Fears over liberties as MPs debate new laws on panademic
THE GOVERNMENT has relented to pressure spearheaded by a Yorkshire MP to ensure emergency legislation to cope with the coronavirus pandemic is reviewed after six months amid concerns over the length of time the laws would be in place.
The Coronavirus Bill was debated in Parliament yesterday as MPs rushed new laws through to hand the Government sweeping powers to try and bring the disease under control.
Changes include reducing the number of doctors required to sign off on sectioning those with mental health issues from two to one, while police would be given authority to force those infected with Covid-19 to self-isolate.
Former Cabinet Minister and Haltemprice and Howden MP David Davis had pushed for the Bill, which gives the Government the powers for two years, to be more tightly controlled over civil liberty concerns.
And while the Government relented and introduced six monthly reviews, Mr Davis said this was not enough.
He is instead calling for Boris Johnson to go further by introducing a rewritten Bill in 12 months’ time if the powers are still deemed necessary.
Mr Davis, the ex-Brexit Secretary, said six-monthly reviews were not sufficient to keep such wide-reaching legislation in check and predicted there were likely to be “mistakes” in the 300plus pages of emergency legislation.
Mr Davis said he feared the current set of powers contained in the fast-tracked Bill would give the Government undue strengths which could infringe on civil liberties.
He said he was personally concerned that powers allowing the Government to postpone elections could be misused.
The civil liberties campaigner said: “This Bill was put together in five days, it is 300-odd pages long.
“It is guaranteed, bluntly, that it will have mistakes and unnecessary elements to it.
“Those mistakes will all be in one direction and that’s giving more power to the Government than is necessary.”
The senior Conservative MP said a six-month sunset clause would not go far enough in terms of checks.
However, Mr Hancock said: “We’re proposing, as discussed with the Opposition, a six-month debate and vote on the continuation of the Bill and before that debate we will provide evidence and advice from the chief medical officer to inform the debate.”