HONOURS JOY FOR NHS HEROES
Queen rewards hundreds after PM rallies world in virus battle
BORIS JOHNSON has paid tribute to hundreds of coronavirus heroes who will be named in the Queen’s birthday honours list next month.
Doctors, nurses, fundraisers and volunteers who have made outstanding contributions to the battle against the pandemic will be recognised.
The Prime Minister said the whole nation owes a “great debt of gratitude” to them.
It comes as he took to the world stage at the UN yesterday to call for a global response to the virus. He urged leaders to unite to deliver a vaccine and take on the anti-vaxxer “nutjobs”
that threaten to undermine the long-term battle against Covid-19.
As that fight was stepped up in Downing Street last week, sources say Mr Johnson was a unifying figure when his team sought to finalise the next steps, which included 10pm curfews for pubs and restaurants.
Looking back at those frontline heroes who did so much as the pandemic swept the UK, the Prime Minister said: “As we all redouble our efforts to control the virus, protect the NHS and save lives this winter, I am pleased we have an opportunity to recognise those who have given so much to this country already.
“The pandemic is the greatest health challenge in our lifetime. We all have to play our part.
“But the dedication, courage and compassion seen from these recipients, be it responding on the frontline or out in their communities providing support to the most vulnerable, is an inspiration to us all.
“We owe them a debt of gratitude and the 2020 Queen’s birthday honours will be the first of many occasions where we can thank them as a nation.”
Mr Johnson made a call for names on the birthday honours list in May and it was delayed so that new applications could be made.
The recipients, to be announced on October 10, will follow in the footsteps of Captain Sir Tom Moore, the Second World War veteran who was knighted after raising £33million for NHS charities at the beginning of the crisis.
Calling for a “global response” yesterday, in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Mr Johnson said countries should not put “national interest” first in developing and distributing a vaccine.
He pointed out that the UK is already prepared to hand out one billion doses to poorer countries. And he stepped up the fight against the antivaccine movement.
He said: “Even as we strive for a vaccine, we must never cut corners, slim down the trials or sacrifice safety to speed.
“Because it would be an absolute tragedy if, in our eagerness, we were to boost the nutjobs – the anti-vaxxers; dangerous obsessives who campaign against the whole concept of vaccination and who would risk further millions of lives.
“And now is the time above all to look ahead and think about how to stop a pandemic from happening again. How can we stop another virus from coming along
‘These heroes are an inspiration to us all’
and again smashing that precious Ming vase of international cooperation? How can we avoid the mutual quarantines and the brutal Balkanisation of the world economy?
“I don’t think there is any reason for fatalism. Of course, the dangers can never be wholly eliminated but human ingenuity and expertise can reduce the risk.”
But despite his calls for international unity, in Westminster solidarity was in short supply and there was anger among Tory backbenchers over the Government’s handling of the crisis.
An amendment by Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the Tory 1922 backbench committee, is calling for greater parliamentary scrutiny for Covid restrictions. It would also require the Government to put any change to a vote.
It has gathered nearly 50 signatures, meaning the Prime Minister may have to rely on Labour to abstain in order to get his plans for emergency powers through.
Meanwhile, as evidence grows of splits within the Government on what to do next, one senior minister admitted to the Sunday Express that he has “no intention” of downloading a controversial NHS track and trace app, due to fears it will breach privacy.
There are still rows over whether the rule of six and 10pm
curfew should be continued, with one minister saying they are “just a fig leaf for Covid hardliners”.
There were even rumours that both Rishi Sunak and chief medical officer Chris Whitty had threatened to resign over different parts of last week’s controversial guidance. The whispers have been dismissed as “completely untrue” by Downing Street.
But public anger over the restrictions was evident yesterday as thousands of protesters converged on Trafalgar Square in London to express their anger at the latest clampdown.
Professors Whitty and chief scientific officer Sir Patrick Vallance have also been in the firing line, with alarming infection rates they cited last week being disputed by other scientists.
Virologist Professor Hugh Pennington suggested the pair were “trying to scare us witless” because they wanted the public to sign up to new restrictions.
MPS also expressed their dismay at the experts’ grim media conference. Former international development minister Sir Desmond Swayne said: “I was appalled. It was bog science.”
The MP warned that the “cure is worse than the disease” and described the experts’ stance as: “We want to terrify you into obeying a whole series of new restrictions which are going to wreck your economy and take your jobs.
“And – what’s more – make more of you iller in the long run because there’s a huge collapse in the diagnosis of cancers and heart conditions and they are going to come home to roost.”
Shipley MP Philip Davies has described the two scientists as “power mad” and pointed out that flu and pneumonia deaths have almost kept pace with coronavirus ones.
The rows over the handling of the pandemic have also dragged in the peace-making PM. After a summer of speculation, there are continuing concerns over whether he will go next year.
A minister said he believes Chancellor Rishi Sunak could end up as PM “by default” as “the Prime Minister looks unlikely to lead us into the next election and Sunak is far ahead of the rest”.
But many blue collar Tory MPS, who swept away Labour’s red wall last year and are due to hold a virtual conference with the Express this week, expressed anger at troublemakers in their party.
Former Labour activist Lee Anderson, now Conservative MP for Ashfield, dismissed talk of a leadership race. He said: “I’m 100 per cent behind Boris Johnson, and all these rumours are just nonsense – absolute nonsense.
“It’s the liberal Left again – they’ve failed so far this year in everything they tried to do to undermine him and this is another way of trying to stoke division.”
He added that Mr Johnson has “probably had the toughest time in peacetime of any other prime minister in history”.
But last night Labour took its first lead over the Conservatives since Mr Johnson became PM. The Opinium poll put Labour on 42 per cent, the Tories on 39 per cent.