KEEP CALM, CURFEW ON
PM URGES US TO FOLLOW RULES WITH THE THREAT OF TOUGHER MEASURES
BORIS JOHNSON has urged members of the public to follow his coronavirus rules – or face even tougher restrictions.
The prime minister appealed for calm as 7,108 new cases were reported, with another 71 deaths for the second day running.
England’s chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty, who flanked the PM at yesterday’s 5pm briefing, warned that the number of patients in hospitals and intensive care was increasing.
The press conference came just hours after speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle admonished Mr Johnson for showing a ‘total disregard’ for the House of Commons by introducing laws without giving MPs a chance to scrutinise them.
The PM admitted that recent restrictions – including the government’s 10pm pub curfew and his ‘rule of six’ – would take more time to bring cases down. ‘I wish I could tell you that
the impact has already begun to appear but it will take time to feed through,’ he said. ‘We must bear down on the virus now. I am absolutely confident that with ever-increased testing, with better treatments and, of course, with the prospect of a vaccine, we will get through this.’
Calling for ‘collective forbearance, common sense and willingness to make sacrifices’, he added: ‘I have to be clear that, if the evidence requires it, we will not hesitate to take further measures that would, I’m afraid, be more costly than the ones we have put into effect now.’
Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, said while cases were going up, there was much more testing now. He added: ‘The number of cases that were reported in March were almost certainly a very big underestimate of the total. It is much more likely that, back in March and April at the peak of this, we were seeing over 100,000 cases a day at certain times.’
Meanwhile, the PM came under fire from speaker Sir Lindsay, who accused him of forcing through sweeping new restrictions and fines without revealing the details until the last minute.
He told the Commons: ‘The way in which the government has exercised its power to make secondary legislation during this crisis has been totally unsatisfactory.
‘All too often, important statutory instruments have been published a matter of hours before they come into force and some explanations as to why important measures have come into effect before they can be laid before this house has been unconvincing and shows a total disregard for the house.’
The speaker’s comments came as more than 50 Tory MPs threatened a rebellion yesterday – prompting health secretary Matt Hancock to promise he would consult the Commons before any ‘significant’ new rules applying to all of England and the UK are introduced in future. The backbenchers were set to back an amendment from Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee, calling on the PM to wait for MPs to scrutinise new rules before they are introduced.
But Sir Lindsay turned down the amendment to the Coronavirus Act, saying he felt he could not hold a vote on it under the terms of the debate.
More than 16million people in the UK face increased restrictions when four areas of North Wales go into lockdown today. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: ‘If the prime minister doesn’t understand the rules and his own council leaders are complaining about mixed messages, how does he expect the rest of the country to understand and follow the rules?’
Mr Johnson replied: ‘Actually, I think that the people of this country do understand and overwhelmingly do o follow the rules.’