Leaders in the north of England have criticised plans to close pubs and hospitality venues as part of a new system of coronavirus restrictions. The Labour leader of Gateshead Council Martin Gannon on Saturday said he is opposed to a lockdown of hospitality venues and that current measures should be given time to work. His comments come as Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to outline a new three-tiered system of restrictions on Monday with measures expected to see pubs and restaurants to shut across the north of England.
The Prime Minister’s chief strategic adviser Sir Edward Lister wrote to northern MPs following a meeting with leaders from the north on Friday to warn them it was “very likely” the region would be hit with tougher rules.
But northern leaders have complained they have not been consulted and said that more restrictions will lead to further “resistance and further confusion”.
Mr Gannon told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday: “I think new measures would be counter-productive.
“We had three different sets of regulations in 10 days which caused huge resistance and confusion.
“Our argument is that even with the mixed messaging, even with the confusion and frustration, the measures that are in at the moment are beginning to work.
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“Help us to win confidence to the measures that are currently in, not bring in new measures and get even further resistance and further confusion.”
Under the three-tier system, different parts of the country would be placed in different categories, with areas in the highest level expected to face tough restrictions such as pubs closing.
Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson said he expected his city to be in the highest category and added: “I do believe that the measures that will be introduced will be a lockdown of public houses from Wednesday within the city of Liverpool and beyond the city of Liverpool in terms of the whole region.
“We do believe that there will be a concession to restaurants in terms of allowing restaurants to stay open until 10 o’clock.”
Meanwhile, the leaders of West Yorkshire councils warned another lockdown will have a “devastating” effect on the town and city centres and regional economy.
In a joint letter to the Chancellor and health and housing secretaries on Friday, the leaders said that Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement that workers in businesses which are forced to close under the new restrictions will have two-thirds of their wages paid by the Government was “not enough”.
They added: “Government must, for both levels two and three, provide a substantial economic package including grants and furlough – not just where businesses are mandated to close.
“In a three-level approach, there must be significantly more support available to businesses in areas that are in either level two or level three to avoid an even deeper economic catastrophe.”
Speaking during a Zoom press conference with other northern leaders, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burham warned: “To accept the Chancellor’s package as outlined yesterday, would be to surrender our residents to hardship in the run up to Christmas and our businesses to potential failure of collapse.
“We are not prepared to do that.”
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Talks are to continue over the weekend.
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick told BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions: “Our approach… will be to have simple national rules, some basic rules to be implemented where the rate of infection rises in a concerning way in a particular place, but then also greater freedom for those local areas to design further measures, in conjunction with ourselves.”
The moves came as a further 13,864 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK were reported on Friday, and 87 more deaths were confirmed of people who died within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus.
Nottingham has the highest rate in England, with 760.6 cases per 100,000 people – a huge jump from 158.3 per 100,000 in the seven days to September 29.
Knowsley has the second highest rate, which has leapt from 391.1 to 657.6 per 100,000, while Liverpool is in third place, where the rate has also increased sharply, from 419.0 to 599.9.
Separate figures suggested coronavirus cases are doubling about twice as fast in the North West, Yorkshire and the West Midlands as for the whole of England.
