Senior ministers held an emergency meeting on Sunday where they reviewed how the third lockdown in England is working. They also examined whether tougher restrictions would be required to tackle the concerning increase in Covid cases. The review comes as hospitals in London are under extreme pressure, and according to Home Secretary Priti Patel, Sunday saw more than 35,000 people hospitalised with the virus.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson told MPs that recent lockdown restrictions “are starting to show some signs of effect”, but he refused to rule out tougher restrictions.
The Prime Minister came under pressure from the Labour Party on Wednesday to increase the stringent measures already in place.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the current lockdown “was not strong enough”.
Addressing Mr Johnson, Mr Starmer said: “Every time there’s a big decision to take, the Prime Minister gets there late.
“The next big decision is obvious, the current restrictions are not strong enough to control the virus. Stronger restrictions are needed.”
READ MORE: Tier 4 rules: How far can I travel in Tier 4? How far can you cycle?
What could a Tier 6 lockdown look like?
Although it hasn’t yet been confirmed what the Tier 6 lockdown could look like, one thing’s for sure, the restrictions will be even tougher than the current national lockdown.
This could include a ban on exercising with one other person from a different household.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on January 11 the Government wouldn’t be doing that, but, this Government has taken numerous U-Turns during this pandemic so at this point nothing is certain.
There is also the possibility that masks will be required in outdoor settings, such as in queues for supermarkets.
ormer Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, however, feels there’s no need for tighter lockdowns.
The former Tory frontbencher told talkRadio’s Julia Hartley-Brewer: “I don’t think there needs to be any tightening up. I just feel people need to use their common sense. You can understand what the rules are, most people do.
“If we keep focusing those who we keep saying are breaking the rules, we fail to recognise that the vast majority of the British public are actually doing their level best to stick to the rules.
“Do they make mistakes? Yes, because there are pages and pages of rules and what to do. But are they basically trying to follow the spirit of those? I think most people are.”
Sir Iain added: “Of course you are going to get those, who for reasons that they declare, they are opposed to it and therefore deliberately set out to break it.
“But they are a tiny, tiny majority. The truth is the vast majority are doing their level best and sometimes it’s difficult because people have got to earn a living.
“Also, we complained at the beginning of the first lockdown how so few children at risk ended up in schools, this time around they are much better at it.
“Now people are complaining that there are too many children in school, honestly, I’m for the balance of at-risk children going in and having a place to be.”
