UK PM accepts ‘frustration’ over COVID-19 lockdown rules

London, May 17 (IANS) UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has acknowledged frustration over the “complex” easing of England’s coronavirus lockdown, the media reported on Sunday.

Johnson wrote in the Mail newspaper on Sunday that he understood people “will feel frustrated with some of the new rules”, the BBC reported.

“We are trying to do something that has never had to be done before – moving the country out of a full lockdown, in a way which is safe and does not risk sacrificing all of your hard work.”

In his article, Johnson said that the government was attempting something that has “never had to be done before”.

He said he trusted the “good sense of the British people” to observe the new rules and thanked the public for “sticking with us” so far.

Johnson’s article comes amid mounting criticism of the way restrictions have been lifted in England.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham warned the Prime Minister risked a “fracturing of national unity” if he ignores regions.

Writing in the Observer, he warned that without additional support for the regions, there was a danger of a “second spike” of the disease.

The Mayor also told the BBC that “the voice of the English regions isn’t being heard at the moment”, adding that the government has “lost some goodwill” with local authorities in its handling and communication of the lifting of lockdown measures.

Meanwhile, the opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer has blamed Johnson for the way Wales and England have diverged on the easing of lockdown.

He said different approaches across the four UK nations to tackling coronavirus were not going to “help us out of this crisis”.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she did not know what “stay alert” meant.

Johnson’s Sunday article also comes as the government’s plans to start reopening primary schools in England from June 1have been challenged by local authorities in the north of England and teaching unions.

Liverpool and Hartlepool councils issued statements saying schools will not reopen at the start of next month as coronavirus cases continue to rise locally.

Schools in Wales will not reopen on June 1, while those in Scotland and Northern Ireland may not restart before the summer holidays.

–IANS

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