Why Hull and all Tier 3 areas want fairness to maintain trust – Emma Hardy

In fact, as quickly as social media giants stop them, they seem to find a new way to spread their misinformation.

Previously, I called for transparency on how decisions are made and said that transparency was the only way to defeat conspiracy theories, but the Government is still failing to provide it.

I am going to quote from an answer 
to a written question I asked about how tiers are decided. I asked the Secretary 
of State for Health (Matt Hancock) 
when he planned to publish the 
scientific evidence used to determine which areas are under Tier 3 Covid restrictions.

The response I had was that decisions on tiers are based on “the case detection rate…in particular, among those over 60 years old; how quickly case rates are rising or falling; positivity in the general population; pressure on the National Health Service”, and so on.

The important line, which is feeding some of the disquiet that I sense in my constituency, is this: “As decisions are informed by a range of factors, it is possible for variation between individual factors when comparing areas.”

That fuels the sense that somehow the rules that many of us are experiencing up in the North are different from what people are experiencing down in the South. Why is there a possible variation between individual factors?

Surely the Government has criteria that apply to everybody, regardless of their postcode or the place they live? That is how we have fairness, transparency and trust in Government, which is currently lacking.

People in Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle have been working hard to get the virus rate down. The East Riding seven-day rate is now 125, and Hull’s is 195. That is 75 per cent lower than the peak on November 16, and that dramatic drop is because of the hard work of people from across the constituency.

We are a face-to-face economy. When looking at the reasons why we had that sudden, huge growth, we have to look at the jobs in which people are employed. Many people’s jobs in Hull require them to go to work. They are not jobs that can be done remotely or at home.

There is more need for self-isolation – again, I make the point if we want people to do the right thing, they should not suffer financial consequences for doing it. We need to look at the isolation payments of £500 that are reaching so few people.

I really hope that our declining rate is looked upon favourably when a decision is made about which tier to move us into. A 75 per cent drop in a few weeks shows how determined we are to move out of Tier 3 and into Tier 2, but we need clarity. What are the criteria? What is the goal? Tell us what we need to do to move out of Tier 3, and we can focus on making sure we do it.

The Government cannot leave us in Tier 3 over the Christmas period without extra support. Although furlough is protecting jobs, which is good news, it is not protecting businesses.

Pub landlords are furious, and they have every right to be. There are 334 pubs in Hull, and landlords are seeing their life’s work destroyed and their industry go under.

Landlords spent months adapting to the Government guidance, ensuring they were Covid-safe, closing at 10pm and spending an awful lot of money, and their reward has been inadequate financial support.

They see people crammed down Oxford Street in London last weekend, pushing past each other and not wearing masks, and all the time they are told “You are not safe enough to open”.

They are angry. They see the Government wasting money on PPE contracts, and they are told that there is nothing extra to give them. That fuels the sense of injustice and unfairness.

This pandemic is not an equaliser. 
We did not start from the same position, and it has not impacted everybody equally.

We started from a weaker position because we had a decade of cuts and underfunding. Hull is one of the most deprived areas in the country.

People in Hull West and Hessle are resilient and determined. All we are asking for is our fair share of support so that we can build our own recovery.

Emma Hardy is Labour MP for Hull West and Hessle. She spoke in a Commons debate on Covid – this is an edited version.

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