United Kingdom Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has threatened to lockdown North of England again over a renewed surge in the coronavirus in the land
Boris at Tory party conference Britain urged the residents to accept tough measures, adding, “simply no reasonable alternative” but northern leaders warn they won’t support further “economic lockdowns”
But leaders in the likes of Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Leeds, where cases are surging, say they won’t support further “economic lockdowns” and want greater powers of their own to help dig their way out of the pandemic.
A Downing Street source told The Sun: “The numbers are going the wrong way, and there will come a point very soon where we simply have to do more.”
A Whitehall source told Politico: “Alarm bells are ringing across Whitehall. These numbers are incredibly concerning, it looks increasingly like further action will need to be taken soon. There are indications the disease is starting to spread more amongst the older population — those most at risk of hospitalisation and death.”
Yesterday, the Prime Minister told the virtual Conservative Party conference, Britain has already had to accept draconian measures for months because there was “simply no reasonable alternative”.
He is said to have deferred giving the green light to Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s simplified three-tier lockdown system, aimed at improving people’s compliance with the rules, at this stage after a Cabinet row and scientific briefing.
A three-tier system could still come in this week, or the Prime Minister could bring in a system that supersedes it.
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The Prime Minister has been accused of losing control of the battle against the virus, with the latest daily figures showing a huge 14,542 new confirmed cases in the UK.
The figures have trebled in a fortnight – on September 22, there were 4,926 cases recorded.
According to the Times, the government’s scientific advisers called for “urgent and drastic action” yesterday. According to The Times, new nationwide measures are not ruled out.
Professor John Edmunds, who is advising the Government’s coronavirus response, said new national restrictions were needed immediately.
He said the Government’s current “light touch” measures are just “delaying the inevitable”, telling BBC Newsnight: “We need to take much more stringent measures, not just in the north of England, we need to do it countrywide, and bring the epidemic back under control.”
Cities in the North of England have been hit particularly hard, compared to the south, with the latest weekly infection figures showing Manchester’s rate has soared.
There were 3,105 new cases recorded in the seven days to October 3 – the equivalent of 561.6 cases per 100,000 people.
Other areas with high rates are Knowsley and Liverpool, while Newcastle upon Tyne, Sheffield and Leeds have recorded large jumps in their infection rate over the last seven days.
But leaders of northern cities have warned local lockdown restrictions are “not working”, confusing and even “counter-productive”.
The leaders of Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle city councils – Judith Blake, Sir Richard Leese and Nick Forbes – joined Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson to write to the Health Secretary to say they are “extremely concerned” with the rise in cases.
“The existing restrictions are not working, confusing for the public and some, like the 10 pm rule, is counter-productive,” the Labour politicians wrote.
They called for additional powers to punish those who break rules, for new restrictions to be developed by police, council and public health experts and for a locally-controlled test and trace system.
“We want to be clear however that we do not support further economic lockdowns,” the leaders added.
The 10 pm closure rule for pubs and restaurants, in particular, has been criticised across the political spectrum, and the Government is braced for a potential rebellion from backbench Conservatives if it goes to a Commons vote.
Professor John Edmunds, who is advising the Government’s coronavirus response, joined the criticism of local measures on Tuesday and said new national restrictions were needed immediately.
“These local restrictions that have been put in place in much of the north of England really haven’t been very effective,” he told BBC Newsnight.
“We need to take much more stringent measures, not just in the north of England, we need to do it countrywide, and bring the epidemic back under control.”
He said the Government’s current “light touch” measures are just “delaying the inevitable”.
“We will at some point put very stringent measures in place because we will have to when hospitals start to really fill up,” he said. “Frankly, a better strategy is to put them in place now.”
The UK-wide seven-day rate currently stands at 125.7 cases per 100,000 people, up from 63.8 per 100,000 a week ago.
Mirror
