Valley MP in call to scrap lockdown fines
He urges premier to govern ‘by hope, not fear’
JAKE Berry has urged the government to avoid any tightening of Lockdown 3 restrictions, calling on the Prime Minister to govern “by hope, not fear.”
The Rossendale & Darwen MP this week questioned the enforcement of restrictions through police fines, and said he hoped they could be lifted by early March once the most vulnerable groups in society have been vaccinated.
He also called for financial support measures to be extended for businesses, saying if half of our firms go bust as we come out of the pandemic, “virtually every penny would have been wasted.”
Speaking on the BBC’s Politics Live programme, Mr Berry said: “I think we need to take a different approach. I think people’s failure to comply [with restrictions] is borne out of frustration that there’s no route being demonstrated out of this lockdown.
“I think the government needs to get ahead of this and let people know what the route out is. Set out a roadmap to how vaccinations can release our population and get us back to normal. And that, I believe, will massively increase compliance. If people know we are literally in the home straight they will say ‘right, one more heave’.
“A lot of people in the north of England haven’t been able to see friends and family for approaching a year now and it’s not unreasonable for people to say ‘Look, we will keep going, but we need to see what the route out is’.”
Derbyshire Police have apologised and withdrawn two penalty notices this week after two women who drove separately to go for a walk at a remote beauty spot situated around five miles from their homes were fined £200. Home Secretary Priti Patel has defended the overall strategy, insisting police officers are “playing a crucial role in controlling the spread of the virus.”
However, Mr Berry said: “It’s all very well for the police to talk about enforcement, but in areas outside major metropolitan areas there are relatively few police officers.
“Don’t issue fines to people; there aren’t enough police officers to do that to everyone. Appeal to people’s spirit to get the job done and beat this appalling disease and show us a route out, and that is what’s lacking.”
Mr Berry, who leads the Northern Research Group, of northern Conservative MPs, also referred to comments by Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty suggesting even when restrictions are lifted, some might have to return again next winter.
He told Politics Live: “That doesn’t give people hope. They look at it and say maybe here in the north we are going to be stuck in these rules for ever, so people try and find a way round it. Govern us by hope, not fear, and that’s what will make people comply.”
Officers across Lancashire endured a ‘busy weekend’ attending lockdown breaches, with reports of pubs and a gym defying the measures, as well as someone filming staff at a testing centre.