Thousands of anti-lockdown protesters march through London
Dozens of Tory MPs are expected to revolt against Boris Johnson’s plans to extend the country’s emergency coronavirus laws for another six months.
MPs will vote on prolonging the laws until October on Thursday, which include powers to ban protests and arrest citizens not following the rules.
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, Mark Harper – chairman of the informal Covid Recovery Group of Tory MPs – noted Mr Johnson claimed his lockdown roadmap would “guide us cautiously but irreversibly towards reclaiming our freedoms” by 21 June.
“Retaining most temporary provisions of the Coronavirus Act until October is not consistent with this pledge and will raise concerns that curbs will be reintroduced in the autumn,” Mr Harper wrote.
It comes after a record number of people received their Covid-19 vaccine on Friday, with 711,156 doses given to the UK public.
More than half of the UK’s adult population – some 26,853,407 people aged 18 and over – have now received their first jab, which the health secretary, Matt Hancock, celebrated as a “phenomenal achievement”.
More than half of UK adults have received first jab as UK hits daily vaccine record
A record number of people received their Covid-19 vaccine on Friday, with 711,156 doses given to the UK public.
More than half of the UK’s adult population – some 26,853,407 people aged 18 and over – have now received their first jab, government data up to 19 March suggests.
The health secretary, Matt Hancock, hailed the milestone as a “phenomenal achievement”.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it remains “on track” to offer the vaccine to all over-50s by 15 April.
Samuel Osborne21 March 2021 09:17
Dozens of Tory MPs are expected to rebel in a vote on extending the country’s emergency coronavirus until October
Conservative MP Mark Harper – chairman of the informal Covid Recovery Group of Tory MPs – said such a move would contradict Boris Johnson’s previous pledges restoring the country’s freedoms.
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Harper noted the prime minister had said when announcing his roadmap out of lockdown that it would “guide us cautiously but irreversibly towards reclaiming our freedoms” by 21 June.
“Retaining most temporary provisions of the Coronavirus Act until October is not consistent with this pledge and will raise concerns that curbs will be reintroduced in the autumn,” Mr Harper wrote.
He also challenged the government’s thinking on its roadmap to recovery, saying “reasonable people” would wonder if the government had struck the right balance in continuing present guidelines curbing family gatherings through Easter.
The Forest of Dean MP said given the “exemplary” success of Britain’s vaccination rollout, the government’s roadmap appeared “almost entirely focused on dates rather than the increasingly positive data on deaths and hospital admissions”.
“Staying with your family won’t just be illegal for Easter weekend, it will be unlawful until 17 May at the earliest – whatever the data say. The roadmap is ‘dates, not data’,” Mr Harper wrote.
Samuel Osborne21 March 2021 09:02
Good morning and welcome to the latest coronavirus updates.
Samuel Osborne21 March 2021 08:45
