Conservative MPs and council leaders have led the charge against putting much of north-west England into the highest level of lockdown restrictions, with one Tory MP saying negotiating with government was like “talking to a wall”.
The government has so far been unable to agree whether Greater Manchester and Lancashire should go into the highest level of lockdown restrictions, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, has said, following a morning of stormy discussions with MPs and local leaders.
Making a statement to the Commons after a series of calls between local political leaders and health ministers, Hancock also said that, as well as London, a series of other areas, including Essex, Barrow-in-Furness, York and parts of Derbyshire, would move from the lowest of the three levels to the middle tier, under which indoor household mixing is banned.
The statement received a sometimes hostile response from both Conservative and Labour MPs, with Lucy Powell, the Labour MP for Manchester Central, saying there was “unanimous fury” locally about the government’s actions.
William Wragg, the Conservative MP for Hazel Grove in Stockport, Greater Manchester, was among Hancock’s strongest critics. “The meeting we had earlier today was entirely pointless. You may as well talk to a wall,’” he said.
“When are we going to be properly consulted, learn about measures via the right channels, rather than the media.”
He added: “The closure of hospitality [which would happen if Greater Manchester moved to tier 3] would drive people into private dwellings where they will mix. We do not, thank goodness, live in a police state, for that would be the only way to police it. Can they please listen to common sense and think again?”
Another Labour MP on the call said: “Shitshow doesn’t even begin to summarise that meeting … We let the Tory MPs go first and they piled into her saying: what’s the point of this meeting if you are just going to brief to the media that you’ve already made a decision?”
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Matt Hancock raises Covid alert level for parts of England including London – video
In response to complaints about poor government communications, Hancock announced he was launching a “leak inquiry” into inaccurate information reported about which tier Greater Manchester would be placed under.
The delay follows complaints from north-west MPs, and council leaders, that a move to tier 3 would need more financial support for workers and businesses affected, and worries about the efficacy of the measures.
Hancock told MPs that the Liverpool city region was so far the only English area at this level, saying: “In other areas currently in the second tier, where discussions are ongoing, no further decisions have yet been made, but we need to make rapid progress.”
Lancashire is also holding out against being put into tier 3. The county has some of the highest infection rates in England, with Burnley now the third-worst affected local authority, after Nottingham and Knowsley in Merseyside, with 554.4 cases per 100,000 people.
Matthew Brown, the Labour leader of Preston council, said both Conservatives and Labour leaders in the county agreed that the support package had to be much better if they were going to consent to tier 3 — not just for furloughed workers and businesses forced to close but also much more resources for local test and trace.
Closing bars and pubs but keeping restaurants made no sense, said Brown, who thought it was time for a national circuit breaker. “Our latest data found that only three in 300 cases, so 1%, came from pubs. Whereas it’s actually 10% in restaurants and cafes and pubs where they serve food, and they would be allowed to stay open in tier 3.”
An increasing number of Conservative MPs oppose all local lockdowns. The South Dorset MP, Richard Drax, told Hancock they were “destroying the lives and livelihoods of millions of people”, adding: “We need a plan B, and I’d be grateful if my right honourable friend could tell the house what that is.”
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At an earlier meeting with Greater Manchester’s council leaders, Sir Ed Lister, the prime minister’s chief strategic adviser, apparently began by saying: “We either do this jointly or it’s imposed on you.”
Eamonn O’Brien, the leader of Bury council, said: “It is deeply disappointing that the government seems intent on forcing us into tier 3 without addressing our genuine concerns about it. So far, they have failed to set out clear evidence that it will work and have no answers about what they will do if it does not work.
“Equally, the government haven’t given me any confidence that the funding is being made available to properly protect businesses, residents and public services impacted by tier 3 restrictions. It is all starting to feel like half-measures being done on the cheap, with little regard for the consequences.”
Following the announcement that London would move into the medium tier, Hancock said this would happen at a minute past midnight on Saturday. He also said that Essex, as well as Elmbridge, part of Surrey, would do the same.
Additionally moving from the lowest to the middle tier are Barrow-in-Furness, York, north-east Derbyshire, and two other parts of Derbyshire: Erewash and Chesterfield.
The renewed spread of the virus was “grave and serious” across Europe, and the UK had recorded the highest figure for daily deaths since early June, Hancock told MPs.
Saying the restrictions were “as targeted as feasibly possible”, Hancock said: “I hate the fact that we have to bring them in, but it is essential that we do bring them in.” He added: “When the virus is moving fast we cannot stay still.”
Responding for Labour, the shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, said that while he supported the move of the areas into the second tier, Hancock had to work with local leaders, and offer more financial support or else “more people will fall into poverty and destitution”.
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