50 Tory MPs have formed their own anti-lockdown group titled the Covid Recovery Group, which has been set up to put pressure on Government to be more transparent with the data that is driving national and regional lockdowns.
The group will be chaired by former chief whip Mark Harper with the former Brexit minister Steve Baker acting as deputy.
The group has plans to challenge the data put forward to support the national lockdown, as well as campaign against the extension of the lockdown past December 2nd.
Writing in the Telegraph this morning, Mr Harper said:
“Last week I voted against a Conservative government for only the second time in my fifteen years in Parliament, which was not easy for a former chief whip.
“Lockdowns cost lives, whether in undiagnosed cancer treatments, deteriorating mental health, and missed A&E appointments — not to mention the impact it has on young people’s education, job prospects and our soaring debts.”
Setting out the MPs’ manifesto, the chair outlined the Covid Recovery Group’s “three guiding principles”, which advise the government to:
- Undertake and publish full cost-benefit analysis of regions under tighter restrictions.
- Put an end to the monopoly on advice of government scientists.
- Improve the current measures to tackle the virus e.g. significantly boost the performance of the NHS Test and Trace programme and expand the NHS’ ability to handle virus surges.
He added:
“The Covid Recovery Group will play its part in helping the government to deliver an enduring strategy for living with the virus, so that we break the transmission of the disease, command public support, end this devastating cycle of repeated restrictions and start living in a sustainable way until an effective and safe vaccine is successfully rolled out across the population.”
