Coronavirus: Tory MPs pile pressure on government to ease lockdown measures

Ministers are weighing the economic hit of prolonged restrictions against avoiding a second peak of the outbreak

Tory MPs are piling pressure on the government to give businesses "a bit of hope" over when the coronavirus lockdown will be eased or risk thousands of smaller firms going under.

Senior members of the backbench 1922 committee were said to have expressed deep concern about the economy during private talks on Wednesday in a sign of growing disquiet among Conservative MPs about the route out of lockdown.

Ministers are weighing up the economic hit of prolonged restrictions to daily life against avoiding a second spike in coronavirus cases, which could come if the lockdown is eased.

However the government has resisted laying out its blueprint for a return to normal life amid fears it risked weakening the current guidance for the public to stay home.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the treasurer of the 1922 committee, called on the government to offer hope to businesses over when they might be able to return to work or risk firms going bust.

“We’ve got to think about the number of businesses, particularly small businesses, that unless they get some form of indication when they might be able to get back into business, that they are actually likely to cease trading," the Cotswolds MP told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

“We have to, on behalf of the businesses of this country, begin to give them a little bit of hope as to when we might be able to get back to normality.”

Businesses such as garden centres and DIY stores should be able to operate within social distancing rules, he said.

Sir Charles Walker, vice-chairman of the committee, told The Times: “There has got to be an economy to go back to. All MPs right now are dealing with dozens, if not hundreds, of local businesses that are fearing for their future.

“Building capacity within the NHS, reducing infection rates has to be the precursor to lifting the economic lockdown. If we don’t do this many good and strong businesses will not open their doors again. The consequences for millions of people will be potentially devastating.”

It comes after the chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty warned that strict social distancing measures could remain in place until the end of the year without a coronavirus vaccine.

Prof Whitty told the Downing Street press conference on Wednesday that the probability of having a vaccine or effective drugs to treat the virus within the next calendar year was “incredibly small”.

And he warned that a sudden easing of restrictions would be a “wholly unreasonable” expectation.