Keir Starmer calls for rethinking 10pm pub curfew when lockdown ends

Sir Keir Starmer today called for a rethink of the 10pm pub curfew after the general lockdown ended in England, insisting it hadn’t worked’.

The Labor leader has raised the possibility that he could withdraw his support for the controversial policy – leaving Boris Johnson at the mercy of a major Tory rebellion.

The hospitality industry, along with non-essential retail, was closed until December as part of the nationwide squeeze.

But there are already furious disputes over the shape of the curbs after the measures expire.

In an LBC phone call this morning, Sir Keir said he supported what the government had ‘tried to achieve’ with the curfew but it ‘didn’t work’.

He suggested closing times be staggered so people don’t pour into the streets at the same time, and said off-licences should be closed at the same time to discourage after-hours parties.

“I think we will be lucky enough to see the 10 p.m. curfew back,” Sir Keir said.

“We saw people going out at 10 p.m. There is a smarter way to do it. I think if you were to stagger this differently so that people leave at different times, that would be much better.

Sir Keir pointed to the groundswell of Tories opposing the curfew. “A lot of people… think it needs to be revisited. The government has a lot of work to do in this four-week period,” he said.

He said the curfew in Wales had been ‘smarter’ than in England, with staggered closing times.

“They also smartly closed the licenses at 10 a.m. at the same time,” he added.

“What was happening in various parts of England was people coming out of pubs and going straight to the off license.

“It made people stay longer in city squares.”

The move comes as Mr Johnson believes he has been forced to order a second national lockdown.

A Cabinet ally said the Prime Minister regretted his decision, prompting fresh calls from Tory MPs for the restrictions to end.

The Prime Minister reluctantly signed a new lockdown in England last weekend after being warned by government scientists that deaths could reach 4,000 a day – four times the peak seen in April.

The decision was rushed with minimal Cabinet consultation after news of the warning, and the Prime Minister’s reaction to it, leaked to news outlets, including the Daily Mail.

The 4,000-a-day figure has since been widely discredited and government scientists have been forced to correct other grim warnings used to inform the lockdown decision.

Some data from the past week has suggested the second wave may have leveled off or even peaked before the lockdown was introduced last Thursday.

A further 156 Covid deaths were reported across the UK yesterday, up from 162 a week earlier.

Some 20,572 cases have been recorded, down 2,682 from the previous Sunday’s total of 23,254.

A Cabinet minister, the Daily Mail, said Mr Johnson felt he was pressured into making the decision.

“I think he fears he was thrown in,” the source said.

“He was really, really upset about the leak because at that point a different decision might still have been made.”

“There are also concerns that some of the information used to inform the decision now appears to be falling apart.”

“In fact, the numbers seem to suggest things were looking up before the lockdown started – we’ve been closed for a month when we didn’t need to be.”

The source predicted the episode would harden the Prime Minister’s attitude against any attempt to renew the restrictions.

“This means a third or fourth lockdown is very unlikely,” the source said. “All this goes against his political inclinations.

Downing Street last night denied the Prime Minister felt he had been sacked in lockdown.

A government source said: ‘It is true that we were furious about the leak, but the Prime Minister is absolutely clear that the evidence has shown that these measures were necessary.

“Even if you set aside the 4,000 figure, there was a lot of other very concerning data, such as hospitalization figures, which showed very clearly that he needed to act.”

But Tory MPs have seized on the pretense of demanding a speedy end to the draconian restrictions.

Former Tory minister Sir Desmond Swayne has told MailOnline turning around shouldn’t be a problem, given recent talk about free school meals and other issues.

“We have shown no reluctance to simply reverse decisions that we thought were wrong in the recent past,” the MP said.

“If we believe the wrong decision has been made, it is clear that it must be reversed as soon as possible. The less damage, the better. No need to hang on for the whole month just to maximize the pain.

“Particularly when all the signs are starting to show that in fact, according to the data, we’ve already turned the corner.”

Another senior MP warned that calls for a curtailment would become irresistible if the infection trend continued.

“One thing is certain, and that is if the decline continues, the government should consider easing restrictions before December 2,” they said.

“The economy can’t sit still like this.”