Boris Johnson rules out half term national circuit-breaker lockdown for England

22 October 2020, 07:52 | Updated: 22 October 2020, 07:57

Johnson resists calls for a 'circuit breaker' national lockdown

Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, the Prime Minister confirmed that a national lockdown in England won't be taking place this half term.

Boris Johnson has ruled out a two-week half term 'circuit-breaker' national lockdown, following calls to adopt the measure from Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer.

Speaking during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons yesterday, Mr Starmer called on the government to introduce the lockdown for half term, which starts this Friday.

Read more: One-hour £80 coronavirus airport tests that could cut quarantines launch

Ruling out the proposed national lockdown, Boris Johnson said that he would be sticking to the tier system, reiterating that he wants to keep schools and businesses open.

Last week, Mr Johnson announced that England would be adopting a traffic-light style tiered system of lockdown rules.

The new model of 'Local Covid Alert Levels' intends to simplify the lockdown rules in the country, and sees different areas placed into different categories depending on the infection rate.

The levels are medium (tier one), high (tier two), and very high (tier three).

Read more: South & West Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and other Covid hotspots at risk of tier three lockdown

Earlier this week, it was announced that Greater Manchester would join Liverpool and Lancaster in the 'very high' tier three category.

Speaking from No.10 Downing Street on Tuesday (20 October), the Prime Minister said that the decision had been taken in response to a high level of coronavirus cases in the area.

He said: "This evening, informed by the data we’ve just seen, I can announce that Greater Manchester will move to the very high level."

Under level three, residents of Greater Manchester will not be able to meet up with people outside their households in indoor and outdoor hospitality settings (though the rule of six will apply to public spaces like parks and beaches), pubs (that cannot operate under restaurant conditions) will be asked to close, and the public will be strongly advised not to travel into and out of the area.

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