The political agenda continues to be dominated by Coronavirus and the Government’s mishandling of the pandemic: the failing test & trace system, the lack of support for so many self-employed people, and the scandalous PPE procurement process to name just a few. I spoke about some of these issues when I was a guest on the BBC’s Politics Live programme.
Moving from lockdown to Covid restriction tiers
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Many of you have written to me about the vote tonight on the Government’s new Covid restrictions, some asking me to vote for them, some against.
Having listened carefully to the evidence, it’s clear that if we allow the virus to spread unchecked, infections would increase exponentially, and we risk the NHS becoming overwhelmed. Coronavirus remains a serious threat to public health, and that’s why I accept the need for continued restrictions.
Government’s 10-point plan for climate action
We have been hearing for weeks that the Prime Minister would be making a major speech on the environment. In the end, the “major speech” turned into a press release, sent out late at night – and that’s about all it was worth. There were some welcome initiatives, like bringing forward the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, but it completely failed to address the scale of the climate emergency, and there was next to nothing on the nature and biodiversity crisis.
Boris Johnson
10 Downing Street
12th November 2020
Re: Fix the failing COVID-19 testing system - petition
Dear Prime Minister
I am writing to share the significant concern expressed by my constituents - and many others around the country - about the performance of the current COVID Test and Trace programme.
Second coronavirus lockdown
The second lockdown has forced the Government to revise its plans to end the furlough scheme at the end of October, and I am glad it has now been extended to the end of March. But the lack of support for so many of the self-employed is a stain on the Government’s response, and completely undercuts ministers’ claim to be “putting their arms around” everyone.
It’s been a busy week in Parliament with two key bills voted on in the Commons, and a rapidly-changing Coronavirus situation.
New rules on Coronavirus
The Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill sounds sinister and it is.
The authorisations it contains would amount to an express power for agencies like MI5, the police and other public authorities to permit their agents and informants to commit criminal offences.
We have already seen the kind of thing this leads to: undercover police officers starting relationships with political activists and even having children with them, when their intention is to spy.
Brighton Covid amber alert
The failings of the NHS Test and Trace service are more than just worrying, they are plain dangerous.
The latest admission, that nearly 16,000 positive COVID tests were not recorded properly between September 25th and October 2nd, has not only distorted test data to make it harder to monitor the spread of COVID in our communities, it's also delayed vital contact tracing. This means that many thousands of people who have had close contact with people now confirmed to have COVID will not have been self-isolating, so spreading the virus further.
