Boris Johnson is facing another Tory rebellion over the ‘rule of six’ and 10pm pub curfew.
The Government is not expected to be defeated in a coronavirus vote this evening, but many are expecting some movement in policy. Conservative critics want children to be excluded from the rule of six and major changes to the widely-criticised curfew.
One of the key rebels, Steve Baker, says he does not expect to beat the Government this evening but is aiming to get minister to shift their position, ahead of a meeting with fellow Tory MPs on Tuesday lunchtime to discuss tactics.
Mr Baker said: ‘Consensus among Conservative MPs seems to be around two points – that children should be excluded from the rule of six and that the 10pm curfew is not justified by evidence.
‘I wouldn’t expect to win a vote on either issue. The reality is we need to persuade the Government on all these matters.’
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MPs will vote on Tuesday, the day the Prime Minister addresses the virtual Tory conference, on the regulations which enforce the rule of six in England in order to allow them to continue.
Mr Baker claimed hard negotiations were happening in order to ‘keep the Conservative Party together’ and added: ‘With Labour and the SNP missing in action we won’t be defeating the Government in any rebellions.’
Other Conservative rebels expect Health Secretary Matt Hancock to say he will review the two points issues in an effort to defuse the situation.
Mr Baker continued: ‘The reality is now that we are in to a long hard business of negotiating with the Government trying to keep the Conservative Party together.
‘And trying to persuade the Government to have restrictions which don’t do more harm than good.’
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has expressed sympathy with people unhappy with the 10pm pub curfew.
But another key Tory backbencher, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, said he would back the Government due to increasing Covid-19 cases.
He told the the PA news agency: ‘I think we have got to recognise that the figures are climbing all the time.
‘Therefore the Government does have to invoke some sort very serious measures, so, yes, I will be voting for … the Government.’
It comes after as many as 100 Tory MPs were said to be gearing up for a lockdown revolt against their own Government last week.
However, the Speaker Lindsay Hoyle decided against selecting the amendment which would have seen the Prime Minister forced to consult Parliament before introducing new restrictions on the UK.
Ahead of the latest disquiet, Mr Johnson has urged MPs to back the rule of six measures ahead of the Commons vote.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the ban on more than six people mixing was a ‘sensible and helpful’ measure.
There has been mounting unease within Tory ranks about restrictions on people’s liberties and Mr Johnson has acknowledged some people are ‘furious’ with the Government.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘You have heard him talk a lot in recent days about the steps that we have had to take.’
Mr Johnson suggested it would soon become apparent whether the tougher measures introduced in recent weeks were helping to slow the spread of the virus.
The Prime Minister told reporters: ‘The crucial thing is that in the next few days, week, we’ll see more clearly whether some of the restrictions that we put in – the extra enforcement of the rule of six, the extra enforcement of self-isolation, the rules on masks and so on – all the stuff that has come in, we’ll see whether that starts to work in driving down the virus.’
Labour sources told the PA news agency they did not not discuss parliamentary whipping arrangements in advance.
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