Andrea Leadsom: Brits should not break lockdown before government says so

25 April 2020, 11:27 | Updated: 25 April 2020, 11:32

Andrea Leadsom suggestion for business owners to get pre announcement

The media should not discuss lifting lockdown as it will lead to people taking matters in their own hands, Andrea Leadsom told LBC.

Andrea Leadsom is a former Business Secretary and leader of the House of Commons. She is also Conservative MP for South Northamptonshire​. Matt Frei was joined by the MP to discuss the lifting of lockdown and how the UK should expect to see it happen.

Matt began by stating that "we can only really ease this lockdown if we put testing and tracing in place" and wanted to know if Ms Leadsom was "confident these things are now in place".

The former Business Secretary insisted that the government needs to be sure "we don't risk a second spike in coronavirus" as it "would be disastrous for our lives, the NHS and our economy". She feared a second lockdown if the lifting is done incorrectly.

Ms Leadsom suggested to give a fortnight notice to businesses before lifting lockdown so they can prepare for the restrictions being removed by reemploying staff and preparing for business.

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Matt Frei suggested that such a strategy would "mean maximum transparency from the government", claiming that Brits feel as though "we need more clarity and more transparency" coming from government than what we're currently getting.

Andrea Leadsom insisted that the public should not even be discussing lifting lockdown as it will lead to people acting on suggestions from the media too early.

"If you start flying kites, then all people do is start take aspects of the debate and act on it" she argued.

"What needs to happen is clarity once there is a clear plan that is workable" the former leader of the House of Commons said. She urged the public to be patient and wait until the government make an announcement before they make any decisions on how they carry out their business.