LOCKDOWN TILL EASTER
Curbs could still be in place on March 31 – but don’t worry, Hancock says we’re in for a great summer!
ENGLAND’S third lockdown could last until spring, the small print revealed yesterday.
Detailed rules covering the curbs showed the legal endpoint is March 31 – six weeks beyond the mid-February date suggested by Boris Johnson on Monday.
Despite this, Health Secretary Matt Hancock struck an upbeat tone, insisting Covid vaccines would eventually allow us to ‘have a great summer’.
MPs, who were recalled to Parliament to debate the latest lockdown, last night backed the restrictions by 524 to 16.
Mr Johnson claimed Britain was in the ‘tough final stretch’ of the battle against coronavirus. He added: ‘After the marathon of last year we are indeed now in a sprint, a race to vaccinate the vulnerable faster than the virus can reach them. every needle in every arm makes a difference.’
The Prime Minister acknowledged that lockdown powers would stretch until the end of March, just before easter Sunday – but said he hoped to start lifting restrictions before then. He warned there would be no
‘Wondering how they will cope’
quick end to the draconian restrictions even if the plan to vaccinate the 13million most vulnerable ran on time. Schools would be reopened first and other aspects of life might take months to return to normal.
‘our emergence from the lockdown cocoon will not be a big bang but a gradual unwrapping,’ Mr Johnson said.
In a conference call with business leaders last night, he admitted to mistakes, saying: ‘The British state as a whole, or in parts, in places, does have a problem and inability to act and make decisions as fast as I would like.’
But he predicted the economy would bounce back quickly when the virus cleared – with office workers wanting to get back to their desks after months of home life.
‘I make a prediction to you all on Zoom who say you are going to change your business models: I don’t believe it. Johnson’s Law of remote Communication is that the more people can get on Zoom, the more they will actually want to interact physically. They will bring back life, buzz, activity and dynamism to our cities – that’s what will get UK economy whirring again.’
In an interview with the Spectator magazine, Mr Hancock said: ‘We’ve got the light at the end of the tunnel and it’s getting brighter. of course, we’ve got a difficult time between now and then but the vaccine is going to get us out of it – we are going to have a great summer.’
Mr Hancock predicted that some Covid habits, such as wearing masks on public transport, could endure for years – but insisted it would not be mandatory. There was anger among some MPs about a warning from Chief Medical officer Chris Whitty that coronavirus restrictions might have to return next winter.
Former cabinet minister Andrea Leadsom condemned Professor Whitty’s comments. She told the
BBC’s Politics Live show: ‘Speculating so far forward without any knowledge about what will happen next Christmas is very unhelpful to the public.
‘ He is entitled to his professional opinion, but I would like to challenge him on putting that out there at a time when people are already feeling very down.’ Graham Medley, an adviser on the Sage committee, said Professor Whitty was right to level with the public about the long-term challenges and said restrictions might be needed ‘next winter or even the winter after’, adding: ‘We’re in for the long haul.’ Several
Tory MPs who voted against lockdowns said that, with the death toll soaring and the vaccination programme under way, they would now focus their efforts on getting the restrictions eased as quickly as possible.
Former chief whip Mark Harper, chairman of the Covid recovery
Group of Tory MPs, called for a ‘substantial relaxation’ of the rules as soon as the most vulnerable had been vaccinated.
Fellow Tory Peter Bone, who opposed previous restrictions, said he was backing the new lockdown because ‘the facts have changed’.
A small number of Conservatives continued to oppose the lockdown. Charles Walker said another three months of restrictions would ‘break’ some people, particularly those with precarious jobs and fragile mental health. Sir Charles said it was ‘easy’ for well-heeled MPs and journalists to follow the rules, but said society should show more compassion for the many who will struggle.
‘I don’t want to hear from another constituent who’s having a good lockdown,’ he said. ‘I am really pleased that you are but my voice is for those who aren’t... who are struggling day in and day out, whose mental health is not in a healthy state but has deteriorated, who are wondering how over the next months in the middle of winter they’re going to cope.’
Former minister Steve Baker predicted that continued lockdowns would have a disastrous effect on the Government’s prospects. Writing in the Critic magazine, he said: ‘Let us not be deluded by public opinion polls supporting radical lockdowns with near-Soviet levels of business intervention and public funding. That is not Conservative support speaking.’
The 12 Conservative MPs voting against the stay-at-home rules were joined by four DUP MPs.