LOCAL leaders today effectively told residents to ignore the Government’s advice for Indian variant hotspots – and blasted ministers for sparking a day of mass confusion.
Leicester Council urged people to continue following the national guidance, while the boss of Bolton Council said their situation hadn’t changed either.
Last night it was revealed the Government had quietly changed its guidance to warn against entering or leaving eight areas where the mutation is rife.
It applies to Bedford, Blackburn, Bolton, Burley, Kirklees, Leicester, Hounslow and North Tyneside.
The change in the advice caused chaos, with affected MPs railing against Westminster imposing “local locdowns lite through the backdoor”.
But during a press conference today Bolton Council leader David Greenhalgh categorically said there were no regional restrictions.
He said: “After a series of calls with senior officials from the Government, PHE and NHS we are in a position to say with assurance there is no added restrictions coming to Bolton. There is no local locladown.
He said people should “just behave sensibly” and don’t need to cancel their holidays.
Officials in Leicester council echoed: “The new advice on the government’s website is just that, and we don’t have any evidence as to why people or businesses in Leicester should not continue to follow the existing national guidance.”
North Tyneside’s director of public health Wendy Burke added: “We have met with national officials and confirmed there are no restrictions on travel in or out of North Tyneside. There are no local lockdowns.”
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham asked people to exercise their own judgement – and hit out at a massive “communications error”.
He fumed: “Schools are confused about whether trips can happen, amateur sport has been thrown into chaos, people also have plans for the bank holiday.”
The Labour big beast demanded a minister issue an urgent statement today clarifying the situation.
He also vowed to fight any future local lockdowns, with Mr Greenhalgh warning of public unrest if they were ever revived in the future.
Answering a question from Trending In The News, he said: “There’s an underlying resentment that could lead to anger.
“I don’t think I’m over exaggerating, you only have to look at social media to see the tensions that are rising.”
Downing Street insists the areas are not bound by law to follow this advice – and therefore won’t receive any more emergency cash.
Blackburn MP Kate Hollern accused the Government of rolling out “lockdown lite through the backdoor.”
She tweeted: “The guidance is likely to have major implications on businesses, schools and the hospitality sector and I’m furious that the Government hasn’t bothered to consult the local authorities involved.”
Tory Jake Berry, whose Rossendale and Darwen constituency is affected by the advice, complained about not being told beforehand.
And he slapped down No10 claims it did not amount to a local lockdown: “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, more often than not it is a duck.”
The new government guidance states: “The new Covid-19 variant spreads more easily from person to person. To help stop the spread, you should take particular caution when meeting anyone outside your household or support bubble.
“In the areas listed, wherever possible, you should try to meet outside rather than inside where possible, keep two metres apart from people that you don’t live with (unless you have formed a support bubble with them), this includes friends and family you don’t live with, [and] avoid travelling in and out of affected areas unless it is essential, for example for work (if you cannot work from home) or education.”
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman stressed that the new guidance affecting eight Indian variant hotspot areas was “not statutory”.
The spokesman said: “It is important to emphasise that this is guidance, these are not statutory restrictions placed on those local areas.
“We have talked before about where we are at this stage in the pandemic in the UK, where we are able to move away from top-down edicts from the Government and start transitioning to a position where we have moved back to where the public are able to exercise their good judgment, as they have done throughout.
“We will continue to monitor the situation.”
Yasmin Qureshi, Labour MP for Bolton South East and shadow international development minister, said: “I was not informed of this and I understand nor was anyone else in Bolton.
“I’m just gobsmacked. They’re making such an important announcement and they don’t even have the decency to tell us or tell our constituents.
“The least I would expect is a letter or email from (Matt Hancock) or his office as a matter of courtesy.
“Further and more importantly, my constituents needed to know. Many will have planned for the long weekend, bought tickets, made arrangements.
“And it’s still not clear if this is advisory or legally obligatory. This is typical of this Government’s incompetence.”
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