London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Oct 04, 2025

No 10 slaps down Tory MP over ‘public health socialist state’ tweet

No 10 slaps down Tory MP over ‘public health socialist state’ tweet

Joy Morrissey criticised ‘unelected public health spokesperson’ after Chris Whitty’s advice on socialising

Downing Street has slapped down a Conservative MP who warned against the UK becoming a “public health socialist state”, after Chris Whitty suggested people cut down on pre-Christmas socialising.

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference on Wednesday alongside the prime minister, England’s chief medical officer urged the public: “Don’t mix with people you don’t have to.”

The comments intensified calls from the hospitality sector for financial aid to help them cope with plunging bookings.

Joy Morrissey, the MP for Beaconsfield and a parliamentary aide to the justice secretary, Dominic Raab, tweeted on Friday morning: “Perhaps the covid unelected public health spokesperson should defer to what our ELECTED members of parliament and the prime minister have decided.”

She added: “I know it’s difficult to remember but this is not how democracy works. This is not a public health socialist state.”


Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said the prime minister did not agree with the view expressed by Morrissey. “Professor Whitty is a hugely respected and trusted public servant, who provides independent, evidence-based advice,” he said.

Morrissey replaced Dominic Grieve as Beaconsfield MP after the former attorney general was thrown out of the Conservative party for trying to block a no-deal Brexit.

She took down the tweet after less than half an hour but subsequently posted a more moderate version of the same message, saying she was “increasingly concerned” about “public health pronouncements made in the media”.

Labour called for Morrissey to apologise or be sacked from her role as Raab’s parliamentary private secretary.

In a letter to Raab, the shadow justice secretary, Steve Reed, said: “It is vital, especially during this pandemic, that our leading scientists have the freedom to give public health advice to the public and to offer their expertise without fear of reprisal. As the Omicron variant spreads rapidly through Britain, there must not be any sign of the government censoring or intimidating our leading scientific experts.”

Several other Conservative MPs have also reacted with anger to Whitty’s comments, which intensified calls from the hospitality sector for financial aid to help them cope with plunging bookings.

Johnson suffered his largest ever rebellion over Covid restrictions on Tuesday, with 100 Conservative MPs voting against the government’s plans for Covid passes.

In the House of Commons on Thursday, Steve Baker asked the Treasury minister John Glen: “What reassurance can he give me that when officials speak, particularly on podiums at press conferences, that they are staying within the bounds of the policy that ministers have decided?”

During the same debate, over financial support for businesses hit by the Omicron wave, the former public health minister Steve Brine said: “At a stroke the chief medical officer changed government policy and put this country, certainly hospitality, into effective lockdown.” He claimed: “Advisers are now running the show.”

Downing Street played down differences between Whitty and the prime minister’s stance, however. Johnson’s spokesperson said: “Both the prime minister and the [chief medical officer] were making the point that given the current infection rate, the prevalence of the variant, people should be cautious.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
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
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×