Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer repeats calls for ‘circuit-breaker’ lockdown

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has repeated his calls for a national ‘circuit-breaker’ lockdown to curb the rise in coronavirus cases.

In an interview with ITV News West Country, the Labour leader said it was a choice between a two to three week lockdown or “months of agony”.

This is despite criticism from some businesses in the West Country’s tourism and hospitality industries, who have expressed concerns about the financial impact of nationally-imposed restrictions.

Speaking to Political Correspondent David Wood, Sir Keir Starmer said: “If you look at the expert advice, it’s going up in all regions and I think the idea that any region is going to be immune from this is wrong.

Asked if his Labour government would pay affected businesses during a ‘circuit break’ lockdown, Sir Starmer responded: “During the circuit break, there should be support for those businesses. Of course there should be.”

Read more:

• Keir Starmer calls for Boris Johnson to bring in 'circuit break' style national lockdown for England

• Johnson says new lockdown would be 'disaster' as Starmer says he's ignoring science on circuit break

• Keir Starmer refuses to criticise Boris Johnson's latest coronavirus rules and says he supports all measures