Leicester MP warns problems that caused coronavirus spike won’t be solved by lockdown and urges Government to do more. 

Labour MP Claudia Webbe said poverty, overcrowding and high numbers of people still working in the food or garment industries could put the city at risk of another spike without Government support. 

A Leicester MP has warned the city could still be at risk of a coronavirus outbreak unless the Government helps people out of poverty which, she said, provides a ”perfect storm” for Covid-19 to spread. 

As the Health Secretary was poised to make an announcement about whether the Leicester lockdown will continue, Claudia Webbe, the member for Leicester East, urged the Government to consider providing additional support to protect jobs and health in the area.

The Labour MP is concerned that poverty, overcrowded housing and high numbers of people still working in the food or garment industries – which have been under increased pressure during the pandemic – could mean the city is still at risk of another spike in infection rates.

Poverty needs to be addressed to save lives

If the lockdown continues, however, the high number of people in Leicester who are defined as having a no recourse to public funds (NRPF) immigration status – which gives them the right to live and work in the UK but not claim public money – are left unable to work but without financial support, she said.

Ms Webbe, who was elected in 2019, said Government data has shown Leicester’s coronavirus levels did not fall in line with the rest of the country when the UK-wide lockdown was introduced in March.

She argued this needs to be addressed if the Government plans to bring the city out of lockdown in the near future.

“The Government knew all along that, when the lockdown happened in March, the data for Leicester that it didn’t reduce. It stayed at a consistent level. Where in the rest of the country it went down, it stayed at a constant level in Leicester until there was a spike,” she said.

“What people haven’t analysed is why didn’t Leicester’s general data reduce when the rest of the country did back in March?

“Part of the problem is an online fashion boom and the need for food – Leicester’s industries are composed of both those elements. The government didn’t lock down those industries – there was no reduction in work if anything there was an increase in work.”

“So we are talking about parts of the city – and in my constituency – where poverty is extremely high. In pockets of the neighbourhood, child poverty is at 51 per cent and income is extremely low £160 less than the national average and £130 less than the east midlands average.

“People are going to work and still relying on food banks on a daily basis. Then we have small, terraced housing where there is overcrowding. And, on top of that, you have the issue to do with the garment factories – surely without PPE and without social distancing they must be contributing to the problem.”

Last week, it emerged that some factories making up Leicester’s textile industry doubled their staff to cope with a surge in online orders – with employees claiming they were forced to work without social distancing measures or protective gear.

Update on local lockdown expected

Ms Webb continued: “And, due to the NRPF issue, you have got people having to work because they are having no financial or economic support. There are huge parts of my constituency that aren’t entitled to the Government’s Covid-19 financial support – they aren’t entitled to sick pay, holiday pay, relief on rent or relief on their mortgage.

“Given this scenario why can’t all this be looked at as a factor int he Government decision because this all creates a perfect storm. And my constituency is the last place where you want the virus to take off given 69 per cent of it is from African, Asian and minority ethnic communities which we know to be more vulnerable.

“If this is going to work it has to protect livelihoods and secure for people an income.”

She added: “Unless the gov steps and does what they don’t want to do – like release things like NRPF – then you cant begin to address this problem, people need to be protected to stay safe.

“There is nothing more important than life itself.”

Health Secretary Matt Hancock is due to make an “important statement” providing a coronavirus update on Thursday evening.

Leicester’s mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, has urged the Government to lift the local lockdown in 90 per cent of the city – and warned that a further two-week extension would leave residents “very angry indeed”.

Claudia Webbe MP is the member of Parliament for Leicester East. You can follow her at www.facebook.com/claudiaforLE and twitter.com/ClaudiaWebbe