Not out of the woods : Newcastle's Liberal Democrats are cautious about Government's announcement of Tier 2 lockdown

"This situation is not reassuring," is the Liberal Democrats Opposition in Newcastle's first reaction to the announcement that Newcastle and the Northeast will fall under the new Tier 2 banding of risk with broadly similar regulations on account of possible signs that Covid-19 infections may be starting to tail off.

Councillor Nick Cott, Liberal Democrats Leader of the Opposition on the City Council, said: 'Government predicted announcements which everyone assumed failed to materialise and it seems that change to policy has happened at the eleventh hour.

'We are cautious about the current position and we remain concerned about the high levels of infection and about the effectiveness of track and trace and its resourcing in the city. We're asking questions and wish to receive reassurances.

'We are still concerned about the utility of the outbreak plans in place at our universities and we look forward to the scrutiny enquiry into this matter.

'We believe that more still needs to be done to support businesses who are suffering in this current position. Nothing that has been decided will give them any reassurance at the present. We call again for the extension of the furlough scheme into next year and support for businesses and the self-employed.

'It is still not clear that Newcastle won't be moved into Tier 3 so we are certainly not out of the woods yet by any stretch.'