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Business leaders, activists and parliamentarians pleaded with Boris Johnson last night to resist a devastating new blockade.
They warned that it would cause economic carnage and devastate thousands of businesses. It came when scientists said up to 85,000 could die in a second wave of viruses.
With Emmanuel Macron announcing a new national lockdown for France, the FTSE 100 fell to its lowest point in six months as the threat of tighter restrictions sent shockwaves through the City.
Business leaders, activists and parliamentarians pleaded with Boris Johnson last night to resist a devastating new blockade
Julian Metcalfe, the founder of Pret and Itsu, said that another blockade would be ‘impossible’, adding: ‘Society will not recover if we do it again to save a few thousand lives of very old or vulnerable people.
‘The youth of this country will pay for this for the next 20 to 30 years. It is terrible what is happening. The fact that France does this with its socialist government does not mean that we have to do it. “
As a new alliance of scientific experts warned against an ‘increasingly panic-ridden’ response to the pandemic, which could see vital treatment for other medical conditions postponed, scientists dramatically increased the pressure for a circuit breaker-type lockout. , or even a return to full national curbs.
Julian Metcalfe, the founder of Pret e Itsu, pictured with his wife Brooke De Ocampo, said another confinement would be ‘impossible’.
On a dramatic day:
- Mr. Macron announced a second national shutdown for at least all of November;
- Germany announced a four-week closure of restaurants, bars and theaters;
- A further 310 coronavirus deaths were recorded in the UK, but the daily number of cases decreased week by week for the first time in a month;
- It emerged that up to 10 percent of the population could be tested for the coronavirus each week after government officials asked local health chiefs to deploy 30-minute saliva kits;
- The figures showed that fewer than 20 people under the age of 40 have died of coronavirus since the second wave began;
- NHS chiefs said hospitals in some parts of England were treating more Covid-19 patients than at the peak of the pandemic;
- A Cabinet minister warned that the government was prepared to prevent large families from reuniting at Christmas, while a police chief advised families to avoid making plans;
- One major study said that as many as 50,000 cancer cases had gone undiagnosed during the pandemic and that it could take the NHS two years to recover;
- Police said members of the public had a “civic duty” to report on neighbors and businesses blatantly violating virus restrictions.
A leaked document from Sage’s committee revealed yesterday that ministers had been told to prepare for the ‘worst case scenario’ of 85,000 deaths this winter in a second wave, with 500 deaths a day for at least three months and more than 300,000. hospitalized people.
Hotelier Sir Rocco Forte said that a circuit breaker would be a complete disaster that would ruin industries.
Meanwhile, a study commissioned by the government suggested that almost a million people in England were currently infected with coronavirus, and that the country was at a ‘tipping point’. Research from Imperial College London said there were an estimated 96,000 new infections a day, cases were doubling every nine days and the national R rate rose to 1.6.
He suggested that the virus is spreading rapidly in southern England and urgent action is needed to control it.
The Mail has been told that ministers are considering tightening Level Three restrictions in many areas, which could include ordering restaurant closures.
More than a million people living in Nottinghamshire will be immersed in the stricter rules of Level Three starting tomorrow, with tattoo parlors, tanning and nail parlors, piercing services, museums and galleries on order of closure.
The prime minister has repeatedly stated his determination to prevent a return to the ‘nuclear deterrent’ blockade that Britain closed in the spring. But fears mount that the pressure from Johnson’s scientific advisers will prove overwhelming if cases continue to rise.
Charlie Mullins, the former Conservative donor who runs Pimlico Plumbers, warned that the country cannot afford another lockdown.
Last night’s business bosses called for caution. Josh Hardie, deputy director general of the CBI, said that while public health came first, there could be “no possibility of hiding from the potentially devastating impact on businesses and individuals if Level Three is implemented nationally.”
Hotelier Sir Rocco Forte added: ‘A circuit breaker would be a complete disaster. The industry is already on the verge of death. It would bankrupt the industry and the government.
Fears of more crippling lockdowns led to a defeat on global stock markets yesterday, dragging shares of Britain’s largest companies to the lowest level since April.
Yesterday, business groups and company bosses joined Conservative MPs in the northern seats to urge the prime minister to resist calls to extend the sidewalks by closing shops and restaurants, or to establish a nationwide blockade of “circuit breakers.”
John O’Reilly, CEO of Rank Group, which owns 77 bingo halls in Mecca and 51 Grosvenor casinos, said: ‘For hotel companies like ours, this is death by a thousand cuts. The prolonged lockdown, local restrictions, the 10 p.m. curfew and the now renewed closures through Level Three are causing enormous economic damage to businesses. ‘
Roger Barker, Policy Director for the Institute of Directors, said: “Large-scale lockdowns are a painful prospect for companies. Controlling the virus is crucial to the long-term health of the economy, but the challenges that Covid restrictions pose for many companies cannot be denied. ‘
Ian Cass, managing director of the small business group Forum of Private Business, said: “If Level Three were introduced in England, many business owners will wonder if it is better to close for good and walk away.”
Charlie Mullins, the former conservative donor who runs Pimlico Plumbers, warned: “The government is not in the real world; they don’t understand business and they need to listen.”
He added: ‘We cannot afford to make another national blockade. The government was wrong: we cannot keep trying to hide from the virus, we have to find a way to work with it. Boris has lost his bottle and it’s all an overreaction. ‘
Luke Johnson, former president of Pizza Express, said: “ There is an obsessive and manic focus on Covid cases and deaths, but not on the collateral damage of the lockdown – businesses are failing, unemployment and suicide are on the rise, and heart problems and other treatments are not being applied. treaty.
‘It is very easy for those on the public sector payroll, Sage members, officials, politicians, and local authority personnel to arbitrarily compromise on closures, because they will never personally face the prospect of losing their jobs because of of it.
“If you’ve been growing a business for 20 years, risking your life, your soul, and your home just to see your life’s work and all of those destroyed, it’s a devastating experience. But that is the prospect facing an increasing number of entrepreneurs.
“It’s really heartbreaking.”
Environment Secretary George Eustice said that “ there is no point in having a lockdown in those parts of the country where the incidence of the disease is very low. ”
Some 55 Conservative MPs in the newly formed Northern Research Group wrote to the prime minister this week demanding that he draw up an exit plan on how the areas can remove restrictions. A senior figure in the group said last night that its members would “lose our shit” if ministers gave in to demands to close more businesses like restaurants.
Last night, Downing Street insisted that the prime minister was sticking to his strategy of controlling the virus through local closures. A spokesperson said: “As a responsible government, we continue to prepare for a wide range of scenarios, including reasonable worst-case scenarios.”
Environment Secretary George Eustice said “it doesn’t make sense to have a blockade in those parts of the country where the incidence of the disease is very low.”
But he was unable to give a time frame of how long the tiered restrictions were expected to last.
