[Music]
a seasonal
feel in unseasonable times a chance to
take in a panto
with a joke for the times shake hands
and then some christmas shopping but
some of those freedoms have been
curtailed for millions across the
country
and will be for many more after large
parts of the south of england were added
to the top tier of restrictions
secretary hancock from saturday just
under four million people
will move from tier two to tier three
no one wants tougher restrictions any
longer than necessary
but where they are necessary we must put
them in place
to prevent the nhs from being
overwhelmed and protect
life when the new tears were introduced
earlier this month
just over 40 percent of the population
of england
was placed in tier three that increased
to 60
on wednesday when london and some
surrounding areas were placed in the top
tier
and from saturday 68 of the population
of england
will be in tier three
good afternoon everybody it wasn't meant
to be like that
on the day he outlined the new tears
last month the prime minister held out
hope
of movement down the tiers the
allocation
of tears will be reviewed every 14 days
starting on the 16th of december so
your tear is not your destiny every area
has the means of escape in the end just
three areas in england will move down a
tier
when boris johnson set a new course for
england here in downing street last
month
he probably didn't have in mind a
relaxation of the rules
in relatively small parts of the country
and a far
larger expansion of the top tier but
it's highly likely that government
scientists
feared that might happen at the launch
of the new system the prime minister
said that the top two tiers
would drive the virus down but standing
right next to him
england's chief medical officer chris
whittie said that only the very top tier
would do that it's not just boris
johnson who's being forced into tough
new measures
in northern ireland a six-week lockdown
will be introduced
on the 26th of december the executive
has probably taken
its hardest decision its most deep
decision in regards
to how we've had the combat cover
collectively
back in westminster some unhappy
conservative backbenchers
i've got colleagues across the country
who
are hopping mad about the restrictions
that have been put
on their constituents when they don't
believe it's justified
so graham brady has his own complaints
as his greater manchester region
remains in tier three i think
greater manchester as a whole should
have gone into
tier two uh if you look at other
comparable
areas with similar rates of coronavirus
infection many of them are in lower
tiers but even if grey's manchester as a
whole
didn't go into tier two then at the very
least
the boroughs in grace manchester with
the lowest rates of infection
trafford stockport and tamecide should
have done so
the leader of one council put into the
top tier
talks of a mixed mood i think people are
resigned
i think there are some people who who
like a higher level of restriction
because they think it's going to keep
them safe
and until the vaccinations are done so
that the people who are most at knee
most at risk are able to be vaccinated
and made safe
i think there are a lot of people who
will want to make sure
that they stay at home and keep very
very restricted but there are other
people who'll be absolutely devastated
the king's theater in south sea one of
the few theaters
to have the courage to do a pantomime
this season now has to cancel
christmas will herald a brief relaxation
of the rules
but then a swift return to restrictions
with no guarantee of an
end this side of a successful
vaccination programme
in a minute we'll talk to
representatives from the conservative
party and
labour about the tier review but first
we're joined by christina pargel
professor of operational research
at ucl christina what do the numbers say
in terms of the tiers working or not
working
they say that they're not working um
particularly
tier two almost every local authority in
tier two
saw quite big increases over the last
week um
and in tier three it stayed about the
same
and that's the most optimistic you can
put it so
the tier three areas that haven't gone
down it's not so much because they're
doing something wrong it's because tier
two just
is not doing enough to suppress the
virus and we're now a really
difficult situation where every
indicator is going in the wrong
direction
why is that what what is the reason for
it do you think as some have said
that the vaccination has given people
hope so they are not taking the
restrictions seriously
i mean that could be part of it i don't
think there's any single explanation
that explains why it's not working
um cases in london and the south east
started going up
before lockdown ended um it's not just
restrictions i think it's something that
i've been thinking about
for the last two weeks and there aren't
any easy answers there are just
difficult questions but we have to work
it out and and in the meantime
we can't afford to release restrictions
when hospitalizations are so high like
we were higher now than we have been
since mid-april i mean that's really
frightening
it's incred i can see how dispirited you
are by this because
you want to be able to to say some
answers on this and have some guidance
but as you say only hard questions and i
think this is
this is incredibly upsetting isn't it
yeah and
i mean is it a consolation but you know
the like the whole of europe is
struggling with this we're seeing
across western europe that only the
really toughest restrictions seem to be
doing anything right now in winter and
um hospitalizations are going up in many
countries
and i think what's most on my mind right
now
is is is christmas just because we know
what whatever happens is going to make
it worse um
you know we've had the british medical
journal the health services journal the
british medical association nhs chiefs
all saying we can't do this we can't do
this we're really struggling
and it just feels like we're going into
this period
and we're not protecting the nhs then
we're not protecting the people who'll
need the nhs
um and i find that that really sad
because i just feel like they're going
to be
hundreds or thousands of more deaths
than than there need to be like just as
the vaccine's coming um
so are you hoping that the government
does change its position
in terms of those christmas relaxation
rules
yeah i think so i think i think the fact
is that
when they made those rules in november
we were in a different position
locked down looked like it was working
cases were coming down hospitals
hospitalizations were coming down but
that's not the case anymore like things
um cases are high now than they were
before lockdown we're at the highest
level of hospital admissions than we
have been in the second wave i mean
we're not in a situation where we can
afford to relax further
and the people who'll get sick and die
because of it
are the people who'd be first in line
for the vaccine in january i mean that's
just tragic to me