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Ministers are facing a backlash from business over fears of the UK sliding into “lockdown by stealth”.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and pub chain Wetherspoons both used the term as they warned over the indirect impact of Plan B restrictions and rhetoric being used by officials about the pandemic.
Tony Danker, the CBI’s director-general said the economy should “remain as open as is feasibly safe to do so in the coming weeks”.
He urged an end, as soon as possible, for working from home guidance that is piling pressure on city centre pubs and shops.
Meanwhile, the chief executives of airlines including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and easyJet wrote to the prime minister accusing the government of a “haphazard and disproportionate approach” and calling for emergency testing regimes to be halted.
Guidance designed to tackle the spread of the Omicron variant, including working from home, came into force on Monday alongside a big expansion of the vaccine booster programme.
The CBI said the government should build on the booster upgrade “by doubling down on other confidence boosting measures – promoting mask wearing and daily testing – to ensure the UK doesn’t oscillate towards ‘lockdown by stealth’.”
Mr Danker said working from home guidance should be reversed “as soon as it is safe to do so”.
He added: “The bar should be high when it comes to any new restrictions on economic activity beyond Plan B.
The bosses of airlines including BA wrote to the prime minister
“The government rightly must act when new data comes to light.
“But we are concerned that the rhetoric from some in government risks instilling a lockdown mentality when in actual fact the proposed measures are far short of that.
“The result is a double whammy to firms who see demand…
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Source : skynews
