Government looks to quell Tory rebellion over Covid restrictions
The government is looking at ways at stopping a Tory backbench revolt over the implementation of new Covid restrictions, according to health secretary Matt Hancock.
Hancock said he would meet with the revolt’s leader Graham Brady, chair of the powerful 1922 committee of backbench Tories, while also announcing that indoor mixing between households is now banned in Northumberland, North Tyneside, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Gateshead, South Tyneside, Sunderland and County Durham.
The new measures are as a result of rising coronavirus cases in the North East as another 4,000 cases were repored today countrwide.
Legislation to extend powers allowing the Prime Minister to unilaterally impose coronavirus restrictions by a further six months will come before the House of Commons on Wednesday.
However, an amendment to the legislation by Brady would force the government to get parliamentary approval for all new coronavirus measures if passed.
It is believed there are enough Tory MPs in favour of the amendment for it to pass if all opposition parties vote for it too, with backbench Conservative MP Steve Baker saying yesterday that the current situation “is not a fit environment for free people”.
Hancock told MPs today that the government was looking to find a solution to appease rebel Tory MPs.
“We’re looking at further ways to ensure the House [of Commons] can be properly involved in the process, in advance if possible,” Hancock said.
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“I hope to provide the House with further details soon.”
It comes as the government is considering plans to ban social contact in London for two weeks in what would be the most stringent restrictions the capital has faced in months.
This would see pubs, restaurants and bars close their doors, which would be a massive blow to the already ailing London economy.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said the capital is at a “tipping point” as it has seen a “sharp rise” in Covid-related 111 calls, hospital admissions and patients in intensive care units.
A fresh London lockdown would likely enrage many Tory MPs who are already opposed to the current levels of restrictions.
Yesterday, Steve Baker told Sky News: “Liberty dies…with government exercising draconian powers without parliamentary scrutiny in advance.”
The Tory revolt is a sign of growing unrest among the backbenches, which has been bubbling under for months now.
Many of the parliamentary party’s libertarian and right-wing MPs have been disgruntled at the government’s willingness to swiftly apply new coronavirus restrictions, the amount the Treasury has spent during the pandemic and speculation that Rishi Sunak is considering tax rises to pay for the Budget deficit.