Calls for two-metre social distancing rule to be relaxed intensify
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Former chancellor Norman Lamont and ex-environment secretary Theresa Villiers are the latest big names to suggest the recommended separation be reduced in line with other countries to save jobs.
The two metre social distancing required in the UK is twice that recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and more than the one-metre stipulated in Italy and 1.5 metres in Germany and Austria.
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Hide AdWriting in the Daily Mail, Mr Lamont said halving the rule to one metre was ‘the single most important measure we must take’ to avoid ‘devastating mass unemployment’.
In his column, Mr Lamont cites British Beer and Pub Association figures showing that with the current two metre rule only ‘20 to 30 per cent of premises will be able to open at a sustainable level’, whereas at one metre that rises to 70 per cent.
"The onus is on the (Government's) advisers to explain why it is that, while Britons must stay two metres apart, the World Health Organisation recommends one metre - as do many other European countries, acting on their scientists' advice,” he added.
Ms Villiers, speaking on BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour on Sunday, warned: “Unless we ease the two metre rule, the hospitality sector is likely to stay closed.”
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Hide AdTheir comments come days after Conservative MP Greg Clark, who chairs the Commons Science and Technology Committee, told The Daily Telegraph he had written to Boris Johnson urging him to relax the two-metre rule.
Citing a paper from the Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (Sage) which says it may be possible to "enable distancing at less than two metres" in certain areas, Mr Clark said "the difference between two metres and 1.5 metres may seem small but it can be the difference between people being able to go to work and losing their jobs".
Mr Johnson announced last week that he had asked members of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) to review whether the two-metre distance could be reduced.