Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has warned the new tier system in England could last for months.
Mr Jenrick was appearing on Friday morning’s instalment of Good Morning Britain opposite hosts Ben Shephard and Kat Garraway to defend the new tier system after a backlash from the areas facing the toughest restrictions.
He said: “The new tiers that we have designed, with the help of our scientific advisors, are ones which we think are strong enough, if everybody does their bit and abides by the rules, to ensure that we don’t need to have another national lockdown.”
MPs will vote on the system to replace the national lockdown on Tuesday and Robert Jenrick was confident an agreement can be reached.
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick says the tiers before lockdown were 'not strong enough' and were having little impact.
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) November 27, 2020
He explains govt thinks the new tiers are strong enough to ensure no more national lockdowns - if everyone sticks to the rules. pic.twitter.com/oDNL2c66Cp
“It’s important that MPs have their say on this so it will be debated and voted on, that will be the way this decision is made,” he said.
“But I hope we can persuade our parliamentary colleagues that this is the right thing to do.
“I think what has changed and I think this is really important since the last time this was debated in parliament and voted on, is of course the advent of the vaccines.
“Now we can all see that there is light at the end of the tunnel, that there is an exit strategy for the country and that potentially by the end of this year some of the most vulnerable people in society will be being vaccinated.
“So that does mean that there’s a strong argument for us all having this tier system in place, abiding by the rules for just a few more months.”
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