A YORK MP will push for the new national lockdown to end as soon as it is safe to do so.

York Outer MP Julian Sturdy said he reluctantly voted for the latest lockdown in the House of Commons yesterday evening, "on the basis that the enormous spike in infections driven by the more contagious new variant of the virus leaves us with no alternative."

"Our local case rate has spiralled from 65 per 100,000 just before Christmas to approaching 500 per 100,000 now, and I have been convinced that immediate tough action is essential to prevent the NHS being overwhelmed, while we continue to rollout the vaccine to the most vulnerable," he said.

Mr Sturdy added that he "takes heart" from the fact 1.3 million people have already been vaccinated, "more than the rest of Europe combined."

He said he is "disappointed" that the powers voted through yesterday allow for lockdown restrictions to remain in post theoretically until March 31, as he believes MPs need guaranteed regular votes on whether to extend.

He commented: "I will therefore hold the government to account against the commitments I have received from the Prime Minister and Ministers that they want the country out of lockdown and areas back into tiers that reflect their local virus positions as soon as it is safe to do so, which is predicted to be during February.

"I note tier positions legally have to be reviewed every fortnight, so once the present virus surge is over, areas like York can expect to see restrictions relax as our virus rate falls.

"I will also continue to push for clear government commitments on the point in the vaccine rollout when enough vulnerable people have been immunised to allow for the lifting of restrictions."

Mr Sturdy said that having pressed Ministers via a parliamentary question to utilise pharmacies for vaccination, he welcomes their clarification this will happen.