The Business Secretary dodged the question when asked if he knew what the local lockdown restrictions in Bolton currently are.
Bolton's hospitality sector was closed down three weeks ago as the infection rate in the borough soared but its restrictions are still the most severe in the country despite no longer being the area with the highest infection rate.
Businesses and local leaders have repeatedly asked the government to bring Bolton in line with the rest of the country but as of today (Wednesday September 30) the restrictions still remain in place.
Appearing on 5 Live Breakfast, Business Secretary Alok Sharma was asked how many households can currently meet in a pub in Bolton.
He described it as a "gotcha" question and said that listeners would rather know what the national rules are.
"I think its really important that I put this in the context of what the rules are nationally," Mr Sharma said.
"There are different rules in different areas across the country. There are 13 million people across England in these different levels of restrictions. We haven't set out to put these onerous rules in place just out of fun. We want to make sure that we are protecting people are supporting people."
Mr Sharma continued to evade the question and advised people to visit the government website or local authority websites for details about local restrictions.
He continued: "When it comes to Bolton or Leicester or any of these areas, people should go and look at the gov.uk website or the website of their local authority and see what the local rules are." Alex Norris MP, Labour's shadow Health Minister responding to Alok Sharma blaming the PM’s confusion around Covid rules on a “gotcha”, said: “The Prime Minister should understand the rules he is asking huge numbers of people to follow.
"That’s not a gotcha, that’s just basic Government competence.”
