Coronavirus: Boris Johnson suggests local lockdowns are not being lifted because people are breaking rules

Boris Johnson has suggested areas are failing to escape local lockdowns because people are breaking the rules.

Only Luton – of 48 areas – has escaped Covid-19 restrictions which have been imposed in recent weeks, the prime minister was told.

Mr Johnson said that “success” was because “local people pulled together to follow the guidance”, appearing to imply that residents of other areas were not.

In the Commons, Keir Starmer also suggested the rules were now too complex, despite supporting them in votes, pointing to Mr Johnson’s gaffe in failing to explain them himself.

The Labour leader quoted the Conservative leader of Bolton council, who has warned restrictions are “breeding resentment” because they are “too complex, too complicated”.

“If the prime minister doesn't understand the rules, and his own council leaders are complaining about mixed messages, how does the prime minister expect the rest of the country to understand and follow the rules?” he asked.

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