Local lockdowns in UK could spark ‘significant disorder’ and ‘anger at cops’
IMPOSING local lockdowns could lead to "significant disorder", the Government was warned by advisers.
It comes amid reports Leicester could be made subject to Britain's first local lockdown following a spike of infections in the city.
Around 866 people in Leicester were found to have had Covid-19 in the last two weeks. Almost 3,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the city since the start of the pandemic.
There have been outbreaks at food production facilities and five schools have closed.
Asked if the Leicester reports were accurate on the BBC's Andrew Marr show, Home Secretary Priti Patel said: "Well, that is correct".
The Labour MP for Leicester, Claudia Webbe, said today she believes a local lockdown is necessary for her constituency because of "significant levels of African and Asian minority ethnic communities" and "significant levels of poverty".
However, in papers released at the end of May, the Security sub-group, which feeds into the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) warned that imposing local lockdowns "would not be suitable for implementation in the UK".
Experts from Keele University warned it could "undermine the consensus that has been built on the need for restrictive measures and lead to significant issues of disorder".
They added: "The measures as proposed would entail the use of state power in an unprecedented way that could be perceived as discriminatory.
"A consensus has evolved in the UK over the last weeks concerning the need for restrictive measures which suggests that support for restrictive measures is contingent upon a sense of equality of sacrifice (i.e. we are all in together). The proposed scheme undermines this core proposition."
They added: "Anger arising from communities who perceived they have been locked down unfairly would be directed at police in the majority of cases."
City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby insisted more testing data was needed before deciding whether to implement a local lockdown in Leicester.
He argued the information was "key to determining what intervention is needed" to respond to the recent surge in Covid-19 cases.
"If it is decided that a local lockdown is needed the city council currently has no powers to implement this, and there would need to be extensive discussion around the area to be locked down, including whether this extends beyond the city boundaries," he added.
Discussing that, Ms Patel said: "There will be support going into Leicester and in fact the Health Secretary was in touch with many of us over the weekend explaining some of the measures, the support on testing, resources that will go into the local authority as well."
Jonathan Ashworth, Labour's shadow health secretary and Leicester South MP, said Ms Patel had "got slightly in a muddle" about a possible district lockdown.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's World At The Weekend programme, Mr Ashworth said he had been in touch with health secretary Matt Hancock, adding: "Based on the conversations we've had in the last 24 hours I don't believe a local lockdown in Leicester is about to be proposed."
The Department of Health and Social Care acknowledged the city was an area of concern as it urged residents to be vigilant against the virus.
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The focus on Leicester's future came as a leading scientist warned the country remains "on a knife edge" ahead of lockdown measures being further relaxed next month.
Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, said he was worried about a possible spike in infections ahead of the reopening of pubs, restaurants and hairdressers from July 4.
Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr show, he warned of the possibility of a "very nasty rebound" of coronavirus in the winter if the UK does not use the next few months "sensibly".
Asked if that meant more people losing their lives, he said: "It could do."
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The UK's overall coronavirus death toll is 43,550, the worst in Europe.
However the Government figures do not include all deaths involving Covid-19 across the UK, which are thought to have passed 54,000.
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