House of Commons passes legislation to enable England Covid lockdown
The House of Commons has tonight passed legislation to enact an England-wide lockdown announced by Boris Johnson on Monday.
The new lockdown was passed by 524 to 16.
Johnson told people to obey the new lockdown rules from his announcement on Monday, but it still took two days for the legislation to be debated in parliament.
Labour supported the government in the vote.
Opening the debate, health secretary Matt Hancock said: “The new variant of the coronavirus presents us with a renewed challenge here in Britain and throughout the world.
“While collectively our efforts were working on the old variant, when faced with a variant that is between 50 and 70 per cent more transmissible there’s been no choice but to respond.”
Labour shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth spoke in favour of the new restrictions, but said they should have happened earlier and also called for extra protections for people suffering mental health issues during the lockdown.
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“We do unfortunately have to restrict freedoms further in order to safeguard freedoms for the future and save lives,” Ashworth said.
“The tragic reality is that the virus is out of control and to be blunt about it there is no freedom for our constituents if they are in the graveyard.”
The England lockdown will not end before 22 February, with the government taking a review on 15 February.
People must now stay home unless they are shopping for essential items, exercising, providing care for a vulnerable person or attending medical appointments.
People who cannot work from home, such as builders and frontline health workers, will also be allowed to leave the house for work.
Exercise is allowed just once a day and people can do this with one other person they don’t live with or with people in their household and bubble.