INSTANT VIEW-England heads into new COVID lockdown

We will support them and I think what the country wants to see is everybody pulling together to do our level best to get through this." 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 for affected businesses alongside these new restrictions." TONY DANKER, CBI DIRECTOR-GENERAL “There are now a number of imperatives for government to support business.

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.

OPPOSITION LABOUR PARTY LEADER KEIR STARMER "We have called on the government to take this step. I don't want to quarrel at this stage. I think the measures the prime minister has outlined are necessary. We will support them and I think what the country wants to see is everybody pulling together to do our level best to get through this."

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 for affected businesses alongside these new restrictions."

TONY DANKER, CBI DIRECTOR-GENERAL "There are now a number of imperatives for government to support business. First, ensuring firms have the cashflow to make it through. Extending existing support has helped, but a broader range of measures will need to tackle this further hit to revenues. Second, the government must review and plug any coverage gaps from existing support that are now further exposed, for example in supply chains. And third, firms must have a clear line of sight and assurance that support will be there for as long as restrictions are in place so that they can stay the course rather than act precipitously."

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."