FURIOUS MPS DEMAND: IF NOT NOW, WHEN?
With Boris set to delay Freedom Day, Tories reveal fears of endless loop of lockdowns in ‘Orwellian nightmare’
FURIOUS Tory backbenchers last night voiced fears that ‘we will never get out of this Orwellian nightmare’ as Boris Johnson prepared to announce a delay to the end of lockdown.
The rebel MPs complained that every time the country nears freedom ‘you hear the scraping of shovels and the goalposts are lifted up and moved’.
In an address this evening, the PM is expected to confirm a delay of a month on the initial plan for ‘Freedom Day’, originally set for June 21.
The extraordinary backlash came as business leaders warned hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk with the economy facing a two per cent hit. Mark Harper, chairman of the Covid Recovery Group (CRG) of Tory MPs, last night expressed concern that lockdown could be extended until at least the end of September if ministers attempt to wait until the whole population has been double-jabbed.
He said: ‘We have a rapid rollout of effective vaccines and are heading into summer. If, even at this point, the Government won’t release restrictions, this points to restrictions in the autumn and winter, when respiratory diseases increase and the NHS is always under more pressure.
‘This would be devastating for business confidence, people’s livelihoods and wellbeing.’
Tory backbencher Marcus Fysh warned that the PM and senior ministers ‘have completely lost their way’, as he insisted ‘there is no need to panic’ about the rise in infections.
The MP for Yeovil said: ‘If we are still in a no man’s land wondering about coronavirus through the summer months then you can see how there would be calls to lock down into the autumn, and then lock down in winter and spring. We need to make a stand now and say it is not acceptable.’
Mr Fysh said the Government has ‘lost credibility’ by repeatedly extending restrictions, adding: ‘It would not surprise me at all if people just ignore them. I think it would be completely understandable if they did.’
Richard Drax, the Tory MP for South Dorset, accused ministers of going back on their ‘initial promise that once all the vulnerable were vaccinated, we would be free’.
He said: ‘Every time I hope for freedom, you hear the scraping of shovels and the goalposts are lifted up and moved two feet to the right. This is no longer acceptable.
‘Common sense and pragmatism is needed now, not more Project Fear, which frankly I have had enough of. We cannot go on destroying people’s lives and livelihoods.
‘If it is a two-week delay now, in two weeks’ time it will be another two weeks, and another two weeks, and another two weeks and we will never get out of this Orwellian nightmare.’
Tory Craig Mackinlay voiced concern that the country is ‘going to end up in a perpetual circle of lockdowns’, adding: ‘It is time to say enough.’ The MP for South Thanet in Kent said: ‘If we delay each time there is a variant, we are never going to unlock because you can be sure next month there will a Californian Type-2 variant, or the month after a Thailand via South Africa variant. These things are never going to stop.’
The regulations underpinning the roadmap are due to expire on June 30, meaning the Government will need a Commons vote to extend them past that date.
But despite the anger on the Tory backbenches, CRG deputy chairman Steve Baker last night conceded that the rebels are powerless to block them as Mr Johnson will win by a ‘huge margin’ thank to Labour’s support.
The Institute for Economic Affairs yesterday estimated the cost of postponing the end of lockdown could amount to £1billion a week.
UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said: ‘Hospitality is desperate to get back to what it does best and can play a key role in the economic recovery of the UK – but only once it is given permission to trade freely.’
Douglas McWilliams, deputy chairman for the Centre for Economics and Business Research, warned the ‘danger’ of uncertainty would hit firms.
He said: ‘Businesses have spent hundreds of millions of pounds preparing to reopen and now a lot of that expenditure could be wasted.’
‘This is no longer acceptable’