Fury over last-minute lockdown

Late-night Twitter announcement ahead of Islamic festival ‘chaotic and shameless’

THE sweeping northern lockdown was met with fury yesterday, as the Health Secretary was forced to defend the ‘deeply chaotic’ announcement which saw millions stripped of their freedoms.

Matt Hancock posted a tweet at 9.15pm on Thursday night revealing that a swathe of northern England would be hit with new rules banning people from different households meeting in homes or private gardens.

The decision will also stop different households mixing in pubs and restaurants. Mr Hancock said it was needed to tackle an increase in the spread of the virus ‘which had especially come about from contact between households’.

The local lockdown came just hours before the start of Islamic festival Eid Al Adha, which was due to see members of the Muslim community gather to celebrate. Yesterday, the Muslim Council of Britain accused ministers of ‘shameless scapegoating of minorities’, The Guardian reported. It is the second Eid to happen under lockdown.

Many local politicians first discovered the change in rules on social media. MPs last night rounded on the Government, with one branding the sudden changes in rules ‘deeply chaotic’. Another criticised it as a ‘shocker in terms of communications’.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged Scots not to visit northern England, warning of a ‘significant risk’ of contracting Covid-19 – and said those already in the area should be ‘extra vigilant’.

The lockdowns, which affect Greater Manchester as well as parts of Lancashire and West Yorkshire, have also been criticised for hitting suburban areas with relatively low infection rates.

MPs and community leaders condemned the move and labelled it ‘a new low point’ for Boris Johnson’s Government. Zaffar Khan, of community group One Voice Blackburn, accused ministers of targeting the Muslim community – which felt deep ‘anger and frustration’.

He said: ‘If you look at the timing and if you look at the areas they have effectively locked down, I would suggest that they did have Eid in mind... This would never have happened at 9.15pm on Christmas Eve.’

Pressed on whether lockdown had been rushed in to prevent Eid celebrations, Mr Hancock denied it and said his ‘heart goes out to the Muslim communities in these areas’. Tracy Brabin, Labour MP for Batley and Spen, said: ‘To announce this sort of measure late at night on Twitter caused an awful lot of anxiety in my community. It’s a new low.’

And Bradford West MP Naz Shah said making the announcement online ‘within hours of it taking effect’ was ‘a new low point for this Government’. She added: ‘Every single person has been blindsided.’

Judith Cummins, Labour MP for Bradford South, added: ‘I do not think people would mind these restrictions but the way it has been done is appalling. People are confused.’ And William Wragg, Tory MP for Hazel Grove, said: ‘Greater Manchester is not one homogeneous area. We must always err on the side of caution with Covid, but to treat all ten boroughs the same is not the right approach.’

There was fury in the Pennine district of Rossendale, Lancashire, after it was included in the restrictions. The area had just 5.6 virus cases per 100,000 people in the week to July 24 – far fewer than most neighbouring boroughs.

Blackburn with Darwen, the worst area in the country for new cases, saw 78.6 new cases per 100,000. Rossendale Borough Council leader Alyson Barnes said the area had no new cases last Thursday, which rose to one case last Friday, and the ‘figures were then seen to have doubled’, putting them in a ‘red category’.

She said: ‘We were managing quite well in east Lancs and should have been left alone.’

In Greater Manchester, the first warning of tighter restrictions came at 4pm on Thursday when Mayor Andy Burnham’s office was informed. There was no wider consultation among local or public health officials in the region.

Last night, Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese called the rules against meeting in gardens ‘inexplicable’ – and said restrictions on restaurant gatherings risk ‘destroying businesses’.

‘New low for the Government’ ‘People are confused’