Greater Manchester refuses ‘fundamentally flawed’ tier 3 lockdown

LOCAL leaders in Greater Manchester have come together to slam the Government’s ‘fundamentally flawed’ three-tier COVID-19 plan and back Labour’s call for a national ‘circuit-breaker’ lockdown.

A joint statement from 12 key politicians, including Greater Manchester’s Mayor, Deputy Mayors, and all ten local council leaders have branded the possibility of the region being put under tier three restrictions ‘unacceptable’ without more financial support.

The ‘unified’ intervention comes as discussions continue over whether the region and Lancashire should be put under strict tier-three restrictions, alongside the Liverpool City Region, in response to rising COVID-19 infection rates.

The statement, published Today, Wednesday October 14, states, ‘A number of Leaders in Greater Manchester believe a national circuit break, with the required financial support would be a preferable option. This would create the conditions for a re-set of the Test and Trace service into a more locally-controlled operation which, with cases driven down to a lower level, would be more likely to succeed.’

All of the Greater Manchester leaders who signed the statement are Labour politicians, except the Tory leader of Bolton council. However, in Lancashire, the council chief has said the extra tier-three restrictions are ‘inevitable’.

Conservative county council leader Geoff Driver warned hospital admissions would reach the level they were at the height of the first wave within three weeks if measures were not brought in.