[ad_1]
Boris Johnson’s Covid-19 strategy was in danger of unraveling on Wednesday after regional leaders in northern England resisted pressure from Number 10 for new restrictions to be put in place to halt the rise in virus infections.
Johnson insisted his policy of “three-tier” regional restrictions would work, but now faces intense pressure from Labor and its scientific advisers to impose a short and sharp national shutdown instead.
That pressure increased when Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said he and the leaders of the region’s 10 districts would resist pressure to impose tougher local measures.
Civic leaders in Lancashire, Yorkshire and North East England have also opposed additional restrictions, refusing to follow the lead of the Liverpool city region, currently the only part of England at level 3, a state of alert. very high ”from the virus.
Burnham said the government was “passing the buck and passing the bill” to local areas without providing sufficient financial support. And he added: “We are not going to give in. They will have to impose it.”
But there were indications of a possible move Wednesday night, when Burnham wrote on Twitter who had just concluded a briefing with the deputy chief medical officer.
“We are waiting for a new meeting with the PM team in the morning,” he wrote. “Until then, I will not comment further.”
Johnson has reserved the right to impose new restrictions in specific areas, but the confrontation with northern leaders at a time when scientists are calling for immediate closures is a serious setback.
Conservative MPs in the north have warned Mr Johnson of the dangers of imposing new restrictions “by dictation.” The prime minister also fears that some people will not follow the new rules if local leaders oppose them.
Burnham said Manchester would “respect the law of the land” if told to impose level 3 restrictions, including closing pubs and a ban on all domestic mixes, but would consider it a legal challenge to stop them.
He said the basic level 3 restrictions were not enough to reduce cases, but were punitive enough to damage the economy and cause “health damage” such as mental illness.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is seen speaking on television on a screen in a deserted pub in the city © Oli Scarff / AFP / Getty
Welsh Prime Minister Mark Drakeford: Wales said it would ban people from areas of the UK with high numbers of cases © Charlie Bibby / FT
To have any impact, authorities would have to close not just 1,900 pubs, but also restaurants, the entertainment sector, and hair and beauty salons, putting more than 100,000 out of work, Burnham said. The self-employed would not receive help.
Greater Manchester would need “substantial financial support” to agree to a higher alert level, including a leave plan offering 80 percent of salary to people unable to work as a result, it added.
After the Liverpool city region reluctantly agreed to enter the very high alert level, Johnson praised Steve Rotheram, the mayor, prompting Labor to claim in the region that it had been “sold out.”
Burnham and Rotheram said that the so-called breaking of the national circuit, a new blockade across the country described by Johnson as a recipe for “misery”, was the only way to end the cases. That policy is now championed by Labor leader Keir Starmer.
Northern Ireland presented its own version of the policy on Wednesday, with plans to close schools, pubs and restaurants. The restrictions, the toughest imposed in the United Kingdom in the second phase of the virus, would last four weeks with the exception of schools, which would close for two weeks.
Tensions between London and Cardiff have also increased. Wales said it would ban people from areas of the UK with a high number of cases from entering the country from Friday, acting after Johnson refused to introduce movement restrictions.
The Labor-run Welsh government is drawing up plans for its
own circuit breaker closure in the principality.
Although no final decision has been made, the proposal is for a
fifteen-day lockdown scheduled to coincide with the start of the semester
by the end of next week in most of Wales.
London is expected to enter the “high” alert level of level 2 soon, the level at which homes are prohibited from mixing both indoors and outdoors.
Johnson is now caught in a vice between those led by Sir Keir who want a tough national lockdown and the many MPs from his own party who believe the current limited restrictions have already gone too far.
Although Johnson insisted that his favorite regional approach would “reduce the virus,” he left the door open for a national shutdown: “I am not ruling out anything in the fight against the virus,” he said.
Political gravity may force the prime minister to step into a tightly restricted national circuit breaker, lasting at least two weeks, despite the concerns of Chancellor Rishi Sunak, right-wing newspapers and many conservative MPs.
Johnson’s scientific advisers are recommending such a course of action, and public opinion seems to support it. YouGov found on Wednesday that 68 percent supported a circuit breaker during the October school semester, while only 20 percent opposed.
If Johnson is unable or unwilling to enforce Level 3 restrictions in North England and Midlands cities, he may be forced to impose a national lockdown.
But that would leave you with another big political problem: Conservative MPs representing county counties with relatively few Covid-19 cases are warning Johnson not to shut down local economies unnecessarily.
Gary Streeter, a Conservative MP from South West Devon, said such a move would be an “extreme disappointment.” Another Conservative MP representing a seat in East Anglia said: “The mood here is to keep London out, let’s deal with it.”
Additional reporting by Jim Pickard, Robert Wright, and Jasmine Cameron-Chileshe
[ad_2]
