LOCKED OUT Ministers refusing to discuss coronavirus lockdown plan accused of ‘treating public like children’

MINISTERS have been accused of "treating the public like children" after refusing to discuss an exit strategy from the coronavirus lockdown.

Brits will remain in lockdown for another three weeks to slow the spread of coronavirus - with the UK government reportedly two weeks away from announcing how the country will emerge from the drastic measures.

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Alok Sharma raised concerns that laying out exit strategies could muddy the waters

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Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the government shouldn't treat the public like children when it came to outlining the exit strategy

There has been growing pressure on the government to outline its plan, with economic paralysis wreaking havoc on jobs and businesses.

And Tory former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith warned the government shouldn't treat the public like children.

He told the Times: "The Government is going to have to accept and admit we are coming out of lockdown.

"We need to trust the British people and not treat them like children. We must respect their common sense. They need to know that the sun is rising at some point in an economic sense."

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Brits will remain in lockdown for another three weeks

And Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the defence select committee, added: "Communication is critical in keeping people on board. You need to educate the nation about what to expect in the next phase. That is the conversation we can start to have now."

Nicola Sturgeon yesterday also threw her support behind setting out a strategy to the public.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said any such blueprint will take another fortnight, but the SNP's leader insists she wants to level with the public over the lockdown.

She told BBC Radio 4's Today show: "What I'm going to try to do is set out the decision-making framework that we're operating in, so that we are treating the public like grown-ups that they are."

But some ministers have hit back - with business secretary Alok Sharma last night flagging concerns that laying out the options to the public could risk "muddying the waters".

The UK death toll yesterday reached more than 14,000 with more than 108,000 infections up and down the country.