London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

Britain’s Covid restrictions go on and on, but time is running out for BoJo as he feels the heat from his own party

Britain’s Covid restrictions go on and on, but time is running out for BoJo as he feels the heat from his own party

British MPs have voted to suspend Freedom Day until July 19, but all is not well in the Conservative Party. If Boris Johnson attempts to extend the restrictions again, he could encounter a full-scale rebellion.

Having previously promised that all Covid restrictions would come to an end on June 21, Prime Minister Boris Johnson once again tested the patience of his own MPs by asking them to vote for an extension until July 19.

Prior to the vote, a number of Conservative MPs voiced their opposition. Former Tory leadership candidate, John Redwood, urged immediate re-opening. Steve Baker argued that “we now must not tolerate lockdowns perpetually on the table” and that the nation’s high streets “are in danger of becoming haunted alleyways.” And Sir Desmond Swayne had a veiled threat for Johnson, saying that “this is the party that only recently elected a leader that we believed was a libertarian ...there is much on which we are going to have to reflect”.

Following the debate, MPs voted to extend the Covid restrictions to July 19 by 461 to 60. The result was never in doubt, as the Labour Party, which has 198 MPs, had already signalled its support for extending restrictions. However, the most notable aspect was the fact that 51 Tory MPs voted against their own government. On the face of it, that might not sound like a great number, but it does represent around 15% of Johnson’s parliamentary party.

Added into the mix is the fact that there seems to be a split in Johnson’s Cabinet, with the influential Leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, stating that “you can’t run society just to stop hospitals being full, otherwise you’d never let us get in our cars and drive anywhere…there has to be some proportionality.” He was later publicly rebuked by the Secretary for International Trade, Liz Truss, who responded that “Jacob has his views and those are his views...the reason we are doing this and taking these measures is to protect lives and that is why it is important.”

The prime minister had already attempted to assuage Tory anger, stating that July 19 was not the earliest possible date for reopening, but rather a “terminus date” – an absolute end to restrictions. However, we must not discount that there is a high probability that the government’s scientists, who always err on the side of caution, will advocate an extension beyond July 19.

Indeed, Mark Harper, the chairman of the Covid Recovery Group, a Tory caucus of around 50 MPs, claimed to have seen documents proving that further restrictions in the autumn and winter are being prepared.


Worryingly, this was not denied by the government. If Johnson was to push for an extension beyond July 19, he would have a full-scale rebellion on his hands, both in and out of the Cabinet.

If the arguments made yesterday to prolong the restrictions were flimsy, extending beyond July 19 would be farcical. Over 30 million Brits have now had two Covid vaccine jabs, which amounts to 56% of the adult population. Moreover, every adult over 50 has already been offered two jabs.

The data shows having had two jabs offers significant protection against the Delta variant, which accounts for over 96% of new infections. The Pfizer vaccine, for example, is 96% effective against hospitalisation after two doses, and the AstraZeneca vaccine is 92% effective. With the vast majority of those most at risk already double jabbed, the danger to life has been massively reduced.

If the prime minister is persuaded again by the scientists to extend restrictions, the number of Tory rebels will grow. Not only because more people will have been vaccinated, but also because the economy is in dire straits. Last year the government borrowed over £300 billion to cope with the Covid pandemic – the equivalent of £5,000 per person – and a peacetime record.

This year it is committed to borrowing a further £234 billion. The UK also has also accrued £2 trillion of national debt. This simply cannot go on and will one day have to be paid back. The only way that an economic crisis can be averted is for the country to reopen as soon as possible.

People also understand that life involves risk and that we are never going to be completely ‘Covid free’, as the doom and gloom scientists would like. As former Prime Minister Theresa May stated, “what the government need to state much more clearly is that sadly people will die from Covid here in the UK in the future, as 10,000 to 20,000 people do every year from flu.” We just have to accept that Covid is not going away, and it will not be eradicated anytime soon.

Those 51 Tory MPs who voted against the extension of restrictions are aware that life has to go on and return to normality as soon as possible. The prime minister will do well to listen to them. He may have avoided a crisis yesterday, with the help of Labour MPs, but if he attempts to extend restrictions beyond July 19, he will be forced to face the political consequences.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
×