‘Tech will help us defeat Covid-19’
BORIS Johnson has said technological advances will “defeat this virus by the spring” as he tries to ward off a growing Tory rebellion over the second national lockdown for England.
The Prime Minister promised MPs a fresh vote on the next stage of measures to combat coronavirus 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 for employees as pubs, restaurants and non-essential shops are ordered to close.
But a growing number of senior MPs on the Conservative backbenches have said they will oppose the new lockdown during a vote tomorrow.
Mr Johnson hailed advances in medicine including “virtually instant” Covid-19 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. He insisted that the national lockdown, if approved by MPs, will automatically expire next month and said that the Commons “will have a vote to agree the way forward”.
And the Prime Minister warned that “without action” there could be twice as many deaths over the winter as in the first wave, meaning there is “no alternative” but another national lockdown.
He said Covid-19 presents an “existential threat” to the NHS with doctors being forced to choose which patients to treat and “who would live and who would die”.
With Chancellor Rishi Sunak beside him, Mr Johnson announced that the Government will double support for the selfemployed for November from 40% to 80% of trading profits.
Sir Keir Starmer accused the Prime Minister of a “catastrophic failure of leadership” for having rejected a recommendation from scientists advising the Government to impose a shorter “circuit-breaker” lockdown in September.
The Labour leader warned that the “human cost” of a growing daily death rate was a result of Mr Johnson being “behind the curve” at every stage.
And Mr Johnson also faced growing unrest from his own MPs.
Sir Charles Walker, the vice-chairman 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”. Another reason for their anger is that several newspapers learned on Friday that a new lockdown would be imposed, before Mr Johnson updated the public or Parliament.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has said any MP found to have leaked details over the second lockdown should apologise for displaying “discourteous and unacceptable” behaviour.