The Prime Minister today failed to completely rule out further lockdowns – despite being dead set against more restrictions – amid growing concerns over the spread of Covid-19 this autumn and winter.
On a visit to Leicester today Boris Johnson said he was keen to avoid further significant measures ahead of an announcement tomorrow setting out how vaccinations will be key to slowing the spread of coronavirus in the months to come.
Speaking to BusinessLive and Radio Leicester he said: “I do want to stress directly, we don’t want to be going back to regional tiering or that type of approach.
“I don’t think that is where we want to go back to.
“Clearly we don’t want to be going back to lockdowns of any kind and I will be setting out how we hope to avoid that.
“But we will have to keep some tools in reserve.”
Guidance to work from home and mandatory face masks could form part of the next stage in tackling Covid-19, with rules that are no longer needed - such as the traffic lights travel system - being ditched.
Mr Johnson spoke on a visit to see work being done at the British Gas Training academy – one of four being used to train up 3,500 engineers over the next decade as the business heads towards a zero carbon future.
He was joined on the trip by Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
The Prime Minister said: “We’ve got to do everything that’s right to protect the country.
“But the way things are going at the moment we’re very confident in the steps that we’ve taken.”
Number 10 also said another lockdown over winter would only be considered as a “last resort”.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters: “We are in a very different place than where we were previously when other lockdowns were introduced, thanks to the success of our vaccine programme and other things like therapeutics treatments for coronavirus.
“We would only ever consider those sort of measures as a last resort and we will set out in more detail tomorrow what our approach will be should we see a significant increase in cases.”
Mr Johnson was also asked if he was confident that shops would be adequately stocked for Christmas in light of current shortages caused by the UK HGV driver crisis.
The PM said: “I do.
“I think that we have very resilient supply chains and my information is that people shouldn’t worry about that.
“I think I would give the same advice that we’ve given throughout the pandemic – which is we don’t think under any circumstances that panic buying makes sense.
“We’ve got very resilient supply chains.”
Bosses from major companies such as the Co-op and distribution giant Pall-Ex have blamed a combination of Brexit and the pandemic on a shortfall of 60,000-or-so drivers.
However the PM said Europe as a whole was facing a problem of young people not choosing HGV driving as a career.
He said: “There are issues to do with the HGV profession at the moment, they are appearing across Europe.
“But one thing we have done – don’t forget – is we took advantage of that new freedom we have to move beyond EU regulation and to allow people with post-97 driving licences to drive bigger vehicles as well.”
He said the Government was also encouraging young people into training – for instance offering businesses £3,000 for each new apprentice they take on – and said wages were up 4 per cent than where they were before the pandemic.
Overall, he said, the economy had bounced back strongly from the pandemic.
He said: “You’ve got a situation now where unemployment is 2 million below what people forecast – we are going through the fastest growth in the G7.”
Following months of reports of some smaller sub-contractors in Leicester’s textile sector exploiting staff, the PM said his Government was campaigning against modern slavery.
He said: “I think it’s a total abomination and we believe that people should treat their employees properly and responsibly.
“What I would urge is people who are aware of illegal practices, whether here or anywhere in the country, should blow the whistle.”
He was also bullish about future rail plans for the East and West Midlands and Yorkshire in light of concerns over the planned HS2 eastern section which is set to join Birmingham to Toton in Notts, Sheffield, then Leeds.
He the regions affected would have to wait and see what the Government’s Integrated Rail Plan had to say, despite suggestions the eastern leg could be cut short half way, and end at Parkway Station near East Midlands Airport.
He said: “I think the plans will be fantastic for the East Midlands and HS2, as it develops, is going to be transformative across the whole of the country.”
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