West Midlands MPs urge Boris Johnson to lay out lockdown exit plan
Boris Johnson has been urged to “end uncertainty” for people in the West Midlands by plotting a path out of the coronavirus lockdown.
The Prime Minister returned to work on Sunday with a warning that the country was at the point of “maximum risk” from the disease, and would not be relaxing lockdown measures any time soon.
He was welcomed back by politicians from across the party divide having spent more than three weeks off work with Covid-19.
Labour MPs have today urged him to reveal his plans to lift lockdown restrictions, after party leader Keir Starmer said Britain was “behind the rest of the world” in its planning.
Warley MP John Spellar, who spoke in the Commons about the issue yesterday, called on the Government to “end uncertainty” for businesses.
“There needs to be very clear signals from the Government as to when Britain, and particularly the Midlands, is going to get back to work, and working safely,” he said.
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“I am very pleased that there have been deep discussions about this between companies and unions, particularly in the auto industry.
“Keir Starmer has asked the Government for a clear outline of how we are going to get Britain moving again. I absolutely support that, and very much want to see a road map laid out for Midlands industry.”
Pat McFadden, the MP for Wolverhampton South East and the Shadow Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said: “It’s a mistake to see this as a black and white choice between lockdown and returning to the kind of normality we knew a few months ago. It’s not going to be like that.
“The lockdown was necessary to try get on top of the virus and limit the loss of life. And even with it we have had over 20,000 deaths in hospitals and a real death total that is significantly higher when deaths in care homes and the community are added.
“Governments around the world, including our own, are faced with difficult choices about easing the lockdown. They can’t just flick a switch back to normal.
"We will have to proceed very cautiously and take this step by step. The behavioural changes we have all had to get used to will probably be in place for some time.
“The best approach is to be as open as possible with the public about the risks and trade-offs. That way people will understand the approach and understand why any easing of the current restrictions has to be done very carefully.”
Marco Longhi, the Conservative MP for Dudley North, said he understands why people are frustrated with the lockdown, but said the “worst thing” would be to ease up too soon and allow a second peak of the virus.
He said: “It would be the worst outcome for jobs, for our children and especially our more vulnerable who will be the hardest hit; we would lose even more lives.
“We are a few weeks behind other countries’ lockdown cycle who are considering relaxing lockdown. Our government has been resolute in being guided by medical and scientific advice and it wants to exit lockdown as quickly as anybody does, but only when it is safe to do so.
"It has been guided by medical and scientific advice and it will continue to do so.
"We need to be extremely careful now because by even talking about plans to relax lockdown it can give the impression to some that it’s OK to chance it. It’s not. We could waste all the efforts made so far."
