Manchester MPs say they won't support tier three measures for the city

In a joint letter, Labour MPs have warned the Government that closing licensed premises will not only have a devastating impact on jobs but that it would push large gatherings into people’s homes instead.

In the letter, Labour MPs Lucy Powell, Mike Kane, Jeff Smith, Afzal Khan and Graham Stringer state that transmission in hospitality settings “constitutes a very small proportion of infection rates”.

“We are concerned that closing all regulated premises will not only lead to gatherings being pushed underground but won’t have a sizeable impact on virus transmission rates,” reads the letter.

“Yet, as you are well aware, it would have a devastating impact on jobs, livelihoods and businesses in our area.”

“We would not support Manchester being put in tier three on this basis.”

Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain this morning, Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, which is also expected to be put into tier three, said that the Government need to bring in financial packages for businesses similar to those introduced in March, when the UK went into lockdown.

“If it was right in March, of course it is right now,” he said.

“If our region is going into a lockdown similar to the country did in March, we want a package of financial support like the Chancellor offered in March too.”

On Friday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the Government will cover two-thirds of workers’ wages in the result of a local lockdown, meaning that the Government will pay only 67% of each employee's salary. This is in comparison to 80% of wages it paid during the height of lockdown.