PM pushed towards national lockdown

Johnson fights to save three-tier plan in face of pressure from Labour, scientists and NHS – but Tories attack stricter rules in London

BORIS J OHNSON was l ast night embroiled in a standoff with Labour mayors and his own health advisers over his plans for local lockdowns.

Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, effectively held the Government to ransom by demanding more money in return for supporting a move into the top tier of restrictions, while health chiefs warned that a national “circuit breaker” may be necessary.

Meanwhile, Sadiq Khan, Labour’s Mayor of London, was accused of bouncing ministers into imposing draconian new restrictions on the capital, threatening its economy.

The Prime Minister is expected to impose the highest level of Covid-19 restrictions on Greater Manchester today, with or without Mr Burnham’s consent, while Lancashire was last night close to agreeing tier-three status.

Government scientific advisers believed the tier system would ultimately fail and a fuller lockdown would be needed, possibly every school holiday, until the virus is under control.

Jonathan Van-tam, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer, also appeared to have written off the tier system by telling northern leaders a national lockdown was the only policy guaranteed to work.

It led to Mr Burnham accusing the Government of using northern cities like “canaries in the coal mine” for an experimental strategy “that their own experts tell them might not work”.

Hospital leaders joined those calling for a lockdown to ease pressure on ward beds. Chris Hopson, NHS Providers chief executive, said the service was facing a “perfect storm” of tired staff, the loss of around a third of capacity to keep Covid and non-covid patients separate, and attempts to do “three things at once”.

Asked if he thought a circuit breaker was required, he said: “What we need to do is err on the side of caution to ensure that the NHS has the capacity to treat every patient over winter … that is a yes.”

Northern Ireland has already introduced a month-long lockdown and the Welsh Government has indicated it too will announce a circuit break at half term. Mr Johnson has not ruled out a two-week national lockdown at half term in England but is desperate to avoid countrywide measures. Ministers believe he will announce full regional lockdowns at the end of next week if the tier system fails. New cases yesterday in the UK totalled 18,980, with 138 deaths.

In London, Mr Khan actively pushed to go up into tier two, saying the NHS was struggling to cope because of staff shortages as infection rates rose. Some Tory MPS accused Downing Street of imposing restrictions on London simply to appease the North. Backbenchers also suggested the country was being put into “lockdown by stealth” after the latest measures left more than half the UK population living under some form of enhanced virus restrictions.

On a bruising day for Mr Johnson, a series of meetings with northern leaders failed to persuade them to accept tier-three status for Greater Manchester. Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, was expected to announce tier-three status for the North West in a statement at 11.30 but instead brought forward an announcement on London’s fate in what was seen as an attempt to take the sting out of the North-south divide row.

In a series of testy meetings, northern mayors, council leaders and even Tory MPS railed against tier-three status, demanding Mr Johnson restore the furlough scheme to pay 80 per cent of wages if people were unable to work.

Government sources insisted the restoration of furlough was “not happening”, with one saying: “They are using this as an opportunity to leverage some more cash out of us but it won’t work. We are not going to move on this.” The

i mpasse meant Mr Johnson was expected to impose the tougher lockdown on Greater Manchester today. Whitehall officials were understood to be drawing up regulations for Greater Manchester to be laid before Parliament.

After talks ended in acrimony, Mr Burnham called a conference at which he said the North was “fed up of being pushed around”. He said Prof Van-tam had told him a nationwide lockdown was the “only certain thing to work”.

Mr Burnham had an ally in the form of Sir Graham Brady, Conservative MP for Altrincham and Sale West and chairman of the Tory 1922 Committee, who said: “There clearly isn’t the broad consent for this measure and I think it would be a very foolish thing to do.”

Mr Hancock said leaders in the North West should “set aside party politics”, adding: “The situation in the North West of England is severe. The number of cases is rising exponentially, the number of people in hospital has doubled in just the last 12 days. This is a time for people to come together.”

It came as Essex, York, Chesterfield, North East Derbyshire and Barrow-inFurness were moved up to tier two.

Tory MPS hitting out against the restrictions in London included Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former party leader, who said many boroughs had low infection rates, and that a blanket measure for the city was being seen by voters as “a London-wide tier two to stop the North-south divide argument running”.

Urging Mr Johnson to think again, Sir Bob Neill, Tory MP for Bromley and Chislehurst, said: “I certainly think it’s ill judged, it’s politically inept and naive.

“I don’t think it’s justified by the evidence. London is much bigger than any of the other cities. It will simply clobber businesses in the suburbs.”

The capital’s seven-day average for cases has risen to 97 per 100,000. In Ealing, the worst-hit borough, the rate is 145 while Bexley has the lowest, at 69.

Yesterday, Government scientists said the “rule of six” was “frankly useless” and in fact increased risk of transmission. They believed two-week lockdowns during school breaks was the best way to minimise disruption.

Vice-chancellors were preparing an end-of-term testing blitz to get students home for Christmas, saying a fortnight lockdown was “nonsensical”. They opposed Government plans to put students in effective lockdown for two weeks, with students told to remain on campus with teaching online.

The move was designed to deliver on the PM’S pledge to “get students home safely for Christmas” but stop the virus spreading with the mass movement of students at the end of term.

‘There clearly isn’t the broad consent for this measure’