Boris Johnson announces Tier 4 restrictions for parts of UK

Senior MPs urged ministers to publish full data behind the decision to suddenly tighten the coronavirus restrictions and accused them of “bypassing” Parliament. Sir Charles Walker, the vice chairman of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee, claimed ministers had delayed the announcement of new measures until the Commons had broken up for the festive break. 

And members of the Covid Recovery Group of MPs sceptical about lockdowns said the measures were failing to halt the spread of the virus. Speaking to the BBC yesterday, Sir Charles said: “I suspect the Government knew they were going to cancel Christmas on Wednesday and Thursday when they were still telling the House of Commons they planned to press ahead.

“I think many colleagues find that extremely egregious. The Christmas period was passed into law by the House of Commons in a vote after a debate.

“The view of most colleagues was that to be changed, another vote would be required in the House of Commons. So I suspect a decision was delayed until we were safely away back to our constituencies.”

He added: “Surely at some stage a senior Government minister has to say ‘I have offered my resignation to the Prime Minister’ and the Prime Minister has to say ‘Sadly I have had to accept it’?

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“The Government, in my view, knew on Thursday, possibly even Wednesday, that they were going to pull the plug on Christmas but they waited till Parliament had gone.

“That, on top of everything else, is a resigning matter. I am not asking for the Government to collapse. I am asking for a secretary of state to take some responsibility.”

Health Secretary Matt Hancock rejected Sir Charles’s call for ministerial resignations yesterday.

“I know that Charles is very upset at the measures that we’ve had to bring in, and he has been throughout. I understand that and I understand where he’s coming from,” Mr Hancock said.

“But unfortunately these measures are absolutely necessary to save lives.”

Sir Charles’s attack follows frustration among Tory MPs who believe the Government’s measures represent an unacceptable infringement of civil liberties and threat to the economy.

Earlier this month, Boris Johnson suffered the biggest backbench rebellion of his premiership when 55 Conservative MPs voted against the introduction of new tiered controls for England.

The Government has said MPs will have a chance to vote on the latest measures when the Commons returns in January, and they would be withdrawn if defeated.

Former ministers Mark Harper and Steve Baker, leaders of the Covid Recovery Group of Tory MPs, questioned whether the Government’s “cure” for coronavirus was more damaging to the country than the disease itself.

In a joint newspaper article, they wrote: “This strategy is clearly failing to break the transmission of Covid-19.

“If it really was succeeding, we would be talking about an exit strategy from repeated lockdowns or about areas moving down the tiers. Right now, the only way is up.

“There is no logic in having a lockdown when millions of people and businesses who endured it are forced to live and operate under increasingly severe restrictions afterwards.

“It is even harder to stomach when there is no transparency or logic from the Government about how it has taken its decisions.”

Mr Harper and Mr Harper urged the Government to “trust” the public by publishing full data about the reasons for the latest coronavirus restrictions.

“These restrictions cause immense social and health damage and have a huge impact on livelihoods.

“People are prevented from seeking the medical treatment they need. Mental well-being declines. Young people find their education, job prospects and life chances diminished. Lockdowns and restrictions cost lives.

“The cure we’re prescribing runs the risk of being worse than the disease,” they wrote.

“We cannot expect our citizens to tolerate living under a system of laws that changes so frequently, which avoids the usual democratic checks and balances, and which is riddled with so much complexity and uncertainty.

“Parliament must not be bypassed, with rules made and broken by a narrow group of ministers.”

The two senior MPs questioned whether the restrictions were “saving more lives than they cost?”

They concluded: “The Government should be clear about exactly how it will lift restrictions as the vaccine is rolled out and it should be clear when our freedoms will be fully restored.

“Cycles of lockdowns and restrictions have failed.

“The public and Parliament must be trusted with the data and analysis about the full impact these rules are having on people’s lives.

“We need a clear exit strategy and offers hope and optimism for 2021.”

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