PM faces rebellion on ‘nanny state’ curfew

BORIS JOHNSON is facing a rebellion from Tory MPS over the national 10pm curfew after he was accused of presiding over a “nanny state”.

The rebels are discussing whether they can force a vote on the issue under rules which allow MPS retrospective debates about changes brought in by ministers.

Some of the party’s most senior MPS urged Mr Johnson to look again at the rule that forces pubs and restaurants to close early, while Tory MP Greg Clark, the chairman of the Commons science and technology committee, wrote to Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, demanding to see the scientific evidence it was based on. The demand came amid warnings of further chaos in city centres this weekend when drinkers leave pubs and flood the streets.

Tory MP Philip Davies clashed with Mr Hancock in the House of Commons.

Mr Davies said: “When will the Secretary of State start acting like a Conservative with a belief in i ndividual responsibility and abandon this arbitrary, nanny-state, socialist approach which is serving no purpose at all apart from to further collapse the economy and erode our freedoms?”

Opposition to the policy came from all sides, and there was also a growing backlash from the pub trade.

Mr Hancock said: “It is perfectly reasonable to make the argument that we should just let the virus rip. I just think that the hundreds of thousands of deaths that would follow is not a price that anyone should pay.”