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LONDON – After France and Germany, Great Britain also announced a new lockdown starting next Thursday. In the evening, Prime Minister Boris Johnson illustrated a series of strict measures that will remain in place until December 2 to curb the increase in infections and allow a return to normal before Christmas. The prime minister announced the nationwide closure of nonessential pubs, restaurants and shops for four weeks. Schools excluded. These are measures similar to those adopted a few days ago by Emmanuel Macron in France.
Until now, the government had taken a local approach, increasing restrictions in different areas of the country as cases increased. However, this system has not slowed the growth of infections, which, according to government medical consultant Chris Whitty, amount to about 50,000 units a day. The prime minister’s scientific advisers explained in the evening that the inaction would have resulted in a higher death toll than the first wave and the likely collapse of the NHS, the national health system. For this reason, the prime minister resigned himself to calling a national shutdown, which he had repeatedly ruled out in recent weeks.
At the evening news conference, Johnson said there was no alternative to these measures, as filling intensive care beds would be “a medical and moral disaster.” The prime minister also extended financial support for employees during the month of November. Johnson had a confidential meeting on Friday night with top ministers – Matt Hancock (Health), Rishi Sunak (Chancellor of the Exchequer) and Michael Gove (De facto Deputy Prime Minister), in which he decided to take the hard line. Details of the meeting were leaked to reporters and Downing Street launched an investigation to identify those responsible for the leak.
The prime minister reiterates that the current restrictions do not amount to a second lockdown. Unlike March, this time the essential shops, schools, universities, courts, the construction sector and the Parliament will remain open. The government was accused of acting late, as Sage’s scientific committee had recommended a two-week shutdown on September 21 to break the chain of infections. Opposition leader Keir Starmer also spoke in favor of a national shutdown on October 13 and today his party claims to be politically successful. “The government will finally listen to its scientific advisers and ask for a national shutdown. It took almost six weeks, ”wrote Labor shadow Foreign Minister Lisa Nandy. Many scientists argue that if the government had acted promptly, the restrictions would have been in place for less than a month.
One of the reasons the government has taken its time is the clear opposition of Conservative MPs to a second blockade. Today’s announcement will increase discontent among Conservative MPs, who will have to approve the new package of measures in the House of Commons on Wednesday. During the week the Northern Research Group (NRG), a group of more than fifty MPs elected from Northern England headquarters who have so far suffered the most severe restrictions, wrote a letter to the Prime Minister asking him to relax the measures. Some indiscretions say that almost a hundred Conservative MPs have asked Steve Baker, historical leader of the Eurosceptic current and today leader of the skeptics of the closure, to create the Covid research group to encourage opposition to the new restrictions. But the rebel Baker defended the government line after meeting Boris Johnson in Downing Street in the afternoon.
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