Conservatives reject cash lock pleas saying ‘we can’t do it all’ as MP showdown looms

Callous Conservative ministers are refusing to improve wage support for local closures as anger from the North boils over.

A leading conservative today called on ministers to increase the wage subsidy from 67% to 80% for staff in the north of England whose pubs and restaurants are about to close.

The Conservative leader of Bolton’s Council joined with Greater Manchester Labor Mayor Andy Burnham and other northern leaders in urging that the pay package be improved.

David Greenhalgh said that without further wage support he would oppose the new “three-tier” local lockdown system, and would have to be forced to do so by a Commons vote.

He said keeping two-thirds of wages will be “unacceptable” for hospitality staff, pleading: “Please listen again, the north feels they are being treated differently.”

However, conservative local government secretary Robert Jenrick rejected fundraising calls that said, “We can’t do everything.”

And when asked whether energy companies should help people stuck on two-thirds of wages who can’t pay their bills, he said, “That’s the power companies’ business.”

Claiming there was a “good safety net,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr program: “They have to be seen in the context of everything else we’ve done.

“This country has put in place measures that compare extremely favorably with other countries.

“We can’t do everything, there is a limit to what the state can do here. But we are trying to support these communities.”

But Greater Manchester Tube Mayor Andy Burnham was furious: “Given that we are talking about people on minimum wage or a little more, working in a single industry and only applied in a limited number of places, the idea that we can’t afford it is downright ridiculous. “

The Prime Minister will make a statement to Parliament on Monday afternoon announcing new measures to combat Covid.

Boris Johnson is expected to introduce a three-tier system with graduated restrictions based on local infection rates.

Moves into Level 3 areas could include closing pubs and restaurants, telling millions not to travel outside their areas, and banning homes from mingling, even outdoors.

Level 2 areas would reflect current local closing conditions, while Level 1 would reflect the rules for the rest of England, including the curfew rule for bars at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced that any company forced to close by the government, whether at the local or national level, can receive two-thirds of workers’ wages paid by the state.

But the promise will not apply to up to a million workers in sectors that are barely able to operate but have not been legally closed, such as wedding planners and entertainers.

Anyone whose headquarters is not fully closed should rely on the less generous Workforce Support Plan, which requires staff to work at least a third of their hours and only provides 22% government support.

The prime minister could face a showdown from the Commons if mounting anger among Conservative MPs in the north spreads.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy said Labor would look for a way to challenge the plans in a Commons vote, but did not say whether Labor would reject them.

“I have not felt anger like this towards the government since I grew up in the 1980s,” he told the BBC.

“People not only feel abandoned, but as if the government is actively working against us.”

Jenrick told Times Radio: “No one is punishing the north.”

However, the constituencies of various conservative ministers now have much higher infection rates than those of northern cities when they were closed.

Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said that if the same were to happen in London or the South East “it just wouldn’t be tolerated.”

“If this were in London, we wouldn’t be talking about this. It’s because it’s the North West where they want to do it cheap and we’re not going to let them do it,” he told Times Radio.

“Let me make this absolutely clear, the people of the Northwest will not get down on their knees and tolerate the government that is actually dictating in a way that will damage our economy for many, many years to come.”

Anderson said he hopes Liverpool will be placed at Level 3.

Demanding ministers to “wake up and smell the coffee,” he said the impact on unemployment would be similar to that seen in the city in the 1980s.

Greater Manchester Tube Mayor Andy Burnham said Sunday morning that he was “still in talks” about what closure measures would apply in his area.

He demanded that ministers improve the two-thirds wage support for closed businesses to 80% of the wages paid by the state in March.

“If there is going to be any form of lockdown, it has to come with the same support that was provided earlier this year,” he told Times Radio.

However, Burnham said officials had already made it clear on Friday that they “were not prepared to have further negotiations on the financial package.”

He added: “This is people’s lives, this is people’s business, this is the future of our region. If you expect us to keep quiet and accept our fate … we are not going to do that. “

Shadow Jobs and Pensions Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, Greater Manchester, warned: “There is resentment, to be frank.

“There is resentment of the North / South divide in some of these local restrictions and you can see that reflected. So unless the Prime Minister controls this, it will become even more difficult.”

But Reynolds suggested that the Labor Party would back a 10 p.m. pub curfew, despite Keir Starmer demanding proof of it last week.

When asked if the Labor Party would support the curfew, he replied: “Yes, we support restrictions on hospitality as long as they have the financial support that should accompany it.”

Deputy Medical Director Jonathan Van-Tam warned today: “In our national fight against Covid-19, we are at a similar tipping point as in March.”

He added: “We can prevent history from repeating itself if we all act now.”

But Professor Peter Horby, who chairs the Government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, feared a second national shutdown might be necessary.

Northern leaders said they supported the need for restrictions, but that more must be done to help those most affected.

It comes as ministers plan to give city councils more powers over the test and trace system to try to secure their support.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick told Sky News: “We will make sure the national testing infrastructure works in harmony with what is happening locally because local councils and local communities are very good at contact tracing. , understandably, because they know their communities. “