THE LOCK IS TICKING
Boris Johnson vows lockdown WILL end on December 2 after furlough extension sparks fears of five-month clampdown
BORIS Johnson was urged last night to ensure lockdown ends on December 2.
News yesterday that the furlough pay scheme will be extended led to fears the curbs will last five months.
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The Prime Minister said that if everyone worked together to put Covid “back in its box”, four weeks of restrictions would be enough for “as normal a Christmas as possible”.
But senior Tories warned there could be no backsliding on the date.
Rebel leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: “I voted against this latest lockdown because I believed we were already succeeding in getting the infection rate down.
“But now that it has happened we must absolutely — for the sake of the economy and people’s livelihoods — come out on December 2 at the latest, not a day longer.”
Former Cabinet Minister Theresa Villiers told The Sun: “This lockdown must not last a day longer than December 2.
“To save the retail sector, to save the economy and to save Christmas we must come out bang on time.”
We must absolutely — for the sake of the economy and people’s livelihoods — come out on December 2 at the latest.
Iain Duncan Smith
Chancellor Rishi Sunak had warned of a grim winter as he was forced to pay for the jobs protection scheme until the spring — just days after saying it would not be the right thing to do.
But speaking from No10 on the first day of the new national lockdown, Mr Johnson insisted there was “light at the end of the tunnel”.
The PM said the country would return to the tiered system of local lockdowns after four weeks — dismissing claims by ministers that restrictions could be extended.
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He said: “These measures, though they are tough, are time-limited. The advice I have received suggests that four weeks is enough for these measures to make a real impact.
“So these rules will expire, and on December 2 we plan to move back to a tiered approach.”
He added: “I perfectly understand why people feel frustration but the overwhelming majority of people will work together again to get the R (rate) down.
“We can do this and we will do this by December 2 and I have every confidence that if we follow this package of measures, I have no doubt people will have as normal a Christmas as possible and we will be able to get things open before Christmas too. That is the objective”
At the same press conference, NHS England chief Sir Simon Stevens took a more cautious note, suggesting “we will know conclusively” on December 2 whether the measures were working — rather than saying they would end then.
The PM’s pledge came as statistics watchdogs slammed his use of data to convince the country of the need for harsher restrictions.
'HARD TO KEEP UP WITH'
The UK Statistics Authority hit out following criticism of modelling used at Saturday’s Downing Street press conference to announce the latest lockdown in England, which suggested deaths could reach 4,000 a day unless action was taken.
They said: “The use of data has not consistently been supported by transparent information being provided in a timely manner.
“As a result, there is potential to confuse the public and undermine confidence in the statistics.”
Hitting back, Mr Johnson said: “We try to make things as clear as we possibly can.”
Just the facts
By Nick McDermott, Health Editor
NHS boss Sir Simon Stevens showed just one slide during last night’s Downing Street briefing.
Gone were the widely discredited dodgy predictions of 4,000 daily deaths. Instead, he revealed that two months ago, 500 Covid patients were taking up hospital beds. Now there are 11,000.
He also said that, in comparison, there are 7,000 cancer patients on wards and 3,000 flu.
But context is key too. There are still 11,000 more spare NHS beds than there were a year ago.
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He acknowledged that the “projections vary widely” and there was also a “political judgment” to be made, taking into account the economic consequences.
He added: “It’s very, very tough to make exactly the right call.”
In a split, Sir Simon directly criticised government doctors Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance’s use of data at press conferences, saying it was at times “a bit hard to keep up with”.
He displayed one simple chart showing the number of patients being looked after in hospitals across England.
He said: “It’s the equivalent of 22 of our hospitals across England full of coronavirus patients.
"Those are facts, those are not projections, forecasts, speculations, those are the patients in the hospital today.”
Mr Johnson also came under pressure to explain falling Covid numbers in London which suggested his tiered system was beginning to work.
Yesterday data showed that in 19 out of 32 London boroughs, cases of the virus had gone down after two weeks of Tier 2 rules.
In 11 boroughs the decline was by more than ten per cent.
Last night Downing Street claimed the “measures we had in place were working in suppressing the virus’s natural rate of spread” but said more had to be done “to go further and protect the NHS.”
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Most read in News
Towns and city centres were a lot quieter on the first day of lockdown yesterday.
Read More on The Sun
In London, Waterloo station saw far fewer rail commuters as more people worked from home.
Newcastle city centre was almost empty for most of the day after shops closed for a month.
The Sun says
THE fact that Covid cases were already plummeting across London is yet more evidence the new lockdown is a mistake.
The tiers system would have worked given the chance. Yes, a few hospitals around Britain are under huge strain, as NHS chief Simon Stevens says. But many have few Covid patients or none.
A nationwide lockdown is a political error for the PM too. It clobbers working-class people far harder than middle-class penpushers still logging on at home for a Zoom call.
And they are exactly the voters the Tories need, and to whom they owe a debt.
Donald Trump exceeded expectations in the US election because he tapped into working-class people’s desire for more opportunity, low tax and tougher action on crime — as well as their rejection of socialist fantasies, woke moralising and “social justice” thuggery.
Boris has to learn from that — and never lose sight of the “levelling-up” agenda which helped him win power.
The impact on working people’s lives and livelihoods should be a key factor in every Covid decision.
Starting with keeping that promise to release us on December 2.
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