Swaths of England will be placed under tough restrictions — which in some cases include the closure of pubs, restaurants, museums and theatres — under new three-tier regional Covid-19 regulations announced by the government on Thursday.
Once the current national lockdown ends on December 2, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle and Bristol will be among the areas to enter the most restrictive tier 3 measures, while London and Liverpool will be in the looser tier 2.
Only Cornwall, the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly — covering fewer than 1m people — will be in the least restrictive tier 1 because they have the country’s lowest coronavirus infection rates.
UKHospitality, the industry trade body, described the stricter tier 2 and tier 3 measures as “at best a restrictive straitjacket and at worst a lockdown in all but name for hospitality businesses”.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said the new restrictions had to be tougher than earlier measures…