North Nottinghamshire MPs warn against county-wide lockdown

Conservative MPs from the north of the county have voiced concerns about the necessity of a Nottinghamshire-wide lockdown.
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Leaked documents revealed ministers intend to announce new restrictions for all of the city and county from Monday, to come into effect from Wednesday.

It would mean Bassetlaw, Ashfield and Mansfield would have the same restrictions as Nottingham city, despite having far lower numbers.

Numbers are increasing throughout the county, but are far higher in Nottingham itself.

Ashfield MP Lee Anderson says people in the north of the county should not be penalised just because the R rate was higher in Nottingham City Centre. Photo: London Portrait Photographer-DAVAshfield MP Lee Anderson says people in the north of the county should not be penalised just because the R rate was higher in Nottingham City Centre. Photo: London Portrait Photographer-DAV
Ashfield MP Lee Anderson says people in the north of the county should not be penalised just because the R rate was higher in Nottingham City Centre. Photo: London Portrait Photographer-DAV

Now, Conservative MPs for those areas have said their areas may need to be treated differently to the city.

One also said it was ‘not necessarily helpful’ to have continued speculation about what the new measures could be.

Ben Bradley is the Tory MP for Mansfield, and said: “It seems fairly clear that restrictions are needed in the city as the rates of transmission are now among the highest in the country.

“Areas around the Greater Nottingham area also have very high rates.

"We’re talking about possibly seeing higher rates of hospitalisation in about three weeks time than we had in the original peak.

“That said, when you look through the figures it is clear that currently Mansfield’s rates are significantly lower than other areas, though they are rising quite quickly.

“Personally, given that announcements are now not likely to happen until next week, I am keen to watch those figures closely.

"If they do rise steeply in line with predictions then we’ll have to enter the restrictions along with everywhere else, but that is not yet clear and I will be pushing for proper assessment for Mansfield in particular over the weekend as I wouldn’t want to impose additional measures unless they are totally necessary.

“I think that in fact the shift to a more structured system of three tiers that will be the same across the country will make it simpler to administer and for people to follow what is in place in their areas, and so I welcome that change, though I recognize that it’s not necessarily helpful to have several days of speculation.”

Lee Anderson, Conservative MP for Ashfield, said in a statement: “Let me be clear, I will not support a lockdown in Ashfield just because the R rate is high in Nottingham City Centre.

“If Ashfield folk are doing their best to keep their R rate down to the right levels whilst city levels rise then they should not be penalised.”

Brendan Clarke-Smith, who represents Bassetlaw for the Conservatives, added: “The situation in Nottingham has been fairly bad recently, in terms of infections, and in the surrounding areas.

“It’s very varied across the county, so in the north of the county we are a lot lower in Bassetlaw and Mansfield.

“Mansfield’s rate is about in the 60s (cases per 100,000 people) we’re about 80 odd and Nottingham is 440 I think at the moment.

“So in that sense, looking at it, we’re trying to pay attention to any rising rates, and they have been going up in our area as well, but the rate we’re currently at hasn’t rung any alarm bells with us particularly.

“Looking at it on that basis, in the north of the county we’re not that keen on having any local restrictions at the moment.

“Cases could go up, the data could change and it could change very quickly, in which case I think we look at it again, and if the cases have gone up that’s fair enough.

“But in the meantime, rather than having something blanket for the whole county we want to keep our eye on the data really.

“I think we’ve got a fair argument that our rates are at a reasonable level, and the distance we are away from Nottingham as well, has to be taken into account, and cases in the hospitals aren’t particularly bad either.

"But as we know that could change.”