: Colin McPherson

Anderson said people in Liverpool had suffered terribly under austerity, with one in four children living in poverty, child mortality rising and food banks increasingly being relied upon.

“We are not looking for a bigger slice of the cake,” he said, “we just want the ingredients to grow, just like the south of the country. We have lost 64% of central government funding, £540m in austerity cuts. I will whinge until I have no breath left until we have equality for the city.”

His anger with Johnson is reflected among voters, but as Anderson said, not shared by all.

Graeme Burnley, a 42-year-old teacher, said he was offended at Johnson’s presence. He said: “He has insulted this city on so many occasions and he is not a fit person to be running the country. He is offensive, he has insulted us. We are not the only ones he has insulted, but he should stay away from Liverpool.”

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Heidi, 71, said: “Do you really want to hear what I think of Boris Johnson? He’s a horrible man, a Trump double, promising everything but delivering nothing.”

But not everyone agreed. Norma Hall, a retired civil servant who voted to leave, said: “I quite like him. I think he comes across as quite nice and quite honest.” She would vote leave again if there were a second referendum, she said.

Her husband, Alan, a retired printer, felt the same way. They live in the Wavertree constituency currently represented by Luciana Berger, who has just defected from Labour to the Liberal Democrats. He said he would have voted for her in the next election but otherwise would not countenance voting for Labour.

He said he believed Johnson was doing his best to get the UK out of the EU but was “undermined” constantly by rivals in parliament “just like Theresa May”.