The Covid backlash
Tory MPs up in arms over plan for six months of strict rules
‘Freedom is very precious to them’
TORY backbenchers last night demanded Boris Johnson justify his plan for six months of tough restrictions to grandparents who just want to ‘live their life before it’s too late’.
The Prime Minister faces growing unease from his own MPs over the devastating impact of prolonged measures on the economy and the public mood.
They pleaded with him to ‘listen very carefully’ not just to the health experts but also to business leaders, and warned that a return to lockdown would ‘destroy jobs’.
Mr Johnson yesterday sought to alleviate yesterday in the Commons, he faced repeated calls from MPs to look at whether areas with lower infection rates could be released from restrictions sooner, rather than sticking to a one-size-fitsall approach.
Mr Johnson announced that MPs will have the opportunity to debate the new coronavirus measures next week after demands from Tory former Cabinet minister Dame Cheryl Gillan.
Dame Cheryl asked: ‘With this six- month time frame he’s announced, what does he say to grandparents who want to live their lives before it’s too late and cannot see their families, to worried parents and families who cannot access a test at the moment, to workers and business owners facing financial ruin – and to MPs that want to debate these matters in Parliament before they are decided, not after, so they can help him shoulder this onerous responsibility?
‘How can he convince all of them that he’s taking the right path and unite our country with hope of an end to this misery?’
Mr Johnson responded by promising a ‘very full debate’ on the measures next week.
Dame Cheryl said last night: ‘Many people that are older feel particularly that the restrictions they are now having to operate under take away that freedom that, as they are approaching the later years of their lives, is very precious to them.’
Fellow Tory MP Mel Stride, chairman of the Commons Treasury Select Committee, said lockdowns ‘destroy jobs and also personal wellbeing’. He said: ‘And the fact the lockdowns have damaged our national economy means that in the years ahead a smaller economy will probably have serious impacts on the health of millions of people up and down our country.’ Mr Stride added in the Commons: ‘Yes, we should listen very carefully to the epidemiologists but we must also listen very carefully to the Treasury, to businesses and to economists too.’
In a message to his constituents posted on his Facebook page, Tory MP Julian Sturdy suggested Mr Johnson should have given businesses and consumers more hope that restrictions can be loosened if the virus is kept under control.
Derek Thomas, who represents St Ives in Cornwall, also urged Mr Johnson to provide a message of hope to shuttered businesses in low-infection areas.