INSTANT VIEW-England heads into new COVID lockdown

Following are comments from business groups, think tanks and other organisations. BRITISH CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE DIRECTOR GENERAL ADAM MARSHALL "Businesses will understand why the prime minister has felt compelled to act on the spiralling threat to public health, but they will be baffled and disappointed by the fact that he did not announce additional support or affected businesses alongside these new restrictions." INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS ECONOMICS FELLOW JULIAN JESSOP "A new UK-wide lockdown may cost 10% of GDP, or about £18 billion every month.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday a new lockdown for England to try to stem a surge in coronavirus cases driven by a new variant. Following are comments from business groups, think tanks and other organisations.

BRITISH CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE DIRECTOR GENERAL ADAM MARSHALL "Businesses will understand why the prime minister has felt compelled to act on the spiralling threat to public health, but they will be baffled and disappointed by the fact that he did not announce additional support or affected businesses alongside these new restrictions."

INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS ECONOMICS FELLOW JULIAN JESSOP "A new UK-wide lockdown may cost 10% of GDP, or about £18 billion every month. On balance, this could be a price worth paying to prevent tens of thousands of premature deaths and other harms if the NHS (National Health Service) is overwhelmed with COVID patients."