• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • FAQ
  • Meet the Team
  • About The London Economic
  • Advertise
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
NEWSLETTER
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News

U-turn imminent? Hancock refuses to rule out third national lockdown

“We don’t rule anything out," Hancock said, when asked about the prospect of a new national lockdown.

Henry Goodwin by Henry Goodwin
January 4, 2021
in News

Another Government volte-face could be imminent, after Matt Hancock refused to rule out a third national lockdown amid concerns the new variant coronavirus is spreading out of control.

Mr Hancock hailed the start of the rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine as an 82-year-old former maintenance manager became the first person to receive the jab outside of clinical trials.

He said the NHS has the capacity to deliver two million doses a week of the vaccine once it receives supplies from the manufacturers.

But with the latest data showing a 33 per cent rise in the number of confirmed coronavirus patients in hospital in England between Christmas Day and 2 January, he warned there would be “some very difficult weeks” to come.

‘We don’t rule anything out’

Asked about the prospect of another national lockdown, he acknowledged that the current restrictions are insufficient to control the spread of the disease.

He told Sky News: “We don’t rule anything out, and we’ve shown repeatedly that we will look at the public health advice and we will take the public health advice in terms of what is needed to control the spread of the disease.

“This new variant is much easier to catch, it is much more transmissible, and we’re now seeing the effect of that in lots of different parts of the country, unfortunately.

RelatedPosts

More Cronyism? PR firm with Tory links provides test and trace ‘reputation management’

Jonah Hill posts perfect response to Daily Mail article as he hits out at body shamers

Brazilian Covid arrives in UK as PM claims we have ‘very tough regime’ at borders

‘Lawlessness and disorder’ – around half of UK police stations closed in past decade

“And it means that, whereas the old Tier 3 was able to contain the old variant, that is proving increasingly difficult in all parts of the country.”

Despite the concerns, Mr Hancock insisted it is safe for primary schools to reopen in all but the worst-hit areas of England following the Christmas break. He said teachers are at no greater risk of contracting the disease than the rest of the population.

“There is clear public health advice behind the position that we have taken and that is what people should follow because, of course, education is very important as well, especially for people’s long-term health,” he said.

‘Chaotic handling of school openings’

However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is coming under pressure from unions in the education sector to order a “pause” in a return to the classroom until the safety of staff and pupils can be guaranteed.

In a joint statement, the GMB, NAHT, NASUWT, NEU, Unison and Unite unions said there is a “serious risk” of staff falling ill while the rate of infection is so high.

“The Government’s chaotic handling of the opening of schools has caused confusion for teachers, school staff and parents alike,” they said.

“Bringing all pupils back into classrooms while the rate of infection is so high is exposing education sector workers to serious risk of ill-health and could fuel the pandemic.”

For Labour, shadow education secretary Kate Green said there needs to be a “stronger set” of coronavirus restrictions in place with a clear “stay at home” message to the public.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It is very clear that the Government has lost control of the virus, we’re seeing a really alarming rise in cases and in the spread of the infection.”

Related: Matt Hancock claims the public is to blame for spreading coronavirus

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Support fearless, free, investigative journalism Support fearless, free, investigative journalism Support fearless, free, investigative journalism

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending fromTLE

  • All
  • trending

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

Stress, fear and homelessness: The threat looming over families confronted with eviction

File photo dated 07/11/03 of a prison cell.

The Other Prison Pandemic

Latest from TLE

Image by AdobeStock

Weather forecast, alerts and UVB index for London, Tuesday 2 March 2021

Lucky Numbers and Horoscopes for today, 2 March 2021

Glasgow Film Festival 2021

Set For Life Results Monday 1st March 2021

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: jack@thelondoneconomic.com

Commercial enquiries, please contact: advertise@thelondoneconomic.com

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech & Auto
  • About The London Economic
  • Meet the Team
  • Privacy policy

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.