UK leader touts local virus rules but pubs are in distress

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged lawmakers to vote Tuesday for a new set of coronavirus restrictions in England, saying the country must “hold our nerve” until vaccines are approved and distributed.

England’s current four-week national lockdown ends at midnight, and the government plans to replace it starting Wednesday with a three-tier regional system based on the severity of the outbreak in different parts of the country.

The change requires Parliament’s approval, and it faces opposition from lawmakers — many from Johnson's own Conservative Party — who say the measures will devastate businesses, especially pubs, which face some of the tightest restrictions. Most of the country is being put into the upper two tiers, where shops, hairdressers, beauty salons and places of worship can reopen. But pubs and restaurants face strict limits in Tier 2 and closure in the topmost Tier 3.

Johnson told the House of Commons that a lockdown imposed on Nov. 5 had succeeded in levelling off the coronavirus infection rate in England, but that there was “a compelling necessity” for further restrictions.

“What we cannot do is lift all of the restrictions at once, or move too quickly, in such a way that the virus would begin to spread rapidly again,” triggering a new lockdown in January, he said.

The new measures are to be reviewed every two weeks and restrictions will be eased for five days over Christmas so that families can get together. Other parts of the U.K. — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — are all following their own local restrictions to curb the spread of the virus.

Britain has had Europe’s deadliest COVID-19 outbreak, with more than 58,500 confirmed virus-related deaths.

But many Conservative lawmakers say the...