'Too soon’ to vary lockdown rules by region, says Business Secretary, amid concerns over infection rate in North East

Business Secretary Alok Sharma took questions on the issue at today’s Downing Street briefing.

It came after Greater Manchester Mayor and former Labour Minister Andy Burnham wrote a piece in the Observer warning the Government risks damaging “national unity” and raised questions over whether it was too soon for the North of England to see an easing of lockdown restrictions.

In the public questions part of the daily briefing, Mr Sharma took a question on the regional R rate (infection rate) from Peter, who lives in County Durham.

Peter asked the Secretary of State if the Government acknowledges “a phased lifting of lockdown measures would have been a better option”.

It comes after figures released by Public Health England show the North East and Yorkshire to have the highest R rate in England, said to be around 0.8.

The Business Secretary responded, claiming the “whole of the UK approach” was the best method at the moment – but didn’t rule out the possibility of measures varying by region in the future.

Alok Sharma said: “As national monitoring becomes much more precise and on a larger scale, more devolved variations could be looked at.”

He added: “It is too soon for any of that right now and that is why we continue to take a whole of the UK approach.”

NHS England national medical director Stephen Powis commented that the Government will focus on R rates going forward.

He said: "There will be variations between different parts of the country, that occurs naturally in epidemics.

"We see that, for instance, in flu season each winter.

"What's important going forward is we will be able to measure R direct."

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you.

How to subscribe to the print edition:

It’s easy to subscribe to your local newspaper. We have arranged a special 20 per cent off subscription offer for people to take advantage of. Visit www.localsubsplus.co.uk, choose the newspaper title, the type of subscription and enter your details.