Put London in lowest tier to save economy, urge MPS
Many regions likely to be under toughest regional restrictions after national lockdown comes to an end
MORE than half the country will be put in the toughest tiers once the national lockdown ends, Boris Johnson has announced.
Under the new tier system, more parts of England are expected to be placed into higher tiers than they were before the lockdown imposed.
The Prime Minister conceded that it was “likely that more of the country is placed into Tiers 2 and 3 at first”, in order to “control the virus effectively”.
But MPS have urged Mr Johnson to put London in the lowest tier of restrictions, warning that a failure to do so would wreak economic havoc on the country.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith said that once the lockdown ends on Dec 2, “London must be put into Tier 1”.
He said: “London is dominant in the economy and we need it to get back to work immediately.”
It comes after the Prime Minister announced that the UK would move back into a tiered system from next month and acknowledged that the tiers were “designed to reduce and keep R below 1 and therefore allow areas to move down the tiers”.
Sir Iain added: “The decision on London will test the Prime Minister’s commitment today that some areas will be able to move to lower tiers. He should start with London.”
Ahead of yesterday’s announcement it is understood that MPS in the London Conservative MPS Whatsapp group were in agreement that London should be placed in the lowest tier.
Bob Blackman, the Tory MP for Harrow East, urged the Government to look at London on a “borough by borough basis and not as a whole”.
“My concern is that the borough with the lowest infection rate will be lumped in with the one that has the highest,” Mr Blackman said.
“If we don’t get London back on steam then the economy will continue to suffer.” In the London borough of Havering, there is a weekly case rate of 398 cases per 100,000, which is three times higher than in Southwark (116) and Richmond (117).
However, it is understood that the Government is unlikely to adopt a more localised approach because of the “interconnectedness” of the city.
Felicity Buchan, Tory MP for Kensington, told Matt Hancock in the Commons that “London is the engine of this country’s economy and my central London constituency is suffering hard”.
However, when asked if he would assure her that “London will come out at the lowest tier possible given the health circumstances?”, Mr Hancock said: “London will come out at the tier that is necessary and appropriate based on the public health evidence.”
Whitehall sources told The Daily Telegraph that London would enter Tier 2 after lockdown, despite signs indicating that infection rates are starting to fall.
‘London will come out at the tier that is necessary and appropriate based on the public health evidence’
However, Mr Johnson, who represents a London constituency, insisted that the end of lockdown cannot be “replaced with a free for all” and stressed that “tiers will remain tough”.
It comes as newly released papers revealed that government scientists called for a “Tier 4” to prevent the epidemic from growing.
The documents from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) subcommittee on modelling show its scientists did not think a three tier system was sufficient.
“This is particularly important in the run up to the winter festive period if relaxation of measures is under consideration. Keeping incidence flat or decreasing between now and then is crucial,” state the papers, dated Nov 11.
Minutes from a meeting on Nov 12 state that “it is unclear whether baseline Tier 3 restrictions alone would be sufficient at a regional or national level to reduce R below 1”.