LOCKDOWN XMAS FEAR
» Gove warns tough restrictions could stay in place beyond the four-week limit » Northern mayor says extra furlough cash only found because South now hit
CHRISTMAS is hanging in the balance after Michael Gove admitted the new four-week lockdown could be extended if it fails to get a grip on Covid-19.
Labour leader Keir Starmer warned the measures will “be longer and harder” after the Tories delayed introducing them.
Liverpool’s metro mayor said a U-turn on furlough now the South will be hit proves northerners were “judged to be worth less”.
PANDEMIC-WEARY families face a bleak Christmas and New Year after Michael Gove admitted the second lockdown could stretch beyond its planned four weeks and into 2021.
The Cabinet Office Minister said England’s shutdown, effective from 12am Thursday and intended to help save the festive period, could be extended if Covid-19 is not curbed sufficiently.
Mr Gove also refused to rule out third or fourth national lockdowns next year.
His comments came amid anger in the hard-hit North after the furlough support scheme was only extended now the South will be under harsher restrictions.
Mr Gove told Sophy Ridge on Sunday, on Sky News, that it was “likely” the shutdown would bring the rate of infection – the R number – below 1.
But asked if it could be extended, he admitted it could, saying: “We’re always driven by what the data shows and we’re going to look at all of the data.” And he added it would be “foolish” to predict what would happen with the pandemic over the next four weeks.
Former chief scientific adviser Sir Mark Walport added: “I think the virus is sublimely indifferent as to what day of the week it is and whether it’s Christmas or any other festival, so it does seem a bit unlikely that it’s going to be a completely normal Christmas, that’s for sure.”
Sir Jeremy Farrar, of the Government’s SAGE group of experts, also suggested restrictions may have to be extended, saying ministers should be “flexible”.
And Labour leader Keir Starmer, who had called for the lockdown to begin two weeks ago, said it must stay until it has the desired effect. He said: “We need to stay in lockdown until the infection rate is below 1.” The hospital death toll rose by 167 yesterday, the largest increase on a Sunday since 77 deaths on June 7.
The lockdown measures are slated to last until December 2, closing non-essential shops along with restaurants, pubs, hairdressers and leisure centres. The furlough scheme paying 80% of wages will be extended for a month and travel outside the UK is only allowed for work.
But local leaders in low-Covid areas have branded the lockdown a “bitter pill to swallow”, and those in the North said they are being treated with contempt.
Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram said that in talks about his area becoming the first to go on Tier 3 restrictions, the Government had been
“unequivocal” that it would not consider changes to the furlough scheme.
He added: “I can assure the Government the people of the North won’t easily forget they were judged to be worth less than southern counterparts.”
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said after “three months of morale-sapping restrictions”, people “are waking up to the prospect of a month of even tougher restrictions”.
In south-west and eastern England, Covid is spreading at half the average rate and leaders feel blanket restrictions mean they unfairly “pay the price”. Cornwall Council’s Tim Dwelly said: “For Cornwall, this is a bitter pill to swallow.”
Senior scientists and politicians have also suggested closing schools – despite the Government and Labour insisting they stay open. Mr Burnham joined the National Education Union in urging a shutdown, saying: “We do need to have a period of closure in our schools if we are to get those cases right down.”
And Sir Jeremy y warned they could have to shut, saying: “If transmission, particularly in secondary schools, continues to rise, opening may have to be revisited in the next four f weeks to get infection rates down.”
Boris Johnson was yesterday accused of risking lives by delaying lockdown.
Last month he rejected calls by Labour and SAGE for a “circuit breaker” shutdown but was forced into a U-turn after local restrictions failed to curb rates.
Ahead of a vote on the measures on Wednesday, he is expected to tell MPs: “Models suggest unless we act now, we could see deaths over the winter twice as bad as the first wave. Some believe we should have reached this decision earlier but it was right to try every option to get this virus under control at a local level.”
Mr Starmer said Labour would back the latest restrictions in the vote but warned lockdown will “be longer and harder” due to the PM’s delay.
On Saturday, Mr J Johnson said the clampdown was now needed to avert predictions of 85,000 deaths this winter.
But he faces a backlash from Tory MPs worried about the economy. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith claims SAGE “pressurised” the Government into the decision.
He also urged Mr Johnson to not continue “encouraging businesses to reopen only to force them to lock down again”. But allies of the PM said he was shaken by the dire predictions he was given and would stare down any rebels.
One said: “It’s a choice between acting now or the NHS being overwhelmed. If they don’t understand that, they can explain it to their constituents.”
Meanwhile, the Mirror understands support for local authorities will be less generous than in the first lockdown.
Some £1.1billion will aid local firms, equivalent to the £20-a-head offered to areas in Tier 3. But there will be no national food box offer.