Doncaster Chamber seeks assurances after Boris Johnson's roadmap delay announcement

Chamber CEO Daniel Fell said: “The news of a four week extension to lockdown will be extremely frustrating for many in business.

"Businesses want to do what they do best, trade freely in an open and competitive economy. Far from being able to do that, many parts of the economy – especially those in the hospitality and leisure sectors – are now contending with ongoing restrictions, or worse, still unable to open at all.

“Of course, business recognises the enormous public health challenges posed by the current Covid-19 variant and it would be wrong to present the current situation as a trade-off between health and the economy.

“The future of the economy will only be secure once the health crisis is dealt with; as such, the Chamber calls on Government to utilise the next four weeks wisely and to ramp up the pace when it comes to the effective roll out of the vaccine programme. We are also asking Government to find additional financial support for those businesses that, through no fault of their own, cannot open or trade profitably as a result of this latest extension.

“Finally, we would urge Government to give clear assurances about intentions to keep the UK’s economy open from the summer onwards and to confirm that they have no expectations of going back to further iterations of damaging lockdowns in the autumn and winter.”

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Liam Hoden, editor.