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TEN million Britons in the north will be hit by a tougher lockdown on Monday as Covid numbers rise.
Boris Johnson is ready to order the closure of pubs and restaurants in Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle.
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But he faces a rebellion from MPs, local leaders in the Northwest and Northeast, and even close allies over the new measures.
Top Tories has begged him not to copy Scotland, which yesterday ordered the closure of pubs.
Johnson intends to reveal its simplified three-level local lockout code next week.
In plans signed at a “gold command” ministerial meeting last night, Level 1 will see current social distancing measures, the “rule of six” and a 10pm pub curfew in effect.
Areas in Level 2 will have the same restrictions plus a household mixing ban.
Vast swaths of the northwest and northeast affected by the virus would automatically enter Level 3, in which pubs, restaurants and other hospitality businesses will be closed.
People will not be able to mix households, except those with exemptions, and will have to comply with national social distancing laws, such as the use of face masks.
‘ECONOMIC SUICIDE’
The ministers are still working on other details, such as whether leisure centers and hair salons remain open or closed.
Schools, work, and retail stores will remain open.
The measures will be imposed for a limited period, certainly for a few weeks, but they have not yet been fully agreed.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak will bail out bankrupt companies and workers will be entitled to a new form of leave.
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But one of Johnson’s closest allies, former Northern Powerhouse minister Jake Berry, told The Sun: “It would be economic suicide for England to follow this path.”
The looming restrictions come as cases in the Northwest jumped 56 percent in the seven days through Oct. 1, while hospital admissions jumped 46 percent.
In the Northeast there was a 46 percent increase in cases, with hospital admissions up 45.9 percent.
Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon has closed pubs in central Scotland for at least two weeks to cope with a surge in the coronavirus.
Former Cabinet Minister Sir Iain Duncan Smith warned the Prime Minister that there would be a major conservative rebellion if he copied the Sturgeon lockdown.
Worried restaurant boss Karl Stafford warned that businesses would go bankrupt unless the government stepped in to help.
Karl, 45, who runs the Simply Greek restaurant in Bigg Market, Newcastle’s famous nightlife hub, said: “Things can hardly get worse. Today I was struggling to pay the rent.
“But if they shut down selected cities completely, I hope they have a package of measures to help keep restaurants like mine and all the pubs and bars alive.
“I love and appreciate my staff and I want to keep them all in jobs, but things are terrible, we ask for food that will either go to waste or give it away to the homeless.”
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said North Korea would resist any shutdown unless the government worked out a plan with local leaders.
He said, “A tier system will not be imposed on us without our having the ability to see and agree on the details.”
He added: “We can’t have a repeat of the situation we saw in Bolton, where people behind bars or in kitchens were basically told overnight that they had no job to go to or a local plan of licenses to turn to. . “
James Ramsbotham, executive director of the Northeast Chamber of Commerce, said the impending shutdown would be “devastating” for the local economy.
He told The Sun: “Retail and hospitality are absolutely dependent on the three months leading up to Christmas for the next nine months of operations.
“Killing your trade at this time of year will have a huge impact.”
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He said: “There is no evidence that this works, absolutely none.”
Conservative MPs threaten to work with Labor to defeat the government next week in a Commons vote on a 10pm curfew in bars.
The UK reported 14,162 new Covid cases and 70 deaths yesterday.
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