Wigan MP Lisa Nandy says the Brexit transition period should be extended amid the coronavirus outbreak

Lisa Nandy says the Brexit transition period should be extended amid the coronavirus outbreak, branding the matter “a public health disaster waiting to happen.”

Writing for The Guardian, the Wigan MP said that British businesses and communities could not cope with even more uncertainty about their future as the virus spreads across the continent.

“British companies who trade with the EU do not know what terms they’ll be trading on in 10 months’ time. Add to this the failing demand and disruption caused by coronavirus and it is reasonable to expect many businesses will not survive,” Ms Nandy told The Guardian.

“Coronavirus is a threat to the global economy as well as to public health. Every family will be affected and those who have less will feel it the most. In a globally connected world, we are only as strong as the most vulnerable.

“So first, we must agree with the EU to extend the Brexit transition period. Our businesses and our communities cannot cope with more uncertainty during this outbreak.”

She added: “The government has boxed itself into a corner by legislating to end the transition period in December come what may. It now faces a direct choice between narrow partisan ideology and the interests of the nation.

“An extension will mean that British citizens living abroad will be able to access free health care for at least another year, that we are able to continue to access the Early Warning and Response System that helped us tackle the Sars virus and bird flu. Public safety is at stake. This must happen now.”

Ms Nandy also called on the Government to ensure it could safeguard the economy from “the ravages of coronavirus,” including reducing interest rates to lower the cost of lending to businesses.

She also suggested introducing a government-backed guarantee to ensure loads were provided to businesses that were struggling to cope amid the virus outbreak.

“My community in Wigan is still dealing with the legacy of the jobs, homes and livelihoods lost in the 1980s, and the scars last a long time. But the economy has changed since then; with a large number of people self-employed, working part-time or on zero-hours contracts, we have far less resilience,” she said, adding: “That is why, thirdly, we need to think beyond the impact on employers and extend statutory sick pay to the self-employed and to the 2 million people who do not qualify from day one; otherwise many people will simply not be able to afford to self-isolate. This is a public health disaster waiting to happen.”

Ms Nandy also suggested greater support for over-65s, whose health is most at risk from coronavirus. Charities should be given emergency funding to support their work with elderly people, she said.

Ms Nandy has previously called for more legislature which would protect the rights of employees who were unable to work as a result of the virus - rules such as immediate statutory sick pay and assurance that nobody would be sacked as a result of missing work through self-isolation.