Starmer Demands U.K. Virus Lockdown, Piling Pressure on Johnson

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K.’s opposition Labour Party called for a national “circuit breaker” lockdown in England, adding to pressure on Boris Johnson after coronavirus deaths soared to their highest daily level since June.

Keir Starmer, the party’s leader, demanded immediate action from the prime minister to get the virus under control. “If we don’t, we can sleepwalk into a long and bleak winter,” he said in a televised statement on Tuesday.

His intervention followed the release of documents from the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) on Monday, which showed scientists had last month recommended a national lockdown lasting two to three weeks as cases continued to rise across the U.K.

Pressure is building on Johnson, who has said throughout the pandemic that he is “following the science,” to take tougher action to slow the spread of the virus. But he stood firm on Tuesday evening, telling Conservative MPs via Zoom that he is against a repeat of the national lockdown that shuttered businesses earlier in the year.

He has repeatedly accused Starmer of changing his position on the pandemic and likened Labour to a broken shopping trolley in his virtual meeting with Tory lawmakers, according to two people who attended.

Death Toll

Official figures released on Tuesday showed 143 people in the U.K. died after testing positive for Covid-19, bringing the total death toll to 43,018. That’s the highest daily rate since June 10, according to the government’s coronavirus dashboard.

Under Starmer’s proposal, schools would stay open but non-essential businesses would close, including all pubs, bars and restaurants. It would need to be backed with substantial government financial support, he said. The measure would last for the same two to three weeks recommended by SAGE.

Separate figures on Tuesday showed there were 3,905 Covid-19 patients in the hospital in England, up from 2,783 the previous week. Some 441 Covid-19 patients were in mechanical ventilation beds, compared to 349 a week earlier.

“The trend in Covid-related deaths is starting to rise quickly, which is hugely concerning,” Yvonne Doyle, medical director at Public Health England, said in an emailed statement. “We have seen cases increasing, especially in older age groups, which is leading to more hospital admissions.”

Warnings

Johnson announced Monday that bars and pubs will be closed in the worst-hit parts of England. But Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty warned the new measures won’t be enough.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he favors additional restrictions in the capital and they could come as soon as this week as cases and hospitalizations rise.

“Londoners should understand that this could change very quickly -- potentially even this week,” Khan told the BBC. “For a short period of time having additional restrictions to stop the virus spreading and dealing with it is far more effective in the medium-to-long term.”

Yet on the other side of the debate, Johnson is facing accusations that he is going too far in his restrictions, with many Tory MPs raising concerns over people’s jobs and mental health.

Chris Green, MP for Bolton West, resigned as a ministerial aide on Tuesday, saying in a letter to Johnson that “the attempted cure is worse than the disease.”

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