Covid: MPs to vote on new virus restrictions framework

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MPs are to be given a vote on a proposed new framework for coronavirus restrictions in England, Conservative chief whip Mark Spencer has said.

The approach, which will see three tiers of curbs based on infection rates in different areas, is set to be announced by ministers next week.

No 10 recently promised Parliament a say on new national restrictions to stave off a rebellion by Tory MPs.

Mr Spencer suggested the tiered system was "being worked on at the moment".

He told BBC Radio Nottingham that ministers and scientific advisers were striving to come up with a "very clear and easily understood system…so we all know what the aim is".

The government is under pressure to simplify the patchwork of different restrictions in force across much of the North of England amid concerns from MPs and local leaders that they are confusing, inflexible and in some instances, disproportionate.

Labour's shadow business minister Lucy Powell, who represents a seat in Manchester, said there was "frustration and fury in the North about the way we are being treated by this government".

"They seem to be sitting in their offices in Whitehall striking a red pen through large swathes of our economy," she told BBC Breakfast.

Mayoral meetings

One of Boris Johnson's chief aides, Sir Edward Lister, was due to hold talks later with local leaders from Liverpool, Greater Manchester, Newcastle and Leeds amid criticism they have not been properly consulted.

Liverpool's mayor Joe Anderson said he was "disappointed" by ministers' lack of engagement so far and he was hoping for greater clarity over why further curbs were needed, particularly in the hospitality trade.

"We are absolutely shocked we have a situation in Liverpool where we are being asked to take on extra measures when we know they haven't worked in Newcastle and Manchester," he told BBC News.

Ministers had been expected to announce the new system of tiered restrictions this week but there were reports this has been delayed due to disagreements within cabinet.

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According to a memo seen by the BBC last week, restrictions would be rationalised into three tiers, depending on the level of infection in a particular area.

Two weeks ago, Tory MPs unhappy with lack of Parliamentary scrutiny over local lockdowns forced the government to agree to give them a vote before any new nationwide curbs come into force.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the "convention" would apply to significant announcements applying to the whole of the UK and England although the threshold for what would trigger a vote in Parliament is still not clear.

Mr Spencer, who is in charge of maintaining discipline on the Conservative benches, told BBC Radio Nottingham that the government would honour its promise to its MPs.

He said he hoped the vote would take place next week and the new system would kick in immediately if it was approved by MPs."

Tighter restrictions

Asked about the reported delay in officially announcing the plan, which was briefed to selected newspapers on Wednesday, he said it was "important to get this right rather than fast as it would be very easy to announce something that isn't going to work".

The new system, he suggested, would be similar to the current approach used by government based on infection rates but with greater flexibility built in.

"As we see the disease increase we will obviously go up those tiers but if we can all observe the social distancing and make sure we keep away from each other the disease will hopefully start to go down in number and then we can ease off that again."

The UK government is reportedly considering tighter restrictions on pub, restaurants and other hospitality venues in the worst affected areas.

During a briefing on Thursday led by England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty, 150 MPs from Northern constituencies were shown research from Public Health England suggesting bars, pubs and restaurants accounted for 41% of cases in which two or more under-30s had visited the same venue in the week before testing positive.

They were reportedly told that the number of coronavirus patients in intensive care in the north of England would ultimately surpass the April peak if infections continued to increase at the current rate,