Covid: North East in tier 3 is 'claggy end of the stick'

The north-east of England has been given the "claggy end of the stick" by being kept in tier three coronavirus restrictions, an MP has claimed.

Gateshead Labour MP Ian Mearns said the region had been treated differently from London and the South East.

It was "probably in a better position than London was" before the capital was put into tier two, he said.

Gateshead has the area's lowest rate of infection with 100.5 cases per 100,000 people in the week to 12 December.

South Tyneside has the highest, with 316.6 cases per 100,000, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mr Mearns said: "While I'm accepting of this decision I'm not convinced it was made in a fair way.

"It seems like the North East was given the claggy end of the stick."

Newcastle, Gateshead, Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, County Durham, Sunderland and Teesside will not be allowed to relax restrictions.

A move to tier two would have allowed restaurants, and pubs and bars offering a "substantial meal", to open, while groups of up to six people would have been allowed to socialise in private gardens.

However Mr Mearns said people in the hospitality industry had told him they were no better off in tier two than they were in tier three.

Speaking ahead of the announcement, Carl Hayley, who runs the Black Bull in Blaydon, a "wet" pub that does not serve food, said he would "have to wait until we are tier one and all the vaccinations have been done because it's just impossible".

"We are into our savings now and it's not going to be a great Christmas because this is the time of year that we make money," he said.

"All we have had to do is to decorate the pub, sitting around doing nothing, just hoping that we are going to open."

Redcar and Cleveland Conservative MP Jacob Young said he was "incredibly disappointed and frustrated" the borough was included in the region's tier three "when our numbers justify us being placed into tier two".

"People across Redcar and Cleveland have worked incredibly hard to get the virus down," he said.

The council's independent leader Mary Lanigan said she was also "disappointed the government has not recognised the huge effort from everybody in our borough to keep themselves and others safe".

However, the North of Tyne Mayor and council bosses from Northumberland, County Durham, Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland and North and South Tyneside said they accepted the decision "on health grounds" but wanted more information on how moving out of tier three would be determined in the new year.

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