Senior Tory MPs have publicly urged Boris Johnson to cut the 2 metre distancing rule in England immediately, underlining the scale of discontent about the issue in his party. Pubs, restaurants and hairdressers across the country have been scheduled to reopen on 4 July, but they do not yet know whether they will have to abide by the 2 metre rule at all times – something many say would mean they will not be viable businesses. Trade bodies such as UK Hospitality and the British Beer and Pub Association have submitted estimates showing numbers of closures and job losses rising along with social distancing at 1 metre, 1.5 metres and 2 metres. Amid mounting pressure for action from his party’s MPs, Johnson announced a review of the fraught issue at the weekend, saying he hoped there would be “room for manoeuvre” as the spread of the coronavirus declines. The review will be carried out by Simon Case, the most senior civil servant in No 10, and Johnson’s official spokesman said on Monday it would report “in the coming weeks”. But as the junior health minister Edward Argar answered an urgent question on the issue in the Commons on Monday, a string of high-profile Tory backbenchers made clear they had not been placated. The former defence minister Tobias Ellwood called a change in the guidance “game-changing” and said it should be made immediately. “It’s now time for the government to decide. One metre is the right decision; now is the right time, not in two weeks,” he said. The former cabinet minister John Redwood said: “Given that the scientific advice is mixed and muddled, and given that the economic and business advice is overwhelming and clear, why don’t ministers today announce the halving of the distance, ask business to put in other measures, including protective clothing and screens where appropriate?” He added: “Leaving it to July 4 means many more lost jobs.” The former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith said he did not believe “a single fact is going to change” in the time it would take to complete the review. “The reality is, the advisers are divided. The government is going to have to make a decision, and get this right,” he said. Argar confirmed that as well as the latest medical advice, Case would take into account the economic implications of maintaining the rule, and the likely impact on public behaviour of any change. He said it would be about “striking the right balance, between protecting public health outcomes, and also understanding the impact that the restrictions are having every day on businesses – and I am entirely seized of the difficulty of that balance”. The urgent question came from the former business secretary Greg Clark. Johnson’s spokesman said: “[The review] will look at evidence around transmission of the virus in different environments, incidence rates and international comparisons, and it will draw on advice from scientific and medical experts, as well as economists and papers from Sage.” Scott Benton, who won the Blackpool South seat from Labour at last December’s general election, told Argar in the Commons: “Local businesses now need a successful summer season if they are to have any chance of survival at all.”