Labour Leader Keir Starmer Calls for Second National Lockdown ‘Circuit Break’ in England

PETERBOROUGH, ENGLAND - JULY 31: Labour leader Keir Starmer tours the Automated Wire Bendi
Darren Staples/Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

England should be placed under a two-to-three-week national lockdown to stop the spread of the China virus pronounced the leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer on Tuesday.

In a press conference, Sir Keir said that all pubs, bars, and restaurants throughout England should be closed down by the government again in light of rising cases of the coronavirus.

Starmer characterised the three-tier lockdown system proffered by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday, as an inadequate response and that the government should follow the ‘circuit break’ lockdown suggestion from the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) tasked with spearheading the pandemic response.

“The government’s plan simply isn’t working, another course is needed,” Starmer said, adding: “That’s why I am calling for a two-to-three week circuit break in England in line with Sage’s recommendation.”

“It would mean only essential work and travel. That everyone who can work from home should do so. Non-essential offices should be closed. Household mixing should be restricted to one household except for those who’ve formed support ‘bubbles’,” Starmer explained.

“All pubs, bars and restaurants would be closed for two-to-three weeks – but compensated so that no business loses out because of the sacrifices we all need to make. It should also mean the UK parliament moves to remote working,” Sir Keir went on.

“Introducing these kind of restrictions is not something anyone wants to do. This was not inevitable. But it is now necessary if we are to: protect the NHS, fix testing, and get control of the virus,” he said.

Starmer’s call for a ‘circuit break’ national lockdown follows London Mayor Sadiq Khan calling for the same remedy. Khan told LBC Radio on Tuesday that a second national lockdown “might sound tough” but claimed that the two or three weeks of damage will “ameliorate months of us dealing with the health consequences and the economic consequences as well.”

The calls from the left-wing Labour Party to shut down the economy again flies in the face of the latest advice from the UK’s envoy to the World Health Organization (W.H.O), Dr David Nabarro who said last week that lockdowns have caused a “ghastly global catastrophe” that has only succeeded in increasing poverty.

Dr Nabarro urged world leaders to stop “using lockdowns as your primary control method” of the virus.

“We (W.H.O.) really do appeal to all world leaders: stop using lockdown as your primary control method. Develop better systems for doing it. Work together and learn from each other,” he said.

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