Coronavirus England: Police chief slams leak of second lockdown plan

The chairman of the Police Federation has slammed a ‘deeply unhelpful’ leak of the Government’s plan for a second lockdown which forced Prime Minister Boris Johnson to announce the new measure on Saturday, days earlier than planned.

John Apter said the leak ‘created a media frenzy, concern and speculation’ at a time when it was important to have ‘no blurred lines or confusion around rules’.

Such confusion made effectively policing the new restrictions more difficult, Apter said in a statement on Saturday, adding that it came at a time when officers are ‘already under enough pressure’. 

‘My colleagues have been doing their best to police restrictions which have changed on a regular basis and have often been confusing…

‘We must be clear in what we are asking of the public and what we are expecting of the police. The information from Government must be clear and unambiguous. Anything less makes the policing of this pandemic even more challenging than it is already.

Apter said police would continue to work ‘around the clock to protect the public’ and urged the public ‘not to give up’ despite the tough new measures.

‘The majority of people have been with us all the way and must continue to do so now in order to protect each other and reduce the spread of this virus’.

Apter’s comments came as the Prime Minister plunged England into a month-long lockdown – and his party into near civil war.

Cabinet Ministers and Tory MPs warned that the fresh restrictions coming into force on Thursday would devastate the already fragile economy, and they expressed fury that they only learned about the drastic measures through newspaper reports.

At a hastily arranged TV press conference, the Prime Minister said that ‘by taking tough action now’ he hoped to save Christmas for families. 

Non-essential shops, pubs, gyms and restaurants will close for four weeks, but schools and universities will stay open.

Mr Johnson said the extreme approach – described within Government as ‘losing November to save December’ – was needed to avoid the ‘medical and moral disaster’ of overwhelming the NHS. 

Without such measures, he said, doctors and nurses may be forced to choose ‘between who lived and who died’.

‘We have to be humble in the face of nature,’ Mr Johnson told the nation.

However, the announcement represents another Government U-turn, away from the previous strategy of regional restrictions.

The Prime Minister was also forced to bring forward the announcement from Monday after news of the decision leaked from Friday’s meeting of the Covid ‘Quad’: Mr Johnson, Health Secretary Matt Hancock, Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove. 

The leak meant most of the Cabinet learned about the lockdown from newspapers rather than from the Prime Minister.

As a furious Mr Johnson announced an immediate leak inquiry, multiple Government sources sought to pin the blame on Mr Hancock by accusing him of trying to ‘bump’ the Prime Minister into announcing the lockdown before he could have second thoughts. The Health Secretary strenuously denied the claims.

An emergency Cabinet meeting yesterday afternoon overran as ‘hawks’ opposed to the lockdown warned of the dire economic impact and demanded details of a new support package. One Cabinet Minister said they were ‘f****** furious’, adding: ‘Everything is on fire.’

Many Tory backbenchers were in uproar, with some even threatening to vote against the plan in the Commons on Wednesday.

Party whips warned the 2019 intake of Tory MPs from the so-called ‘Red Wall’ of traditionally Labour seats in the North of England, who have led the opposition, that they ‘could kiss their careers goodbye’ if they voted against the Government and ‘should beware of the D-word – deselection’.

Former Tory Cabinet Minister David Davis said that deciding on a second national lockdown was probably even bigger than ‘a decision to go to war’ and it was essential that MPs were given a ‘substantive vote’ on Wednesday, with the chance to amend the motion. 

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle was among those understood to be disappointed that the details were not given first to MPs.

Under the new restrictions, which take effect from a minute past midnight on November 5 and last until December 2:

All pubs and restaurants will close, but takeaways and deliveries will be allowed and only essential shops such as supermarkets, off-licences and newsagents will be allowed to open.

The mixing of people inside homes and gardens will be banned outside of a ‘support bubble’ while schools, universities and courts will remain open while manufacturing and construction will continue.

Domestic travel and outbound international journeys will only be allowed for work purposes and church services will be banned.

Outdoor exercise will be encouraged as gyms close and elite sport such as Premier League football will continue behind closed doors.

During the press conference – which was postponed so many times that it ended up crashing into the prime-time TV programmes including Strictly Come Dancing – Mr Johnson said: ‘We will get through this, but we must act now to contain this autumn surge.’

Amid another day of Covid drama and Government chaos a further 326 UK Covid deaths were recorded – almost double last Saturday’s tally – but infections were down five per cent on a week ago at 21,915.

This newspaper established that Mr Johnson only agreed to the lockdown at the ‘Quad’ meeting after learning there could be up to 4,000 deaths a day by Christmas if no action was taken – with the NHS running out of beds and municipal ice rinks forced to become temporary mortuaries.

It was also announced on Saturday that the Treasury’s furlough scheme supporting workers will be extended until the end of November.

Ministers also promised to deploy the Army to oversee a ‘steady but massive expansion’ of quick turnaround Covid tests.

In response to the news that schools would remain open during the new lockdown, teachers’ unions sparked fury by calling for schools to be closed again.

Business leaders reacted to the new lockdown with ire. Luke Johnson, former chairman of restaurant chain Pizza Express, said: ‘This will be a catastrophe and will shatter any remaining confidence.’

James Daunt, boss of Waterstones, said that ‘everyone in retail is in a perilous situation’ and advertising tycoon Sir Martin Sorrell accused the Prime Minister of ‘chaotic and knee-jerk’ messaging.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, warned stores faced a ‘nightmare before Christmas’, causing ‘untold damage to the high street and cost countless jobs’.

Meanwhile, MPs were furious at the idea the Government had been ‘bounced’ into announcing the lockdown measures because of the leak. 

One Tory said: ‘The leak has only helped those who were pushing for a national lockdown. But whoever it is has not won themselves any favours with people on any side of the argument.’

Another said Mr Johnson was ‘under immense pressure from the Right of the party… it will get worse after a Brexit deal – the Right won’t feel they need Boris any more.’

In an attempt to appease MPs, the Prime Minister sent a WhatsApp message to his backbenchers in which he said he was ‘so sorry that you’ve had to hear about all this from the newspapers today’.

Responding to the claims that he was responsible for the leak, an ally of Mr Hancock said: ‘Such claims are not true. The Health Secretary is focused on dealing with a global pandemic and protecting lives, not briefing journalists.’

The rebels, led by Tory MP Steve Baker, yesterday demanded Mr Johnson devise a clear plan to avoid further lockdowns, including improvements to testing and protection of the most vulnerable.

A senior Tory MP added: ‘I don’t understand what we are going to get out of it. If people were not complying with the regional lockdowns, why will they comply with a national one?’