Northern MPs seek ‘clear roadmap’ out of lockdown

The Northern Research Group has warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson not to leave constituencies ‘locked into lockdown’ indefinitely.

Led by Jake Berry, the group of Northern Conservative backbenchers have called for a ‘clear roadmap’ for easing and ending restrictions. A number of the figures in the NRG are Conservative MPs in northern England whose constituencies were on tier 2 and the highest - tier 3 - restrictions before national lockdown started.

Berry has asked Johnson to give ‘reassurances’ that there would be ‘a clear roadmap down the tiering system and out of restrictions when this lockdown ends’. He also asked the Prime Minister to ‘accelerate shovel-ready infrastructure projects already in the pipeline" and create "a northern economic recovery plan’.

The lockdown, scheduled to end on 2 December, involves pubs, restaurants, gyms and non-essential shops closing. People are also being told not to leave home unless necessary, while households must not mix unless part of the same support bubble.

Berry, MP for Rossendale and Darwen, Lancashire, said: "Whilst the South has faced fewer restrictions in recent months, the North has been held back under one form of restriction or another - and significant parts have been in tier 3 restrictions for two weeks prior to [the 4 Novermber] vote. We share concerns that after this second national lockdown ends on 2 December, our northern constituencies are the most likely to go back into the higher levels of the regional tiering system."