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Mayors of some of the UK’s largest urban regions threatened last night to take legal action against the government while openly rebelling against “grossly unfair” financial support for workers in the north of England facing new local closures.
As No. 10 was desperately trying to win the support of council leaders before announcing new lockdown rules for the Northwest and Northeast on Monday, Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester and former Health Secretary, said Boris Johnson was left open. to legal actions. on grounds of discrimination, in particular against people in low-paid hospitality jobs across the North.
Burnham told the Observer that by offering to pay only two-thirds of the salaries of people affected by the new closures, as opposed to the 80% that applied nationally under the original licensing scheme, ministers would be punishing people in the north in a way That was completely unacceptable.
Burnham said the Conservatives were betraying people in the so-called “red wall” seats whom they had persuaded to vote for the Conservatives in the general election last December with promises to “level” the country. “This is an active decision to downgrade,” Burnham said. “They ask people to surrender to difficulties in the run-up to Christmas and they ask companies to surrender to collapse. It’s grossly unfair. “
At a joint press conference, mayors and local government leaders from the Liverpool, Sheffield and Tyneside regions said they were writing to all parliamentarians from the north asking them to call for parliamentary votes this week on the financial package announced the last week by Chancellor Rishi Sunak. and proposed closure plans that are expected to be presented to the House of Commons on Monday.
Johnson is expected to announce a new three-tier restriction system under which areas with the highest infection rates will be told to close all pubs in their areas, and possibly a variety of other businesses deemed high risk. “In fact, I’m angry that they tell me that the effect on people’s lives is non-negotiable,” added Burnham.
In their letter to parliamentarians, northern leaders said: “Earlier this year, the government set its national licensing plan at 80%. We see no justifiable reason why the local licensing regime should be set at 67%. Accepting it would be treating hospitality workers as second-class citizens, and we think that’s wrong. Many of these workers have already faced serious difficulties this year.
“In addition to this, the timing for the introduction of the scheme also presents a major problem. It will start in early November, which means that payments won’t be made until early December, six weeks after the companies have been forced to close.
“We also have serious concerns that the local licensing scheme will be limited to companies forced to close. There are many other companies serving the hospitality industry that will see their own businesses collapse if their clients close. In fact, the effect of the restrictions could be to drown footfalls in many of our towns and cities, and many more businesses and places like theaters, arenas and cinemas are likely to be affected by new restrictions. “
Steve Rotheram, mayor of the Liverpool city region, warned that imposing measures without a clear plan to help businesses and explanations of how to get out of the restrictions would amount to “death by a thousand cuts” for many companies. He also warned that public trust would be difficult to regain once it was lost.
The new restrictions could be imposed for four weeks, according to sources involved in the talks this week.
It is understood that local leaders are already talking to company bosses about how they could instigate and fund legal action against the government. A government spokesperson said last night: “Throughout the pandemic, we have worked hard to protect jobs and support the economy, while trying to limit the spread of the coronavirus. We will keep all financial support under review to support the companies that need it most and protect jobs for the weeks and months to come. “
On Saturday there were growing signs that hospitals in areas with high numbers of Covid-19 infections were struggling to cope. In Liverpool, it is understood that hospitals will soon have to cancel all elective surgeries due to the spiral of admissions.
Dr Matthew Tuck, who works in Newcastle as an anesthesia registrar and is vice chairman of the BMA’s junior physician committee, said the numbers were similar to those that triggered the first national shutdown. “Where we are now is very similar to how we felt in mid-March,” he said.
Parliamentarians were told on Thursday that the number of patients in intensive care in the north of England within three weeks would be higher than at the height of the first wave of the pandemic in April.
Meanwhile, the Labor Party claimed last night that of more than a million jobs in sectors that faced closure or were subject to severe new restrictions, only 73,250 people, or 6.5%, can benefit from the plan’s extension. employment support. This is because the ad’s fine print states that only businesses that are “legally” closed due to the coronavirus will benefit from support.
Ed Miliband, the shadow business secretary, said: “The government has been forced to escalate on the principle of supporting the closure of so-called ‘unviable’ businesses and jobs. But there are huge holes in the new safety net. Businesses that include weddings, theaters, cinemas, events, and many vendors will still be left out of a technicality. They are not legally closed, but they have been forced to close in everything but name. “
While the focus is on the northern parts with rising infection rates, London Mayor Sadiq Khan told Londoners to also expect more restrictions: “My prediction is that additional restrictions will be introduced because we have to make sure we don’t we have a situation where the NHS is overwhelmed and lives are lost. “
Scientists have warned that the dangers of a severe second wave are not limited to poor areas in the north. “A large margin in increasing daily growth rates, which is similar in almost all regions of England, suggests that infections are increasing across the country, as opposed to localized outbreaks that occurred during the summer,” he said Dr. Konstantin Blyuss, math reader. , University of Sussex.
