Boris Johnson sounded defiance on his local ‘Tiers’ lockdown plan today despite warnings from scientists it is the ‘worst of all worlds’.
In brutal clashes at PMQs, Mr Johnson dismissed calls from Sir Keir Starmer and SAGE for a ‘miserable’ national ‘circuit breaker’.
He insisted that his job was to balance the economic and wider interests of the country with the science. ‘The advice that I have today is that if you do the regional approach …
we can bring down the R. We can bring down the virus.’
The premier accused Labour of ‘opportunism’ for coming out in favour of the move, despite previously endorsing local crackdowns. But Sir Keir shot back: ‘We’re at a tipping point.
Time is running out.’
The vicious exchanges came as Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham lined up behind a ‘circuit breaker’ as a way to avoid being plunged into harsh ‘Tier Three’ restrictions without wider support.
But Tory MPs and Cabinet ministers vented fury at SAGE – despite claims that behind the scenes the PM is seriously considering the option at school half-term and him saying this afternoon that he ‘rules nothing out’.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak warned of an ‘economic emergency’ saying a second national lockdown would be a ‘dramatic’ measure and create ‘significant damage’ to people’s lives. Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey flatly denied that new nationwide measures were on the cards before the end of the month.
The PM is being assailed on both sides by ‘hawks’ and ‘doves’ in his own top team, and Health Secretary Matt Hancock engaged in angry exchanges with rebels in the Commons last night.
Two senior SAGE experts have produced estimates that a short sharp shock lockdown from October 24 could reduce deaths by between 3,000 and 107,000.
Another, Wellcome Trust director Jeremy Farrar, quán cà phê tình nhân đẹp (https://bit.ly) slammed Mr Johnson for achieving the ‘worst of all worlds’.
There are mounting signs of anxiety within Downing Street about its approach, after it emerged publicly that the PM has been defying his scientific advice for weeks.
Rumours were swirling today that Mr Johnson is seriously considering a ‘circuit breaker’.
Some schools, including most private schools, have their half-term next week, while others are the following week. One source told the Telegraph the PM is 80 per cent likely to order the closure of pubs, restaurants and some other firms.
Northern Ireland is set for a period of intensified coronavirus restrictions after executive ministers agreed to closures of schools, pubs and restaurants for four weeks.
A form of ‘circuit breaker’ is already in place in Scotland, and Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said today that he is leaning towards imposing one.
In other coronavirus news today:
A bombshell Ipsos MORI poll has found support for Scottish independence has hit 58 per cent amid a backlash at Mr Johnson’s handling of the COVID crisis; Northern Ireland will close its pubs for a month from Friday and shut schools for a fortnight from next week under a circuit-breaker lockdown, First Minister Arlene Foster has announced; The leader of Lancashire County Council has said it is ‘inevitable’ the area will be upgraded to Tier Three coronavirus restrictions soon; Health officials in Liverpool expect to see the number of Covid-19 patients in the city’s hospitals surpass the levels of the first peak in the next seven to 10 days; Nicola Sturgeon has urged Scots not to travel to Blackpool saying 180 recent infections north of the border had been linked to the town; London Mayor Sadiq Khan warned it is ‘inevitable’ London will be plunged into a Tier Two lockdown this week;Tory curfew rebels made a symbolic protest against the 10pm pub closure rule but were unable to prevent it;Health minister Helen Whately said care home residents’ families will be treated as key workers with weekly tests;Nicola Sturgeon trolled the PM over his Sage spat, saying her ‘circuit breaker’ is ‘rooted in scientific advice’;Bolton West Conservative MP Chris Green quit as a parliamentary private secretary over the new lockdown. In brutal clashes with Keir Starmer at PMQs, Mr Johnson dismissed SAGE calls for a ‘miserable’ national ‘circuit breaker’
A model produced by two SAGE experts suggests that adopting a two-week lockdown like Europe’s in the spring (red line) could ‘reset’ the UK’s outbreak to the way it was more than 100 days ago which, from October 24, would take Britain back to July 18, around the lowest point of the crisis.
A lighter touch (yellow, purple and green lines) would push the outbreak back by shrinking time periods. A repeat of the March lockdown for two weeks would send the outbreak back to the way it was between 75 and 95 days ago. Bringing back August’s looser rules would reset only by around 12 days (light blue line), the study suggests.
The reset period is shown on the left vertical axis
Labour leader Keir Starmer (left) said that a complete shutdown lasting two to three weeks could be timed to take place over half-term to minimise disruption. But asked on LBC whether there was appetite for an England-wide circuit breaker in the Conservative Party, Therese Coffey replied: ‘No I don’t.’
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox news halfRHS" data-version="2" id="mol-324aea30-0e13-11eb-ba7a-b50ba275b245" website will close pubs for 'short' circuit-breaking half-term lockdown
