2nd December 2020
Yesterday’s vote in Parliament on ending the ‘lockdown’, reintroducing the tiered approach and exciting news on the vaccine breakthrough:
Yesterday, Parliament had another important debate and vote on the way forward in tackling COVID-19 and a chance to endorse, or otherwise, the Government’s approach of ending the ‘lockdown’ and moving back to tiered restrictions. As you will no doubt be aware, that approach was voted through, the ‘lockdown’ ended overnight and Northamptonshire finds itself in ‘tier two’ as of this morning. Bizarrely, the Labour Party appeared to have no view at all - insisting that restrictions are required, yet sat on their hands and abstained in the vote, showing no leadership whatsoever and cynically ducking the decision. Unsurprisingly, I have received a lot of correspondence with all shades of opinion expressed and as ever, I am grateful to all those who took the time to write. As such, I thought it might be useful to set out my thoughts on these latest developments here, not least having sat through the start of the debate in the chamber, when the Prime Minister argued his case.
I completely recognise from the outset that some will disagree vehemently with this approach and are critical of the Government’s handling of this emergency, but I would like to think they at least recognise that this is a hugely challenging, unprecedented, situation and with the best will in the world, no government anywhere will get everything right. Broadly speaking, I believe that Ministers have been guided by the best medical and scientific advice, and that has directly shaped and informed the decisions that have been made at any given point in time in responding to this crisis. I also know that each individual decision that has been taken has been made with the best of intentions, and based on our understanding of the situation at the time in question. Looking back with hindsight, I am sure that there are things Ministers would do differently in some areas of the response, but that is easy to say now and we cannot change the past - however, we must learn from it and move forward.
Ultimately, not every decision will always appear to be completely logical, but we are dealing with a totally unprecedented situation, and whilst I know how frustrating it feels - and I often feel it too - I believe we should give Ministers the benefit of the doubt overall as we navigate these choppy waters and work to get our country through this and out the other side - something which, unlike before, is now very much in sight and there is good reason to be optimistic.
Importantly, the ‘lockdown’ has now ended and so we are all arguably in a better position now than we were even yesterday, simply by virtue of getting back to the tiered structure. In practical terms, unlike before, people can return to their gyms and other leisure and sporting activities, local pubs and restaurants can reopen for customers, we can meet with other friends, family and loved ones outdoors and within the ‘rule of six’, businesses can get on more akin to normal, our children are still in school, there is a fair and reasonable plan in place for Christmas, and although it will be different, we can be together at that most important time of the year. All of that is to be welcomed. Do I wish it were more, or there were no need for any restrictions? Yes, of course. Do I think it is the best that can be done in the circumstances? Yes, I believe that it is.
Crucially, there is also now an approved vaccine and the roll-out of it will begin next week. That in itself is game changing - and so is evidently extremely welcome too, with UK based scientific research at the forefront of global development. The UK is also the first country in the world to have a clinically approved vaccine for supply, which is of course something to be congratulated.
Unsurprisingly, I am committed to ending the current pandemic in the safest possible manner, and I support the measures under the Coronavirus Act 2020 which reinforce and expediate this process. It is important to note that the powers granted to the Government under the legislation are made under, and subject to, the restrictions of the Control of Disease Act 1984. Under the 1984 legislation, Ministers have the power to make regulations which prevent danger to public health and prevent the spread of infection, but these regulations do not include mandatory treatment or vaccination.
Instead, the Coronavirus Act 2020, a time limited, emergency piece of legislation, is designed to significantly enhance our ability to respond effectively. The Act increases the available health and social care workforce, eases the burden on frontline staff, contains and slows the spread of COVID-19 by reducing unnecessary social contacts, helps manage the deceased with dignity and respect, and supports individuals financially and with access to basic provisions.
Before use, vaccinations are extensively trialled under a variety of conditions, before undergoing a robust and independent analysis process. The benefits associated with vaccinations are overwhelming, and as such I strongly disagree with any group or individual seeking to discourage people from protecting themselves and others from potentially fatal illnesses.
Pfizer and BioNTech’s announcement on the 9th November that the vaccine they have been developing appeared to be 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants was most welcome news, and I congratulate the researchers who have been involved in this vital work. We now know that vaccine can be used, as it has been approved by the Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), who say that the jab, which offers up to 95 percent protection against COVID-19 illness, is safe to be rolled out. I understand the first 800,000 doses will be available in the UK from next week. Beyond that, I know that the UK Government has ordered 40 million doses of this vaccine, as well as 300 million doses from five other vaccine candidates.
Right now, the UK Government is working with scientists and researchers to ensure that members of the public are able to access vaccinations as soon as possible and the Joint Committee on Vaccination & Immunisation has been carefully looking into a range of factors, including the different characteristics of different types of vaccines, to work out the most effective way to protect as many people as possible and save as many lives as we can. They have been working with the Government to determine the order in which people are offered the vaccination - something I expect to hear more details about imminently. I understand that provisionally, the ranking of priority groups combines clinical risk and age, as well as key workers such as health and social care staff.
With that in mind, I welcome the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care’s announcement that vaccination clinics, when established, will open seven days a week, in addition to an extra £150 million being made available for GPs to support this work. These measures will help to enable a mass rollout of the vaccination at the earliest possible time.
I will continue to follow this work closely and I can tell you that the plans here in Northamptonshire to deliver this are well advanced, informed by my conversations with local public health leaders in recent weeks.
However, this will, for obvious reasons, take a little time to deliver on in full and, in the interim, I fear that if we let our eye off the ball, we risk overwhelming the NHS just before the critical winter period, when it is always annually at its most vulnerable – and that doesn’t just affect COVID patients, but it also risks those with other conditions, including some people in a critical state, not being able to access the treatments they require. I wrote extensively about these worries and challenges a few weeks ago when commenting on the introduction of the ‘lockdown’, which you can find at the link below:
In that regard, the ‘lockdown’ did succeed in driving down the incidence of infection in many areas, but the risk does still remain to NHS services, including in our local hospitals. That is why retaining some level of restrictions is an imperative.
Whilst I really do understand people’s frustration about this, it is much easier being a commentator in these circumstances than actually having to take what are very difficult decisions that regularly keep me awake at night, and which are sometimes finely balanced. Indeed, I suspect that those loudly expressing their disagreement with the Government’s approach might take a very different view of the current situation if it were one of their friends, family, or loved ones lost to this awful disease and I suspect if they themselves were ill and couldn’t be treated for whatever condition because the NHS was overwhelmed, they would be asking me why I hadn’t acted upon all of the professional medical and scientific advice and had allowed that to happen.
On the tiering model specifically, I should say here that as one of seven Northamptonshire MPs, prior to the ‘lockdown’ I strongly argued, along with all my colleagues for the county, against local efforts to move our area from ‘tier one’ to ‘tier two’ restrictions - something I considered to be excessive at that time. My view was that I did not see a compelling case locally for that action and urged that, instead, more effort should be made to educate and inform and to ensure compliance against the existing rules. We won that argument, which was no doubt helpful to local businesses and to ordinary people in going about their lives. I think it also gives you a meaningful steer in practice as to the view I take instinctively on these matters and puts beyond doubt any idea that I ‘like’ this situation as some seem to believe, and would ever entertain it without good reason, which is a universe away from the truth. I hate it. It goes against every last fibre of my political instincts and beliefs. But the idea there are ‘easy options’ is, I’m afraid, misplaced.
And, to be honest, I couldn’t care less about the next General Election right now, as some have been quick to try and hold over me in recent days – I am interested in the here and now and how we best get our country through this difficult period, and it certainly isn’t about me or my personal future. I will continue to do my best by raising the issues and concerns my constituents bring to me in relation to the response - which I have done daily and often with genuine success - and by working to get the local and national measures right overall by influencing the debate positively. I particularly recognise that this period is immensely challenging for many local businesses, whom I have the utmost respect and admiration for and whom I would urge to access the significant package of support that is available, more details about which can be found, here: https://www.gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder. That package of support is, I know, kept under constant review in terms of its appropriateness and I continue to feed back local challenges and concerns in relation to it to Ministers, including the Chancellor.
For Northamptonshire specifically, we will be in ‘tier two’ for at least the next fortnight and in terms of the tiers that have been decided for different parts of the country, you can find more information at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/full-list-of-local-restriction-tiers-by-area. It is worth noting, however, that Northamptonshire and Rutland are the only parts of the East Midlands not in ‘tier three’, and as your local MP, along with other county colleagues, I had stressed my belief that our area should not be included in that higher tier. A handy guide for what it all means for all of us can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/local-restriction-tiers-what-you-need-to-know#high-alert.
Ultimately, I fully understand and appreciate the widespread frustration and fatigue that exists in the country, because frankly, I feel it too. It is fair to say that, like everyone else, I am fed up of these restrictions, but this remains a massively challenging situation, in the absence of the vaccination roll-out reaching a sufficient stage, but we all hope for speedy advancement in that regard, with arrangements currently being put in place at pace to administer successful vaccines. As I alluded to earlier, pleasingly, plans here in the county are well advanced in that regard.
Clearly, this is a situation that nobody wishes to be in, and I dislike it as much as anybody else, but if we all continue to do our bit for each other, we will come through this and as I have said, the massive breakthroughs of recent days are undoubtedly a source of comfort and encouragement and the tiering approach is without question preferable to the ‘lockdown’. The inescapable truth is that all of the emergency response is a very difficult balancing act, with freedoms maintained in one area requiring difficult decisions to be taken in others, and that inevitably leads to disruption and the curtailment of freedoms in some parts of day-to-day life. Personally, I struggle to see the alternative in the interim, given the risks I have knowledge of, but there is now meaningful light at the end of the tunnel, which I hope we can all rally around and welcome, regardless of our personal views on what has gone before. I also hope the promised fortnightly reviews of the tiering will see even more favourable figures for our area and an appropriate downwards reclassification will follow, before we can finally throw off the shackles of the restrictions once and for all in the spring. That will undoubtedly be a very good day - something about which we can all agree.