Coronavirus: Tory MPs call for end to lockdown by May
A group of Tory MPs is calling for the government to commit to a "free life" and end lockdown measures before May.
Senior backbencher Steve Baker said he wants the prime minister to "let us reclaim our lives, once and for all".
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said a roadmap out of the current restrictions would be outlined on 22 February.
The call comes as the government said it met its target to offer a vaccine to the 15 million most vulnerable people across the UK.
Labour said the government must "lock in the gains of the vaccine" and ensure more measures were introduced to reduce the spread of the virus - such as financial support for self-isolation and updated workplace guidance.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and senior members of his cabinet are set to spend the week looking into the latest coronavirus statistics before making an announcement next Monday on its plans.
There has been a raft of speculation on the date of re-openings of businesses and hospitality - much of which has been dismissed by Downing Street.
But sources in No 10 told the BBC they were increasingly confident pupils in England would return to school on 8 March - the earliest the PM said the move could happen.
Mr Hancock told BBC Breakfast any lockdown easing would depend on the data - "critically looking at number of people in hospital and deaths each day" - and a decision would be taken this week.
'A moment for unity'
Over the weekend, 63 Tory MPs wrote to Mr Johnson, calling for easing to begin in March and for analysis to be released justifying any measures staying in place.
Mr Baker, who is the deputy chair of the lockdown-sceptic Covid Research Group of Tory MPs leading the call, said schools should return on 8 March, hospitality should re-open by Easter and all other elements should be back to normal by 1 May - when all people in the top nine priority groups have been offered a vaccine.
The proposal was rejected by Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who told the BBC's Andrew Marr on Sunday that the government would be "cautious".
But writing in the Telegraph, Mr Baker reasserted his plan, saying: "Now that the risk from Covid is rapidly diminishing as we roll out the vaccine to each of the top nine groups, we must focus on how we open up society in the short run."
He also called for a new Public Health Act to ensure proper scrutiny for introducing lockdowns, telling BBC Radio 4's Today programme it would "force the government to prove the proportionality of the measures it leaves in place".
Mr Baker wrote: "We cannot live in a society where lockdowns are perpetually on the table, in fear that a minister might, without notice, impose restrictions that cost people their jobs, their livelihoods, their ability to date, to marry, to visit family at home and abroad, or to invest in their futures.
"As the prime minister said, let us reclaim our lives, once and for all. This can be a moment of unity - for our country and the Conservative Party - as we look ahead with confidence, hope and optimism to a much brighter future."
Another senior Tory backbencher, Robert Halfon, said the PM needed to "provide some kind of optimism to the public" over lockdown easing, but warned against people relaxing too soon.
The chair of the Education Select Committee told BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour: "I understand where [the Covid Recovery Group] are coming from and my heart has a lot of sympathy.
"I just don't want a repetition of what went on last year where we thought we were over the worst and then we're suddenly back in tiers of lockdown."
February 15, 2021 at 09:06PM
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56068362
Labels: BBC News
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