Altrincham and Sale MP Sir Graham Brady says that he will be voting against the Covid Tier regulations that were announced this morning.
Brady said that was no surprise, but that “it is nonetheless deeply disappointing because there is simply no good, logical explanation for it”.
He said that many of his colleagues were annoyed at the tiering decisions taken because they were “heavy-handed”, ignoring local factors in favour of a countywide approach.
He said he would vote against the regulations next week.
I will vote against it. I have severe reservations on so many different levels. I do think that the policies have been far too authoritarian. I think they have interfered in people’s private and personal lives in a way which is unacceptable …
When we look at the experience in particular of places like Greater Manchester, which actually have barely been out of restrictions for the last eight months, I think there is a limit to what it is reasonable to expect communities to absorb.
Steve Baker, deputy chairman of the Covid Recovery Group which has been critical of lockdown measures, said: “The authoritarianism at work today is truly appalling. But is it necessary and proportionate to the threat from this disease?
“The Government must publish its analysis of the impact interventions are likely to have on controlling Covid, as well as the non-Covid health impact and the impact on society, people’s livelihoods and businesses.
“I am open to supporting measures where it can clearly be demonstrated that the Government intervention will save more lives than it costs – as long as this data and analysis is published in full and in time ahead of any votes in Parliament, so that MPs and the public have a chance to scrutinise it.”
