Traffic light lockdown ‘delayed’ but restrictions could be ramped up in North as cases surge

Ministers are divided over enforcing stricter rules and protecting the economy as cases surge.

The prime minister is facing Tory revolt over potentially delayed national lockdown restrictions – but measures could be ramped up in the North as cases continue to surge.

Boris Johnson is facing in-party rebellion with senior ministers divided over enforcing stricter measures and protecting the economy, while leaders in the North have urged him not to call another ‘economic’ lockdown.

The Government’s scientific advisers have reportedly urged the PM to ‘take urgent and drastic action’ to slow the spread of the virus, as transmission rates soar and hospital admissions creep up.

Johnson is said to be considering putting millions in the North into lockdown, with pubs, restaurants and all but essential shops forced to close in hard-hit cities. Workplaces and schools would stay open.

Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle city council leaders and Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson wrote to the health secretary saying they are ‘extremely concerned’ with the rise in cases but asked for greater powers of their own.

Visit our live blog for the latest updates Coronavirus news live

The Labour politicians wrote: ‘The existing restrictions are not working, confusing for the public and some, like the 10pm rule, are counter-productive.’

They called for additional powers to punish those who break rules, for new restrictions to be developed by police, council and public health experts, and for a locally-controlled test and trace system.

‘We want to be clear however that we do not support further economic lockdowns,’ the leaders added.

The calls came as the UK-wide seven-day rate increased to 125.7 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people – up from 63.8 a week ago, according to analysis by the PA news agency.

A Downing Street source told The Sun: ‘The numbers are going the wrong way, and there will come a point very soon where we simply have to do more.’

A Government source also said ‘alarm bells are ringing across Whitehall’ over the concerning figures, telling Politico: ‘It looks increasingly like further action will need to be taken soon.

‘There are indications the disease is starting to spread more amongst the older population — those most at risk of hospitalisation and death.’

It comes after Rishi Sunak made an 11th-hour intervention which could delay the announcement of the so-called traffic light system which was planned to be released today, reported The Telegraph.

The three-tier system aims to simplify restrictions by assigning areas to Level 1, 2 or 3 depending on the severity of the outbreak.

But the chancellor is understood to be pushing to create a new three-person committee including himself, the PM and the health secretary, to have more control over any new local lockdown measures.

The move would reportedly remove Michael Gove, who has been calling for tighter restrictions, from any decisions.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.