Government urged to reevaluate lockdown restrictions

Sacha Lord, the night time economy advisor for Greater Manchester, has urged parliament to reassess its latest lockdown measures.

In a letter to the government legal department, Lord picked upon the “insufficient level of detail” provided by the study used to back up lockdown measures.

He also called upon three key areas of concern, including the 10pm curfew on the hospitality industry, the requirement that alcohol must be served with a substantial meal, and the geographical thresholds for certain restrictions.

The letter highlights the problems caused by the government taskforce using a study of 154 people from the USA to dictate hospitality measurements in the UK.

It says: “The only consistent information we have about the participants in the CDC study is that they were all adults who tested either positive or negative in the US in July 2020.

“Again, this makes the CDC study unreliable insofar as it can be used to justify or guide restrictions in the UK in October 2020.”

Also included in the letter are concerns in relation to the level of information being relayed to the public.

The letter adds that the public has not yet received “any scientific evidence” from an advisory group or body regarding “the decision to impose a 10.00pm curfew”, or “any impact assessment conducted by the Government” in respect of the spread of the virus in bars and restaurants.

As a proposed plan of action, the letter pushed for a return to a new and improved set of “tiered regulations”.