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MPs WILL be able to vote on any national coronavirus lockdown measures before they come into force, Health Secretary Matt Hancock promised today in a bid to ward off a Tory revolt.
His pledge came after ministers were reprimanded by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle for “showing total disregard for the House” by enforcing restrictions without scrutiny or enough notice.
During the debate on the renewal of the Coronavirus Act after being in place for six months, shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said that Mr Hancock’s pledge counted for nothing if it was not on paper.
With the current government “you always need it in writing and even then it is not necessarily delivered,” he said.
Mr Hancock interjected to say: “He will be able to read it in Hansard in the morning,” drawing groans of complaint from some MPs.
The Act was expected to pass after the Morning Star went to print, although its progress had been threatened by a potential cross-party revolt — including by more than 50 Tory MPs who backed an amendment requiring parliamentary approval of any new restrictions put in place to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.
During the debate, Mr Thomas-Symonds said that it was with “a heavy heart” that Labour would not block its passage due to the “dire situation” of the pandemic and lack of an effective coronavirus test-and-trace system.
PM Boris Johnson and his government were spared a Tory revolt on the renewal after Sir Lindsay said that he was unable to select amendments ahead of the vote to avoid causing uncertainty and “undermining the rule of law.”
However, he accused Mr Johnson of treating Parliament with contempt for rushing in new coronavirus laws.
Sir Lindsay hit out at the “totally unsatisfactory” way in which Parliament had been sidelined as new laws had been brought in without scrutiny and sometimes published hours before coming into force.
He called on Mr Johnson’s government to “rebuild trust” with the Commons “and not treat it with the contempt that it has shown.”
Ahead of the debate, thousands of people had contacted their MPs to call on them to block the renewal.
They included civil-liberties campaign groups and disabled people’s rights organisations, the latter arguing that the Act would allow councils to cut social-care services.
