A NORTH East police boss has criticised the government over plans to end lockdown measures on July 19.

Boris Johnson set out plans on Monday evening to abandon the remaining Covid restrictions in England, including rules requiring face masks and social distancing.

Kim McGuinness, the Labour Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Northumbria, has said that the move is “directly contradictory” to ministers’ repeated pledges to base lockdown decisions on data and not dates.

The plan to axe restrictions on July 19, which has still not been formally confirmed ahead of a final decision on July 12, comes as infection rates in the North East are skyrocketing – though that is yet to cause a major spike in hospitalisations or deaths, with the cases largely concentrated among young people.

Our region has overtaken the North West as England’s Covid-19 hotspot after a huge surge in cases over recent weeks, with six of the top 10 highest infection rates in England being in the North East.

Ms McGuinness, who was re-elected as PCC in May, said:  “We have been consistently told that this whole thing is about data and not dates. I have heard the prime minister say that over and over again.

“Yet somehow he has now become obsessed with this date [July 19]. It is important to people and people have made huge changes to their lives, but I want to be reassured that we are actually in a position to unlock before it happens.”

She added that the North East’s response to the pandemic had been “very strong”, but that rapidly rising case numbers here showed how seriously the virus must still be taken.

Ms Mcguinness added: “We have to be realistic and say that we are going to be living with this virus for a long time, in some form. I don’t think that any of the scientists are saying that it would be realistic for us to completely eradicate it.

“But the idea of ‘if not now, when?’ seems to be directly contradictory to the idea of following data and not dates.

“I really hope we are in a position then [on July 19] where we can get back safely to normal or to a kind of normal that people are happy with and feel safe with. But we need to see the data on July 12 to be reassured that it is safe.”

The prime minister said on Monday that it was possible to move to stage four of the lockdown roadmap thanks to the impact of vaccines and warned that delaying now could mean either reopening society in winter or waiting until next year.

Mr Johnson added: “We must be honest with ourselves that if we can’t reopen society in the next few weeks … then we must ask ourselves when will we be able to return to normal?”

The relaxation of rules is set to mean that legal requirements to wear face coverings will be removed completely and that there will be no limits on social contact.

Nightclubs will be allowed to reopen, sporting venues will be able to return to full capacity, and drinkers will be able to queue at the bar in pubs once again.