IT WASN'T WORKING
Why Boris Johnson had to act after Brits ignored coronavirus advice to stay at home and crowded onto tubes on buses
BORIS Johnson was forced to act after workers and employers failed to obey social distancing rules.
The weekend saw tens of thousands flock to beaches and parks, while today commuters packed on to Tube trains to go to work.
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But the new lockdown announced by the PM last night means Tube, rail services and roads must only be used for key workers going to work or for essential trips to buy food or medicine.
So far, the Government has ruled out sealing off London, where deaths from the virus are way ahead of the rest of the country.
And there will be no road blocks or motorways sealed off so crucial deliveries of food and goods can keep moving.
The new measures came as workers packed on to trains and Tubes amid claims that rogue bosses were defying the PM’s call to stay at home.
Transport bosses had slashed services — creating crushes on trains and buses.
Shocking pictures showed passengers herded together, flouting social distancing advice aimed at keeping people 2metres apart to combat the spread of Covid-19.
BRITAIN 'WILL PAY'
It led to Italy’s World Health Organisation representative Walter Ricciardi slamming Britain for its poor social distancing.
He said commuters “will pay for it dearly” in just a few weeks.
And Giorgio Gori, the mayor of Bergamo — the Italian city worst hit by coronavirus, said he had flown his daughters home from England, where they had been studying.
He said: “They are probably more secure here than in England.
“I don’t understand why the Government didn’t decide in time to protect the citizens.”
Many of those travelling into London yesterday were low-paid labourers heading for building sites.
Among the shocking pictures was one of construction workers crammed into a canteen in South West London’s Battersea Power Station development.
Labour MP Neil Coyle blasted bosses for forcing their staff to work despite the pandemic and called for “irresponsible employers” to be prosecuted.
He hit out after Transport for London closed the Circle and Waterloo & City lines and shut 40 Underground stations.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has urged all except key workers to stay at home, or “people will die”.
Mainline rail services have also been cut, leaving those trains still running heaving in peak hours.
Unions voiced their anger, saying commuters were making social distancing impossible and endangering the health of rail staff. Aslef’s Finn Brennan said: “Drivers and other frontline staff are furious.”
But commuters also hit out at the decision to cut services. Construction worker Rohit Jain said: “I had no choice than to travel to work this morning in a packed Tube as there is no relief for the contractors & self employed.
“Do you think it’s fair & is helping in slowing the spread?”
DANGER TO HEALTH
NHS worker Deepa Santhosh said: “The @metline train is now nearly full . . . cannot maintain 2m distance and there are people coughing. How does this make any sense?”
Other commuters posted pictures of a packed bus in Stratford, East London, and a heaving Central Line train at 7.15am.
A spokesman for the Mayor’s office said: “Londoners should not be travelling by any mode of transport unless it is absolutely necessary, and only critical workers should be using public transport. We need Londoners to stop travelling.”
Meanwhile, the rail network was nationalised in all but name as operators faced ruin because of falling passenger numbers.
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Train companies will be paid a modest fee to run the skeleton services but all costs will be taken on by the Department for Transport.
Franchise contracts will be suspended for six months under the Emergency Measures Agreements but timetables have been slashed.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said it was vital to keep services running. Commuters will be able to get refunds on advance tickets.t that the Government say are unacceptable for the wider public.
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