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Boris Johnson believes he was forced to order a second national shutdown, a Cabinet ally said last night.
The prime minister reluctantly signed a new lockdown in England last weekend after government scientists warned him that deaths could rise to 4,000 a day, four times the peak seen in April.
Boris Johnson believes he was forced to order a second national shutdown
The decision was rushed with minimal cabinet consultation after news of the warning, and the prime minister’s reaction to it, leaked to news organizations, including the Daily Mail.
Since then, the 4,000-a-day figure has been widely discredited and government scientists have been forced to correct other dire warnings used to inform the closure decision.
Some data from last week suggested that the second wave may have stabilized or even peaked before the lockdown was introduced last Thursday.
A further 156 Covid deaths were reported across the UK yesterday, up from 162 the previous week.
Some 20,572 cases were recorded, a drop of 2,682 from the previous Sunday’s total of 23,254.
A cabinet minister told the Daily Mail last night that Johnson felt he had been pushed to make a decision.
“I think he is concerned that he may have been hit,” the source said.
“ He was very, very angry about the leak because at that point a different decision could still have been made.
There are also concerns that some of the information used to inform the decision now appears to be falling apart.
“In fact, the numbers seem to suggest that things were looking up before the lockdown began; they will shut us down for a month when it wasn’t necessary.”
Some data from last week suggested that the second wave may have stabilized or even peaked before the lockdown was introduced last Thursday (people during the lockdown at Bournemouth, pictured)
The source predicted that the episode would toughen the prime minister’s attitude to any attempt to renew the restrictions.
“It means that a third or fourth blockade is highly unlikely,” the source said. “All of this goes against his political leanings.”
Downing Street denied last night that the prime minister felt he had been thrown into lockdown.
A government source said: ‘It is true that we were furious about the leak, but the prime minister is absolutely clear that the evidence showed that these measures were necessary.
“Even if you leave out the 4,000 figure, there was a lot of other very worrying data, like hospitalization figures, that made it very clear that he had to act.”
A further 156 Covid deaths were reported yesterday across the UK, compared to 162 the previous week (graph in photo)
Some 20,572 cases were registered, a drop of 2,682 from the previous Sunday’s total of 23,254 (graph in the photo)
But the claim that the prime minister feels he was maneuvered into a second lockdown will fuel concern among Conservative MPs that the draconian move was unnecessary.
Fifty Conservative MPs rebelled against the blockade legislation and rebel sources believe that the revolt could exceed 100 if there is any attempt to extend it.
The prime minister has publicly stated that it will “expire” on December 2, with England reverting to a system of regional restrictions.
Cases in Merseyside and the Northeast fell after the introduction of strict measures under the previous three-tier system.
The Office for National Statistics reported on Friday that the rate at which the virus was spreading also appeared to be slowing.
The ONS estimate of daily new infections fell from 51,900 to 45,700 in the week through the end of October.
A study conducted last week by King’s College London found that the R rate, which measures how fast the virus spreads, had dropped to one.
Professor Tim Spector, the scientist behind the study, said it was a “positive sign that we have passed the peak of this second wave,” although he said the lockdown would help reduce the virus further.
The prime minister reluctantly signed a new lockdown in England after government scientists warned him that deaths could rise to 4,000 a day (people during the lockdown in London, pictured)
However, the government’s Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (Sage) said the virus was still growing, with an estimated R rate of between 1.1 and 1.3.
n Britain’s response to Covid-19 is doing more harm than good, a group of 469 doctors and academics warned.
In an open letter to Mr. Johnson, they say the government’s approach is “disproportionate” and the widespread evidence is “exaggerating” the scale of the risk.
They insist that the term “second wave” is misleading when it is normal to see an increase in illness and death in any given winter.
The letter, organized by the campaign group UsForThem, has been signed by experts such as psychology professor Ellen Townsend and economics professor David Paton, both from the University of Nottingham, and David Livermore, a microbiologist at the University of East Anglia.
A government spokesperson said: ‘It is completely incorrect to suggest that the government is exaggerating the data.
The restrictions have been introduced to save lives and protect the NHS. We have been guided by the advice of Sage experts from the beginning. ‘
