MP says Bradford high infection rates is because Government failed to get to grips with Covid

From today Bradford and many other areas across the country will enter into Tier 3 restrictions. Whilst there is no doubt that there are tough choices that must be made to protect public health and our NHS, the fact that these restrictions are being applied by the Government and that we still see stubbornly high infection rates in Bradford is because the Government failed to get to grips with this virus over the last nine months and nothing else.

Instead of putting in place the “world beating” testing system which is vital for avoiding further lockdowns, the Government spent the summer bumbling from one crisis to another and issuing confusing, contradictory public health advice, and it’s clear that people and businesses in places such as Bradford are now having to pay the price for their mistakes.

This should not be the case and Bradford’s local economy and local people should not have to pay the costs for the Government’s months of failure, yet that is just what is happening, with businesses forced to close over this period in an attempt to curb the transmission of coronavirus. However, job losses, permanent business closures and huge falls in earnings should not and must not be an inevitable outcome of the Government’s restrictions to correct their failings, providing that Ministers use the power of Government to act against them.

That is why I have spent the duration of this crisis calling on those across Government to act through whatever schemes are necessary to guarantee that people and businesses who face lost incomes and falling profits are protected from the damaging effects of this crisis and the fallout from their decisions, and why I will continue to do so for as long as Bradford is under Tier 3 or restrictions of any other kind.

In protecting jobs, businesses and incomes, the Government must be the first line of defence. Whilst Bradford lives under these restrictions, they must continue the furlough scheme and self-employment support scheme to the same 80per cent level as at the start of the crisis whilst also expanding eligibility, as well as covering the costs of businesses they have closed under their restrictions. But they must also provide local authorities with the funding and the discretion that they need to address local issues.

That is why in October, ahead of the previous decision to place Bradford under Tier 3 restrictions, I stood up in Parliament to demand £75 million from Ministers so that Bradford would not receive a penny less per person than what was given to other cities when they were placed under Tier 3 restrictions, and why I will not stop until Bradford gets the fair funding package we need.

Such funding also cannot be allocated just based on population, as it was over the past month, with areas that are now moving into Tier 1 and 2 restrictions in receipt of the same funding per head as areas with higher need such as Bradford, and it must instead reflect our high rates of poverty and deprivation, our large number of people working in precarious and self-employment, and our young population.

With many people who are having to self-isolate facing huge financial challenges in doing so, I have also been pushing the Government to address the huge problems in their self-isolation payment scheme.

Whilst this recognised the financial challenges many faced in self-isolating, its eligibility criteria is too narrow and excludes those following the Government’s own guidance on when to self-isolate, denying them the support they need to pay their bills, cover their rent or mortgage, and put food on their table.

Ministers must protect the incomes of those self-isolating and extend coverage of this scheme so that anyone on a low income who is unable to work from home does not have to face up to two weeks of lost earnings. They must also ensure that local authorities have the funds to provide this support without turning people away.

People and businesses across Bradford are not responsible for the Government’s failures and decisions over the last nine months, and we should not have to face the consequences.

The Prime Minister and the Chancellor spent much of this year handing out contracts worth thousands to private sector contractors, with little delivered in return, so now the Government must demonstrate the same generosity and provide Bradford with the funding that we need to protect those they have so badly let down.