Boris Johnson faces pressure from scientific advisers for tougher coronavirus restrictions at the same time as northern Tory MPs have demanded to know how lockdowns will be eased.
The Prime Minister has been warned by a group of more than 50 Tory backbenchers representing northern constituencies that the pandemic is threatening his election pledge to “level up” the country as they called for a “road map out of lockdown”.
But Professor Wendy Barclay, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) warned that nothing short of the full lockdown seen in March had managed to control the virus.
Prof Barclay, from Imperial College London, suggested that Tier 3 restrictions, the tightest currently in use in England, may not be enough.
“The total lockdown that we had back in late March was enough to turn the tide, and get the virus back under control,” she told Times Radio.
“So far, none of the other restrictions that we’ve seen and none of the other actions, seem to have done that.”
Week in Tory
With this rebellion in mind @RussInCheshire is back again with another list of what the Conservative Party have been up to this week.
Amazingly, this is my third #TheWeekInTory in 7 days, and if anybody wants to pay for me to go somewhere comparatively sane and relaxing for a week, I’m up for it.
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
I hear Mogadishu is nice.
Anyway, buckle up, here we go…
His thread began with: “Amazingly, this is my third #TheWeekInTory in 7 days, and if anybody wants to pay for me to go somewhere comparatively sane and relaxing for a week, I’m up for it. I hear Mogadishu is nice. Anyway, buckle up, here we go…”
Read it and weep…
1.
1. Previously on The Week In Tory: the govt campaigned for Brexit so we can “look after our own”, and then immediately voted not to
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
2. Instead they opted to let up to 900,000 children go hungry during school holidays, including – bless you Santa Johnson – Christmas
2.
3. In July, when the govt lifted the original lockdown, Rishi Sunak, the nicest Tory, tweeted “I can’t wait to get back to the pub”
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
4. This week he voted to let thousands of kids starve, and as a result was barred for life from his local
3.
5. Ben Bradley, a Tory MP and Al Murray character made of Lego, spent last week appealing for justice and opportunity for “working class white boys who have been left behind”
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
6. He then voted to deprive them of food
4.
7. Then this stout defender of the working class said food vouchers for poor kids will just end up being used in brothels and crack dens
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
8. He said he knows kids living in these conditions, and yet, like a true humanitarian, he appears to have done absolutely nothing about it
5.
9. He also overlooks the fact that the vouchers can only be used to buy food, and I’ve yet to find evidence that crack dens commonly set up a tuck shop
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
10. He then invited his critics to visit “one of the country’s most deprived schools, who’s Head agrees with me”
6.
11. The school’s governors replied to say neither they, nor the Head, agreed with him
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
12. It’s Monday, and most experts estimate that by Wednesday afternoon, Ben Bradley will have dug himself a hole deep enough to see kangeroos
7.
13. Tory MP Gary Sambrook said it was OK for kids to go hungry during holidays, because they’ve “been benefiting from free school meals during term time”. It will come as a shock to Sambrook to discover humans require food on quite a regular basis
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
8.
14. Tory peer Baroness Barran went on radio and said Tories had done other things to help poor children, such as extra money for emergency Universal Credit
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
15. So the govt announced it was reducing emergency Universal Credit by £20 a week
9.
16. Tory MP Selaine Saxby said if businesses help starving kids she “very much hopes they will not be seeking any further govt support”
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
17. Selaine Saxby consistently votes against measures to reduce tax avoidance, cos avoiding tax is the sort of govt support she’s fine with
10.
18. McDonalds offered 1m free meals over half term, proving to the govt that it is possible for clowns to make moral decisions
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
19. At a Downing St press conference, the govt repeatedly declined invitations from the media to praise businesses providing meals to hungry children
11.
20. Matt Hancock said local councils had been provided with “a huge amount of extra investment” to feed kids
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
21. Since 2010, Tories cut funding to local councils by 60%
22. The Tory council in Boris Johnson’s own constituency joined the campaign to give free school meals
12.
23. Matt Hancock, a sentient teaspoon and ever-dependable master of detail, went on radio and said there had been “lines of communication” between Boris Johnson and Marcus Rashford
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
24. Marcus Rashford said there hadn’t
13.
25. 2000 paediatricians condemned the govt
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
26. The Children’s Commissioner it was “like something out of the pages of Oliver Twist”
27. An anonymous Tory MP said it was a “political disaster” and he had “never known so many Conservative MPs and council leaders so angry”
14.
28. Senior Tory MP Sir Bernard Jenkin said the govt had “misunderstood the mood of the country”
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
29. Tobias Ellwood, Tory MP and spine-donor, voted with the govt, but is now openly calling for the policy to change
15.
30. Multiple Tory MPs have predicted a U-turn, which means at least the govt won’t go hungry over the holidays: it’ll have all those lovely words to eat
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
31. And then, cos they don’t know when to stop, the govt cut the laptop allocation for England’s most deprived schools by 80%
16.
32. In a not-at-all-obvious attempt to distract attention, 112 Tory MPs (98% of whom had just voted to let children starve at Christmas) wrote to Keir Starmer to complain of the “widespread abuse” they received as a result of Angela Rayner calling one of them “scum”
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
17.
33. They must have been unable to find a pen and paper when there was a 375% increase in Islamophobic incidents after Boris Johnson referred to Muslim women as “letterboxes” and "bank robbers"
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
18.
34. They were probably having difficulty with a gummed-up biro when Boris Johnson called gay men “bum boys”. or said black people were “picaninnies with watermelon smiles”, or said in parliament that proven death threats against female Labour MPs were "humbug"
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
19.
35. And perhaps they didn’t have an address for Home Secretary and Thor’s sister Priti Patel after she made an incendiary speech attacking "lefty" immigration lawyers, one of who was stabbed 4 days later by a far-right activist
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
20.
36. Speaking of witch – tsk, me and my spelling – more than 800 lawyers and judges wrote to the govt demanding an apology from Priti Patel, and saying her “rhetoric and hostility” risks “undermining the rule of law”
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
21.
37. After demanding local councils “build build build”, Michael Gove personally stepped in the oppose building in his constituency
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
38. There’s a fine line between spin and outright lies, and that is just one of many lines Michael Gove has caused to disappear
22.
39. The govt confirmed it was going to start charging 20% VAT on PPE. In a pandemic
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
40. The govt said it would be fine, cos care homes can claim back the VAT
41. But the govt’s own advice says “Care homes … are unlikely to be able to recover any VAT on PPE”
23.
42. Rishi Sunak said he would provide the NHS with “whatever resources it needs” to cope with the pandemic, which is why the NHS is £1bn short of funds needed to pay wages to the end of the year
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
24.
43. SAGE said Test and Trace, the centrepiece of our Covid strategy, was “having only a marginal impact”
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
44. Test and Trace system achieved new heroic heights, as it was revealed of 268m records, just 104 cases had been pursued
25.
45. Labour’s NHS IT System was described by Tories as “one of the worse scandals ever in terms of waste of public money”, costing £12bn over 6 years
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
46. By contrast, the Test and Trace system has spent £12bn in just 4 months and failed to meet a single target set for it
26.
47. Tory MP Bernard Jenkin called for Dido Harding to be sacked
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
48. Matt Hancock said he had (finally) published the highly critical 2016 report into the UK’s lack of preparedness for a pandemic, which his dept had seen and then done nothing at all to act upon
27.
49. Due to some terrible and entirely unpredictable oversight, the version he published was incomplete and heavily redacted, cos that’s exactly what you’d do if it wasn’t massively embarrassing
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
28.
50. Only 211 days since South Korea started mandatory test and quarantine at its airports, the UK govt announced plans to do the same
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
51. Except unlike South Korea we’ll charge people for tests
53. Deaths per million in South Korea: 8
54. Deaths per million in UK: 665
29.
54. It was then reported that Bankers and Hedge Fund Managers would be exempt from quarantine because obviously the virus, a non-living sub-microscopic entity with no brain or nervous system, will figure out how rich you are before deciding whether to infect you
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
30.
55. Boris Johnson held a meeting with UK business leaders, and urged them to follow the govt’s guidance in preparing for Brexit
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
56. The govt hasn’t agreed a deal, so has not yet issued final guidance for preparing for Brexit
31.
57. Then it was reported Boris Johnson won’t make a decision about whether to accept a Brexit deal until he finds out if Trump has won the election, because an important part of Taking Back Control is not being able to decide a thing until we find out what Donald is up to
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
32.
58. Assuming the election happens cleanly (and Trump is involved, so god knows) this leaves businesses just 31 working days to implement a plan for the end of a 41 year period of stability, in the middle of a pandemic that most believe will be at the peak of its second wave
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
33.
59. But huzzah! the govt announced a deal with Japan that was “even better than the one Japan has with the EU”
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
60. But whoops! the EU/Japan deal prevents either side from offering better terms to anybody else, and our deal with Japan is 5% of the one we lose with the EU
34.
61. The former ambassador to USA (under both Tory and Labour govts) said the UK’s plans for handling a Joe Biden presidency are “profoundly clumsy and stupid” and that “Number 10 is absolutely clueless” about how to manage a post-Brexit relationship with the USA
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
35.
62. Between them, the EU and USA account for around 60% of the UK’s total trade, so deliberately losing one, and then accidentally losing another is definitely a reason to be intensely relaxed about the whole thing
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
36.
63. And that's why, spurred by their stunning victory over UK trade, a group of Tory MPs led by Steve Baker, a scale model of C3P0 made entirely out of ham, is urging the formation of a “European Research Group for the pandemic”
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) October 26, 2020
Gas and air, please. In heroic quantities pic.twitter.com/i8qFz8KDdK
Related: A year in Tory: What became of a “fantastic 2020 for Britain”?