[accnumnplus1]

Does the microwave background come from the centre of the universe where the big bang was; and the light from stars on the far side, flying in the opposite direction to us, take longer to reach us than the microwave background does?

[turndown]

The Big Bang happened everywhere in the Universe, at once. Our CMBR is coming in from all directions, at all times, as more distant locations(eg further away from us at the start) finally reach us.