Ilford South MP Sam Tarry says a 'blanket' approach will help make rules 'crystal clear'
An MP in the borough worst affected by the resurgence of coronavirus has urged the government to "act now" and impose a London-wide lockdown.
Labour MP Sam Tarry, whose constituency of Ilford South falls within the borough of Redbridge - which has a case rate of 68.1 per 100,000 people - said restrictions should be brought in for the whole of the city instead of on a borough-by-borough basis.
Speaking to MyLondon, Mr Tarry said: "One of the things that has been really difficult is the confused messaging from the government throughout.
"It's been clear as mud.
"For that reason, I would be much more in favour of a blanket approach across the whole of London - if we start to do it area by area, where do they draw the boundaries?
"It seems to me if you want to have it crystal clear, no confusion, it should just be done across London."
Last week, all of London's 32 boroughs were placed on the government's official watchlist as areas of concern. Tighter restrictions have not been added yet, but there has been speculation that a social lockdown forcing all pubs, bars and restaurants to shut for two weeks initially could be brought in, along with a ban on household mixing, according to the Times.
"It's been clear as mud.
"For that reason, I would be much more in favour of a blanket approach across the whole of London - if we start to do it area by area, where do they draw the boundaries?
"It seems to me if you want to have it crystal clear, no confusion, it should just be done across London."
Last week, all of London's 32 boroughs were placed on the government's official watchlist as areas of concern. Tighter restrictions have not been added yet, but there has been speculation that a social lockdown forcing all pubs, bars and restaurants to shut for two weeks initially could be brought in, along with a ban on household mixing, according to the Times.
Between September 23 and 28, Redbridge recorded 163 new cases, followed by Newham with 151, Brent with 124, Ealing with 122, Hounslow with 113, Hillingdon with 111 and Barnet with 110.
However, Mr Tarry believes that in his seat of Ilford South, some wards had reported a case rate of well over 80 cases per 100,000 last week.
The decision to place London on the watchlist came following repeated calls from Sadiq Khan that the capital should be put under additional measures, including a ban on household mixing.
The mayor said London was at a "very worrying tipping point" and that it had been placed on the watchlist because of the "near collapse" of the testing system.
Mr Tarry said testing was still a problem in Ilford South, including with a lack of tests for pupils and teachers, leaving some staff unsure as to whether they should self-isolate.
"We could definitely do with a secondary testing centre or additional testing capacity put in place," he said.
"We had to put in place sixty daily slots for key workers in my constituency of 100,000 people - and that's just one part of Redbridge."
Mr Tarry said ministers needed to "act now" on a London lockdown to "avert something worse".
"We're already ahead of where some of the scientists were predicting we would be for the second wave," he said.
"It makes a lot more sense to say it is going to be across the whole of London and not in little pockets, because then people will ignore it and we need to be able to enforce it and enforce it heavily."
He added:"The government is absolutely dithering at the moment which is why I also want to see enhanced support in terms of businesses and jobs, a sector-by-sector analysis of what needs to happen with the furlough scheme.
"I had 17,500 at the height of the crisis on furlough just in Ilford South, in Ilford North it was 12,500.
"I'm fearful that at the end of October if there are no provisions put in place for those people and there's another lockdown that could be catastrophic for unemployment so the government do need to be acting and acting very fast."