‘Please stop speculating about lockdown’, Belfast chamber chief Simon Hamilton urges Robin Swann

Simon Hamilton, who quit frontline politics before taking on his current post as chief executive of Belfast Chamber of Commerce, said that if more restrictions are to be put in place it would be “immeasurably better” to take the decision “promptly” and avoid a “disastrous” repeat of the political deadlock last week that delayed the announcement of an extension to the current restrictions with just hours before they expired.

The Belfast Chamber chief executive was speaking after the Chief Scientific Advisor Professor Ian Young said that more restrictions before Christmas were “more likely than not” and the Health Minister Robin Swann said that his Department would be “looking for further restrictions and further regulations before Christmas”.

In a statement, the former DUP minister said: “The scale of the challenge facing the Executive as it grapples with COVID-19 is immense and is proving to be a tough task. Effectively tackling the virus, in part, relies on a clear communications plan which, as the debacle of last week starkly showed, has been sorely absent.

“When the Executive took its decision to extend the current lockdown restrictions, Belfast Chamber pleaded with Ministers to ensure that we did not see a repeat of the disastrous way that decision was made.

“The First Minister [Arlene Foster] rightly said that it was ‘a torturous example of how not to take decisions’.

“Yet, once again, businesses are hearing Ministers speculate that more restrictions are coming.”

The Belfast Chamber chief continued: “Whenever the Health Minister or the Chief Scientific Adviser or others muse publicly about more restrictions, it has a damaging and demoralising effect on business owners and staff who are already under immense stress.

It makes them worry about whether or not the new dates they’ve been told when they can reopen will actually happen. It makes it almost impossible to plan properly for reopening. And it is resulting in bookings and appointments being cancelled, adding to the uncertainty and distress business owners and their staff are facing.

“These are people’s jobs. These are people’s livelihoods. They shouldn’t be a plaything for politicians. Our plea to Ministers is to take decisions, stick to them and stop this constant speculation which serves no one well.”

He added: “If the Executive is inclined to extend restrictions further based on their scientific and medical evidence, whilst this undoubtedly would damage jobs and livelihoods during what is the most important trading period of the year for many, it would be immeasurably better for such a decision to be taken promptly to avoid the debacle of last week and end this kind of unhelpful speculation”.