‘It’s lockdown hangover’: Claire Fox brands state funeral closure ‘disservice to Queen’

GB News: Baroness Fox on ‘lockdown hangover’

The Queen’s state funeral service has sparked a wave of business and public sector closures to mark the national period of mourning. While some have welcomed the respectful delay to operations as the population pays their respects to the late monarch, others have criticised businesses for using the bank holiday as an “excuse” to close essential services. Baroness Fox described the development as a “lockdown hangover” as the closures are set to cause huge disruption across the UK.

Speaking on GB News, Baroness Fox said: “This is actually very serious, it is almost like a lockdown hangover. As soon as something happens, everything closes down.

“I think this is a real disservice to the Queen that this has been used.

“You think of the crisis in the NHS at the moment – you don’t need anymore operations cancelled.”

She added: “A bank holiday is one thing, but don’t use this almost as an excuse to disrupt the whole of society again, as we saw during lockdown.”

Baroness Fox described the business closures as a “lockdown hangover” (Image: GB News)

A flood of businesses have announced plans to close on Monday (Image: GETTY)

The Queen’s funeral will be held at Westminster Abbey on Monday, with the occasion to be marked by a national bank holiday.

Royal sources have reported that King Charles has called for the funeral service to cause “minimum disruption” to the public.

There has been no official requirement outlined for businesses to close over the bank holiday, but many have chosen to do so regardless.

A flood of planned closures will commence on Monday, with bosses claiming the decision has been made out of respect to the Queen.

Read more: Thousands of NHS appointments axed due to Queen’s funeral

The Queen’s state funeral service will be held as Westminster Abbey (Image: GETTY)

The occasion will be marked by a national bank holiday (Image: GETTY)

Leading supermarket chains including Tesco and Sainsbury’s have confirmed plans to close, with some smaller convenience stores and petrol stations planned to reopen later in the evening, once the ceremony has concluded.

Swathes of shopping centres up and down the country have also announced they will close their doors to the public due to the state funeral service.

Other planned closures and cancellations have triggered backlash from the public as some food banks and NHS services declared they would shutdown on Monday.

Bereaved families have been left distraught after some funeral services announced ceremonies planned for the same day as the state funeral would be postponed.

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Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to visit London to pay their respects to the Queen (Image: GETTY)

Wimbledon food bank initially announced plans to close, but later u-turned on its decision, citing a boost in volunteers.

Similarly, family holiday village Centre Parcs decided to close its UK accommodation to visitors on the day of the Queen’s funeral. The company later said those already staying in their holiday parks would be able to remain in their accommodation, but the majority of the onsite facilities would be closed.

A number of NHS services have confirmed plans for a temporary closure, resulting in some scheduled appointments and treatments having to be postponed.

The Government has clarified: “There is no obligation on organisations to suspend business during the national mourning period.”

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