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Boris Johnson has said that the new levels of coronavirus “have a sunset on February 3” as he tries to fight a backlash from Conservative MPs.
The prime minister has angered some in his party with a plan to impose strict restrictions on much of England when the national lockdown ends on Wednesday.
In a letter to his colleagues ahead of the Commons vote on the restrictions Tuesday, Johnson insisted that the tiered measures for local areas be reviewed every fortnight.
“The regulations have a sunset of February 3,” he writes.
“After the fourth biweekly review (January 27), the parliament will have another vote on the tiered approach, determining whether the measures will remain in effect until the end of March.”
Johnson also said that the first such review, on Dec. 16, would consider the views of local public health directors, with a final decision on whether any area should change levels on a cabinet committee.
The changes would take effect on December 19.
And in one more olive branch for parliamentarians, the prime minister promised to publish more data and describe what circumstances need to change for an area to move down, as well as analyzing the health, economic and social impacts of the measures taken to suppress the coronavirus. .
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COVID-19: virus-free city enters Level 2
According to a Sky News tally, more than 60 conservatives have expressed dissatisfaction with the tiered ranking or said they are unlikely to support the measures when it comes to voting.
Around 99% of England’s population will fall into the two hardest levels when the second national shutdown ends on December 2.
Approximately 32 million people, covering 57.3% of England, will enter Tier 2, and 23.3 million people, 41.5% of the population, will enter Tier 3.
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PM explains high levels for low infection areas
Only the Isle of Wight, Cornwall, and Isles of Scilly will be under the lightest Tier 1 controls, while large swaths of the Midlands, Northeast, and Northwest are at the more restrictive Tier 3.
Several conservatives have said they will vote against the new levels next week, including the chairman of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood and Poole MP Sir Robert Syms.
Steve Baker, vice president of the COVID Recovery Group, which has been critical of the lockdown restrictions, said that “the authoritarianism at work today is really appalling.”
“The government should publish its analysis of the impact that the interventions are likely to have on the control of COVID, as well as the impact on the health of non-Covid and the impact on society, people’s livelihoods and businesses,” said.
Sir Roger Gale, MP for Kent’s constituency of North Thanet, criticized the decision to place the entire county on Level 3, telling Sky News that he fears people will “jump over the line” to go to a nearby pub in Level 2.
But Chris Hopson, executive director of NHS Providers, urged MPs to think about what the NHS might look like in January, saying: “You must take the precautions now to ensure that the NHS is not overwhelmed in what is always its time to greatest activity of the year. “
