Leicester City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby told LBC he was “angry and frustrated” that a meeting with Government officials scheduled for 9am on Monday had been cancelled.
He said a document sent to him by the Government at around 1am had “very little substance” and only suggested that restrictions due to be lifted for the rest of the country on July 4 should remain in place for Leicester for an extra two weeks.
He said there was “incredible frustration” in getting figures out of the Government “after weeks of asking”, adding that some officials had visited Leicester, “talked to a few people” and had then “cobbled together” a report.
Anger
He also told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme of his anger, saying: “It was only last Thursday that we finally got some of the data we need but we’re still not getting all of it and it was only at 1.04am that the recommendations for Leicester arrived in my inbox.
“What they’re suggesting is not a return to lockdown, it seems that what they’re suggesting is that we continue the present level of restriction for a further two weeks beyond July 4.
“I’ve looked at this report and frankly it’s obviously been cobbled together very hastily.
“It’s superficial and its description of Leicester is inaccurate and certainly it does not provide us with the information we need if we are to remain restricted for two weeks longer than the rest of the country.”
Leicester public health director Ivan Browne was also critical about the level of information given to the city to tackle the outbreak.
He told the Today programme: “I don’t think at the moment we’re seeing a single cause or a single smoking gun on this, so we need really try to dig down and find out what is going on and it’s likely to be a combination of factors.
“Information has been challenging all the way through this.”
Lockdown
Labour MP for Leicester East, Claudia Webbe, said she believes a local lockdown is necessary for her constituency due to risk factors for coroanvirus including poverty and “significant levels of African and Asian minority ethnic communities”.
On Sunday, Home Secretary Priti Patel, in interviews with broadcasters, appeared to confirm Leicester would be locked down.
But Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow health secretary and Leicester South MP, said Ms Patel had “got slightly in a muddle” about a possible lockdown.
He said he had spoken to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, adding: “I don’t believe a local lockdown in Leicester is about to be proposed.”
It comes as restrictions are being eased elsewhere in the UK, with parks and shops with outdoor entrances able to reopen in Scotland, and schools in Wales welcoming more pupils.
The Welsh Government said schools will operate with staggered starts and breaks for “check-in, catch-up and prepare” sessions starting on Monday.
Related – PMQs – PM’s fluster-busting op tackles localised outbreaks of the truth
