Top Tory Lockdown Sceptic Warns Govt ‘Losing Sense of Urgency’ to End Third Shutdown

A Conservative MP has warned that the government risks “losing the sense of urgency” to ending England’s third lockdown.

On Monday evening, Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed that 12.2 million people had been vaccinated — around one in four adults in the UK — suggesting that the government is fully on track to give first doses to the four most vulnerable groups by mid-February.

When Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced England’s third lockdown on January 4th, he indicated if that initial vaccination target were met and depending on pressures on the NHS, some two or three weeks later the UK could begin to “steadily move out of lockdown”. Mr Johnson pledged that same month to “look at” in February releasing those measures.

However, despite progress in vaccinations, the prime minister on Monday would not rule out a longer lockdown if the South African strain of the Chinese coronavirus continued to spread, according to The Telegraph.

Speaking to talkRADIO on Tuesday, Conservative MP for New Forest West Desmond Swayne speculated that the prime minister’s reluctance might be due to the fact that the government’s ministers “want to be absolutely certain and that they don’t want to have another iteration of lockdown”.

Mr Swayne went on to tell host Julia Hartley-Brewer: “I think the danger is, however, that we’re losing the sense of urgency that we should properly have about lifting the lockdown.

“This is costing a fortune, in terms of the impact on our lives and the economy.”

Earlier this month it was revealed that the chancellor is considering raising taxes in response to the soaring debt caused by lockdown. Shutting down society is also having a profound effect on the young, with cases of youth self-harm and suicidality on the rise.

The MP continued: “In my view, it’s essential that the government get on with it to avoid the danger of ‘mission creep’. We’re constantly hearing people talk about ‘it’s a question of reducing right down the number of infections’ or ‘zero covid’ or whatever.

“We must stick with the original aim, which was to ensure that the NHS could cope with the level of hospital admissions. So hospital admissions are the key, and the moment the government decides that the NHS can cope and operate efficiently with the level of hospital admissions, that is the moment to lift the lockdown.”

Mr Swayne had previously argued that unless the prime minister devised an exit strategy from shutdown, the people could “rise up” and demand changes to lockdown laws.

However, scientists advising the government are also encouraging the Johnson administration to consider even longer phases of restrictions in the face of virus mutations.

Professor Sir Ian Boyd of the University of St Andrews, who is a member of the influential Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), said that releasing lockdowns early was a “false economy” which “simply fuels a new wave of disease”, adding: “…there are a lot of reasons for taking pain now in order to create conditions for controlled release from [restrictions] a lot easier.”

Professor Boyd added that “in spite of vaccination, these could go on for a long time,” predicting that with mutations, “my suspicion is that we will experience a damped oscillation of control-release for a long time to come — perhaps several years”.