Stroud MP Siobhan Baillie has given her reaction to the announcement of a second national lockdown.

The Prime Minister confirmed yesterday that the month-long lockdown will start at one second past midnight on Thursday, November 5, and will last until Wednesday, December 2.

Posting on Facebook, Ms Baillie said: You may have seen that the Prime Minister gave a press conference this evening regarding coronavirus. There has been a decision to enter a lockdown for four weeks from Thursday night until the beginning of December.

This is obviously a drastic step that nobody wanted to happen. I will be considering information and evidence surrounding the case for lockdown alongside the other Gloucestershire MPs. I am informed that more information will be available in the coming days.

Representing a Tier 1 area, I naturally want to scrutinise the evidence for lockdown and understand more about the support for businesses (the PM talked about the extension of the furlough scheme) together with looking at how we can exit lockdown.

In the meantime, the strong message we received during our regular call with local NHS leads on Friday was to ensure people continue to seek treatment for non-Covid health issues. Please do not put off contacting your GP or seeking emergency treatment where necessary.

For Stroud constituents, please do not hesitate to contact me with your comments or any questions you have about your own circumstances.

My email is Siobhan.baillie.mp@parliament.uk