The Conversation (0)
Sirena Bergman
Oct 15, 2020
Matt Hancock has announced today that a number of new regions will be moved into "tier 2 lockdown" from Friday.
The tier system was unveiled by Boris Johnson on Monday, and essentially groups lockdowns into three different sets of rules. London was initially placed in the lowest bracket (Tier 1), but health minister Helen Whately informed London MPs of the change in a conference call earlier today.
Tier 2 restrictions mean that people from different households will no longer be allowed to meet at home or at any indoor public spaces. The "rule of six" for outdoor gatherings will also remain in place, and pubs and restaurants will be able to remain open with a 10pm curfew.
According to The Guardian, London Tory MPs expressed anger at being "shut out" of the discussions, and saying the government had "failed to make the case" for the tightening of restrictions.
Other regions being placed in tier 2 include Essex, Elmbridge, Barrow-in-Furness, York, north-east Derbyshire, Erewash and Chesterfield, but Hancock said no decisions had been taken yet on Greater Manchester or Lancashire, which are currently in tier 2 but may be moved up to tier 3, meaning residents would not be allowed to socialised with other households outdoors.
People had a lot to say about the new rules.
Labour MP for Oldham West & Royton Jim McMahon was not impressed with the lack of clarity.
The Covid-19 meeting with Government is over and it was absolutely pointless. No consultation, no evidence was shar… https://t.co/8lCbVvYbcO— Jim McMahon MP (@Jim McMahon MP) 1602757433
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner blamed the government for the situation, saying it had "failed to deliver a test and trace system that works, despite having 7 months to do so".
We are in this situation because the government has failed to deliver a test and trace sytem that works, despite ha… https://t.co/O0YCTBFBBj— Angela Rayner (@Angela Rayner) 1602756135
Labour MP for Wigan Lisa Nandy pointed out that the fact that tier 2 is now affecting London means it's getting a lot of attention which wasn't offered to other parts of the country.
My heart goes out 100% to Londoners facing the difficulty of living with tier 2 rules but to those ‘national’ journ… https://t.co/VARb19iQKF— Lisa Nandy (@Lisa Nandy) 1602752429
Fellow Labour MP Wes Streeting – among others – echoed this sentiment:
As I said on @bbc5live this morning and will be repeating in other media today, many parts of the country will be l… https://t.co/KygyAWPZj0— Wes Streeting MP (@Wes Streeting MP) 1602757256
We've already talked about this on the pod a lot but it is really not good how substantially the coverage of the co… https://t.co/7wY5TDgZjp— Ailbhe Rea (@Ailbhe Rea) 1602757375
Liverpool in tier 3? Whatever. London in tier 2? Shit just got serious. Now important people are affected.— Nooruddean (@Nooruddean) 1602759050
Streeting also highlighted the difficulties this would present for businesses in the hospitality industry:
With Tier 2 restrictions looming for London, so many businesses are facing the prospect of being open in name only:… https://t.co/RGLnb3nJlc— Wes Streeting MP (@Wes Streeting MP) 1602755561
Journalists Rob Davies, Stig Abell, Kate Andrews, Dan Bloom and Stephen Bush explained further:
British Beer & Pubs Association on Tier 2 restrictions: “Tier two restrictions will decimate pubs, brewers and thei… https://t.co/ChvdZLM5Tu— Rob Davies (@Rob Davies) 1602760833
Tier 3 means destroying the hospitality industry but paying compensation. Tier 2 means destroying it without compensation.— Stig Abell (@Stig Abell) 1602759042
Just cancelled 3 restaurant reservations which have all been rendered illegal from Sat because they involve additio… https://t.co/BSlDXzGkOL— Kate Andrews (@Kate Andrews) 1602756010
1/4 The big Tier 2 problem. From Sat, no one - no matter where they live - can have a multi household gathering ind… https://t.co/J2UnNTIbGh— Dan Bloom (@Dan Bloom) 1602754957
Lots of people also seemed generally quite confused by the new rules.
Saddened to hear London will move from Tier 1 to Tier 2 at weekend, imagine how upset you’d be if you actually knew what any of this meant.— Jonny Mounsor (@Jonny Mounsor) 1602752832
Trying to work out exactly what a tier 2 ruling means for us in London and I honestly just can't get my head around… https://t.co/N32X8UoeiN— Lucy Mapstone (@Lucy Mapstone) 1602753015
Although others thought they'd cracked the code.
Tier 2 local lockdown is Tier 1 but with a Gucci belt— #DISUNOMICS (@#DISUNOMICS) 1602754272
And there were some unexpected side effects of the new terminology:
A-haaaaa...
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