Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:-
“Today’s timid Executive approach to ending lockdown is disappointing, particularly for businesses that have been squeezed relentlessly.
“I well recall the Health Minister telling me in the Assembly that vaccination was the exit strategy. Now, even though the most vulnerable have been vaccinated and the ‘R’ number – itself once the determinant – is being sustained below 1, the goal posts are moved again as a message of hopelessness prevails.
“The failure to bring our schools back is particularly wrongheaded. All Primary classes, at least, should be back, but even the vital year of P6 – to facilitate preparation for the Transfer – has been neglected.
“Extending lockdown to at least Easter is very harsh for a public which has been promised the contradictory assurance of minimal lockdown but now faces perpetual extensions.”