WORRIED MPs, including Tory backbenchers, have raised concerns that plans to place more regions into tier 4 on Boxing Day is a ploy to essentially enforce yet another lockdown on the United Kingdom.
A plan for national lockdown enforced from Boxing Day was discussed at a top-level government meeting – with many more areas planned to be place into Tier 4 before Christmas, leaving further millions of people facing the tightest of restrictions.
Government discussed the plans at a Gold Command meeting on Tuesday, with one source from inside the meeting stating: “The situation is developing quickly so we need to respond at the same pace.
“It’s more likely that other parts of England could be put into Tier 4 from Boxing Day”.
The city of Birmingham is one such area expected to be placed into the highest tier level.
Sources in the meeting said they eventually decided that they could delay the drastic move towards a national lockdown for now – yet some MPs and politicians have raised concerns that the act would essentially be a ‘national lockdown in all but name’.
A Tory MP told VoteWatch: “What government seem to be doing is attempting to dodge the growing criticism from members of the public over what they see as unnecessary and significantly damaging national lockdowns, by sneaking one in through the back door in the form of tier fours that many of us suspect will be rolled out across the board”.
Under tier 4 restrictions, non-essential shops, hairdressers, and leisure and entertainment venues must close, with a new “stay at home” message introduced and a rule that households must not mix.
