JAMES GRUNDY MP: Burnham blocked local lockdown lifting

The better part of a month ago, the borough of Wigan was put under increased lockdown measures as part of a Greater Manchester wide lockdown strategy pushed by the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, and supported by Wigan Council.

By the time you read this article, these measures have been lifted. Many of you have been asking me why the Wigan borough, which includes my constituency of Leigh, was included in these Greater Manchester wide measures, given the areas low infection rates, and I also wanted to take the time in this column to outline what I’ve been doing to try to get our area removed from the restrictions.

From the moment the increased lockdown measures were announced, I have opposed them. I thought that putting in place the same measures in Wigan borough, which had very low rates of coronavirus infections, as Oldham, which had one of the highest rates of infection in the country, was not a logical nor proportionate strategy.

This is why my Greater Manchester Conservative colleagues and I immediately wrote a letter to the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock MP, asking for a more sophisticated system to be put in place to deal with coronavirus outbreaks locally, with lockdown measures applying to individual towns and areas instead, or at the least, a borough by borough approach across Greater Manchester.

The Health Secretary and his Department listened, and immediately set to work on the task of creating a new system, but there was a problem. Andy Burnham staunchly refused to move away from a Greater Manchester-wide model, and publicly condemned my colleagues and me for suggesting the alternatives we had put forward in the strongest possible terms.

I suddenly found my social media flooded with Labour activists, many from outside the constituency, and even from outside the borough, denouncing both me and my proposals to remove Wigan borough from the lockdown and develop a new, more sophisticated, system.

Secondly, whilst this was going on, Andy Burnham and Greater Manchester’s Labour leaders sprang into action, lobbying the Health Secretary with considerable effort and energy to keep the Greater Manchester wide “one size fits all” model in place for as long as the outbreak lasted.

Thirdly, Mayor Andy Burnham took to the radio, television, and newspapers, both local and national, to push the Greater Manchester-wide lockdown model, even claiming it was ‘impossible’ to remove Wigan borough from the measures as it was too ‘interconnected’ with other boroughs across Greater Manchester, such as Oldham and Rochdale.

Despite this criticism, I did feel that the scientific evidence was on my side, as were the overwhelming majority of my constituents. Local people that I interacted with during the lockdown strongly agreed with my argument that the measures needed in Oldham were not the same as those needed locally, given the difference in infection rates, and I thank them for their support throughout this period. I stood my ground on this issue, and I am glad I did so.

As a result of the calls of my Conservative colleagues and me, the Health Secretary has implemented a new model for introducing and removing Covid-19 restrictions, and this is how the new model will work. If there is a new outbreak in our borough that warrants a return of lockdown measures, the whole borough will not be locked down. Instead, where an outbreak occurs, just the local area will be put under stricter measures. What this means in practical terms is that if, for example, there is an outbreak in Marsh Green in Wigan, then just the immediate area will be locked down, and other areas of the borough, like Mosley Common, would remain unaffected.

Finally, I urge everyone to follow the restrictions that remain in force. We have been lifted out of local lockdown, and we must remain vigilant to ensure that we stay out of it.

Thank you all for your efforts so far, and please, stay safe everyone.