MP says county could be under review for Tier One

THE county could be under review for Tier One the MP for the Forest of Dean says.

Speaking in a webchat on Gloucestershirelive’s Facebook page on Friday, December 4, Forest of Dean MP Mark Harper said that when the current tier restrictions are reviewed on Wednesday, December 16 there will be an argument that the county should actually move down to Tier One.

The whole of Gloucestershire is currently in Tier Two, like much of the rest of the country.

But some parts of the county have significantly low cases of Covid-19 and as a result are disgruntled at the fact that they have to adhere to tougher restrictions.

According to the UK Government’s website, there have been a total of 836 cases of Coronavirus since March and similarly, in the Cotswolds there have been 979 cases.

This is significantly less than Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly which have more than 3,000 cumulative cases and are currently under Tier One restrictions. The MP has led an antilockdown group of rebel Conservatives who voted against the second lockdown and speaking in the webchat, the Conservative MP for the district said: “It’s about making sure those decisions are right.

“In December there is a review looking at the rates of Covid and whether any areas move.

“And if I look at my patch in the Forest of Dean the rate of Covid per 100,000 is quite a bit below 100 as it is in other parts of Gloucestershire, so there is going to be an argument about whether we actually move down to Tier One.”