U.K. Conservative Rebels Expect Compromise Over Virus Powers
Bloomberg
Published Sep 28, 2020 20:39
(Bloomberg) -- U.K. Conservative Party rebels signaled a compromise plan has been drawn up with the government to avoid a rebellion over Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s coronavirus powers.
A growing band Tory members of Parliament want to amend legislation that allows ministers to impose new rules to combat the pandemic without first seeking parliamentary approval.
Steve Baker, an influential Tory lawmaker, said Monday he expects to reach a “satisfactory agreement.”
Baker tweeted that he and other MPs had attended a “cordial and constructive meeting” with Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Commons Leader Jacob Rees Mogg.
The rebels estimate they have about 80 Conservative MPs on side ready to vote against the government, according to a person familiar with the matter. That would be twice the number needed to defeat Johnson in a vote in the House of Commons.
Faced with such a big revolt, ministers agreed to work on the details of a plan to meet the rebels’ key demand -- a promise to give Parliament a vote on new coronavirus restrictions before they become law, the person said.
News of the compromise came after a series of Conservative MPs turned on their own government and its handling of the pandemic.
Debate
Former cabinet minister Mark Harper was among those who called for MPs to have more of a say. He pointed to new laws that included a raft of penalties and criminal offenses “not mentioned” by the government beforehand.
Johnson warned last week restrictions would likely be in place for another six months and Hancock echoed this sentiment.
“The two realistic options we have are suppression until a vaccine comes, and letting it rip,” the health secretary told Parliament. “And I know which of those I support.”
But Conservative MPs questioned the government’s approach, warning that local lockdowns and social distancing rules are making life miserable for many people.
Desmond Swayne said a presentation by the government’s top scientists Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance last week -- at which they warned of 50,000 cases a day by mid-October without urgent action -- was “Project Fear.”
He spoke of the “cruelty” that means elderly people in care homes are unable to see their loved ones, the “tsunami of deaths from undiagnosed cancers and heart disease”, and the “eye-watering cost that we must now all face for a generation having closed down our economy.”
Former minister Simon Clarke said it would be “wrong” to return to a national lockdown because the “toll would be stark and serious.”
“We’re going to be living alongside this virus,” Clarke said. “We should seek to keep as much of our economy and society open as we possibly can.”
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Earlier, the government raised the prospect of tougher rules in London and large areas of the U.K. to try to get the resurgent pandemic under control.
Asked about the plans on BBC Radio, Health minister Helen Whately refused to rule out reports of a “total social lockdown.”
(Updates with details of rebellion and proposed deal in fifth paragraph)
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Written By: Bloomberg
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