Tory anger as lockdown forces war heroes to pay respects in cold
MILITARY veterans will be forced to stand outside in the cold on Remembrance Sunday rather than attend traditional church services under the new national lockdown rules.
A draft law enforcing the lockdown, which is set to be approved by MPS today and comes into force at midnight tonight, makes it illegal for veterans to attend Remembrance Sunday services in churches and instead requires them to stand outside.
Any veteran who attempts to go into a church on Remembrance Sunday risks a £200 fine, which can increase up to £6,000 for every repeat offence.
Last night, Tory MPS who served in the Armed Forces condemned the move, saying that an exception had to be made on Remembrance Sunday on Nov 8.
The draft law contains other apparent anomalies, banning children’s sports while schools remain open and allowing people to work out with their personal trainers in parks.
Also botanical gardens are being forced to close yet National Trust parks and RHS gardens can remain open.
Dozens of Tory MPS are due to vote against the lockdown and the restrictions governing England which begin just after midnight tomorrow night and run until Dec 2. However the law will almost certainly pass through the Commons because of support from Labour.
Boris Johnson told his Cabinet meeting yesterday that “amid the uncertain gloom of November I see light ahead and I’m absolutely certain that we will have better days before us”. Meanwhile, he pledged that the lockdown would end on Dec 2.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph today, Priti Patel urges fellow MPS to vote for the measures, but admits that a lockdown could “amplify the danger” of abuse for some vulnerable people.
The Home Secretary says that, as libertarians, she and Mr Johnson are “the last people Daily Telegraph readers would expect to be advocating a curtailment of the British people’s liberty in order to fight this disease”. But she
adds that her concerns are outweighed by the risks of failing to stop the spread of Covid-19.
According to official guidance published last night, places of worship will be closed from tomorrow, unless they are being used for funerals, individual prayer, formal child care or other essential voluntary and public services.
The draft law allows for gatherings on Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day (next Wednesday) as long as they take place outside or are in Westminster Abbey “on Nov 11 2020 to commemorate Armistice Day and the centenary of the burial of the Unknown
Soldier”. The law specifically says that among those who can attend gatherings are “veterans of the Armed Forces or their representatives or carers”.
Lord Cormack said a Remembrance Sunday service had been planned in Lincoln Cathedral which he described as “an immense space where everybody can be properly socially distanced”.
He added: “Instead, the Government has come up with an imbecilic answer – that the veterans, all of whom are 90 and over, can stand in the cold and be rained on, but they cannot go into a safe, socially distanced cathedral. “This is a disgrace,” he said. Tobias Ellwood, the chairman of the all-party Commons defence select committee and a former Royal Green Jackets officer, said: “I strongly urge the Government to think again and grant our brave veterans the well earned latitude they deserve.
“Every effort should be made to accommodate our ageing warriors especially those who defended this country in previous times of crisis.”
Lord Greenhalgh, a Government minister, defended the restrictions saying: “Remembrance Sunday services are, of course, an important part of celebrating what generations before have done for this country but they can take place at the Cenotaph in a Covid-secure way.”