Johnson accused of ‘ failed strategy’ overvirus
Tory backbench rebellion growing over restrictions
BORIS JOHNSON has been accused of presiding over a “failed strategy of lockdowns and arbitrary restrictions” in the fight against coronavirus as he attempted to quell a growing Tory rebellion over the second national lockdown.
The Prime Minister yesterday set out to MPs details of the new restrictions which will come into force from Thursday.
But a growing number of senior MPs on the Conservative backbenches have said they will oppose the new lockdown during a vote on Wednesday.
Shipley Tory MP Philip Davies said: “As a Conservative I don’t believe that collapsing the economy is ever the right solution to any problem. That’s why I thought we’d campaigned so hard to stop the right honourable member for Islington North ( Jeremy Corbyn) from becoming Prime Minister.”
And he asked Mr Johnson “how many collapsed businesses and how many job losses he and his Government believe are a price worth paying to continue per using this failed strategy of lockdowns and arbitrary restrictions?”
Sir Charles Walker, the vicechairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, said he would vote against the legislation, arguing that the UK is drifting “further into an authoritarian, coercive state”.
But Mr Johnson told Mr Davies: “I share his desire to protect the economy and I believe fervently that we need to get as fast a bounce- back as we possibly can. But I also think, alas, the data is inescapable and that if we are to avert the loss of many thousands of lives this is the only option we face.”
Fellow Conservative MP and former Cabinet minister Esther McVey,whoi sal so Mr Davies’ wife, said she would vote against the four- week lockdown because the “‘ lockdown cure’ is causing more harm than Covid”.
And Sir Graham Brady, the influential chair of the Tories’ 1922 Committee, said: “If these kinds of measures were being taken in any totalitarian country around the world, we would be denouncing it as a form of evil.”
The Prime Minister promised MPs a fresh vote on the next stage of measures when “we intend to return” to a regional tiered system on December 2.
And he announced greater support for the self- employed after extending the furlough scheme as pubs, restaurants and non- essential shops are ordered to close. He hailed advances in medicine including “virtually instant” Covid19 tests and said there is a “real prospect” of a vaccine in the first quarter of next year.
“I believe that these technical developments, taken together, will enable us to defeat this virus by the spring as humanity has defeated every other infectious disease,” he said.
Any rebellion tomorrow is likely to be symbolic after Labour promised to vote for the measures.
LONDON MAYOR Sadiq Khan has said some northern leaders are wrong to “point the finger” at the capital for getting special treatment from ministers.
Mr Khan called for mayors across the country to stand together to demand more autonomy from national government instead of “bickering”.
In a keynote virtual address yesterday to a conference organised by the Centre for London think- tank, the mayor accused ministers of undermining and scapegoating the capital to gain support in different areas of the country. His comments came after some northern leaders accused the Government of treating them differently from London when the regional three- tier Covid system was introduced, before Prime Minister Boris Johnson decided on a national lockdown for England.
Mr Khan said: “Sometimes other parts of the country point the finger at London, but this unhappiness is misdirected.
“Too often it’s not London but Whitehall and Westminster that’s the source of unhappiness.
“Of course, I see how some decisions by this Government can look London- centric, and annoy colleagues in the North.
“But when cities and regions bicker, we fall into the Government’s trap, because it’s in their interest that we are pitted against one another.
“Fighting a zero- sum game over money means they can retain control at a national level.
“And it deflects from the actual problems we should be focusing on.
“So, instead of succumbing to the Government’s divide- andrule tactics, we need to rally together.
“From my position as Mayor of London, it certainly doesn’t feel like London is getting special treatment from this Government – quite the opposite.
“So, unless we resist the temptation to turn on each other, and instead stick together and stand up for the funding and the powers that all mayors need, we will allow the Government to dictate the terms.”
Mr Khan said Ministers have launched attacks on London.
“We have a Government that seems happy to undermine our capital city and that attacks us to shore up their vote in other parts of the country,” he said.
“It feels like London has too often become the scapegoat for many of Britain’s problems.”
Leaders in Scotland, Wales and regions such as the West Midlands have also suggested that London is prioritised over them by the Government.
Over the weekend, the leader of Bradford Council said the announcement of new coronavirus measures was “confusing” for West Yorkshire residents who had been preparing for Tier 3 restrictions. Susan Hinchcliffe said she had been assured there would not be a national lockdown during discussions with the Government last week about West Yorkshire entering the very high level of coronavirus measures.