PM Boris Johnson faces lockdown revolt from more than 50 UK Tories

More than 50 of Boris Johnson’s own Conservative members of Parliament have demanded a clear route out of lockdown for parts of northern Britain that helped give his party a majority in last year’s election.
 

In a letter to the PM, the MPs warned that his pandemic strategy of targeting local areas with restrictions is disproportionately damaging the economies of northern regions of the country and deepening the divide between the north and the wealthier south.
 

The MPs reminded Johnson of his promises to “level up” disadvantaged parts of the country, which helped persuade voters in former industrial heartlands last December to back his Tories instead of the opposition Labour Party many had supported for decades.
 

“Our constituents have been some of the worst affected by Covid, with many losing jobs and businesses,” the MPs said in letter, which was coordinated by former minister Jake Berry. “We urge you to reflect on our promise to people in the north during the last election with the leveling-up agenda and make our region central to the eonomic recovery. “We are committed to leveling up across the nation and building back better after the virus,” the PM said.