Altrincham and Sale West MP Sir Graham Brady has said the “repetitive cycle” of lockdowns is “immensely damaging to people’s livelihoods, is deeply depressing and is causing a huge toll in terms of people’s mental health and family relationships”.
The chairman of the 1922 Committee told BBC Radio 4’s The Westminster Hour he is likely to vote against the new restrictions set to come into force in England on Thursday, as he warned of a “mission creep” of more restrictions.
He said he was concerned about the intrusion into people’s rights: “The freedom of association, the right to a family life.
“We even have the Government telling people who they are allowed to sleep with or not depending on whether they are deemed to be in an established relationship or not.
“If these kinds of measures were being taken in any totalitarian country around the world we would be denouncing it as a form of evil and here the removal of people’s fundamental liberties is going almost without comment and I think it is very important that we focus on those basic human rights and find ways, of course, to deal with the serious threat of Covid 19 but do it working with people rather than doing things to people.”
