The Prime Minister has announced the whole of England will enter a third national lockdown from today, expected to last well into February.
Steve Brine MP commented; "When Hampshire went into Tier 4 on Boxing Day I said, if this was about getting ahead of the curve, it would be wise to put the whole country into lockdown then because few doubted that’s where will end up in January.
“Truth is, the virus has outpaced everyone - across the world - and the new variant leaves our Government with absolutely no choice but whichever way you look at this, it's a disaster for our economy and our society.
“The thing that is different this time, and promises to end the ruinous cycle of lockdown and release is the vaccine but unless we see nationwide a programme that has the ambition to match the challenge that promise will allude us and 2021 will be a lot like 2020.
“I am pressing Ministers at every opportunity, publicly and privately, to publish that vaccination roadmap and clarify exactly what supply we actually have when, because literally everything now rests on that.
“Personally I think schools, certainly primary schools and older settings for exam cohorts, should be open this month with rigorous testing and priority vaccination for teachers and support staff but it seems that decision has been made in the other direction.”
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