[ad_1]
The government faces a chorus of calls between parties on Sunday for urgent withdrawal from parliament “virtually” as parliamentarians and their colleagues demand the right to hold ministers accountable for the growing coronavirus crisis.
The demands of the leaders of all major opposition parties, as well as of top officials, came after Covid-19’s death toll in the UK approached 10,000. Deaths from the virus increased by 917 on Saturday compared to Friday to a total of 9,875.
In front of the daily Covid-19 briefing for the first time, home secretary Priti Patel said the figures showed the “devastating impact of this virus.”
Although there was a slight drop in numbers between Friday and Saturday, experts warned that next week it could see a significant jump.
“This is Easter weekend, and that will have affected the number of reports of deaths,” said David Spielgelhalter, a statistician at the University of Cambridge.
“I would expect there to be an update this week and a massive increase in the number of daily deaths reported on Wednesday or Thursday. Only in the following days we will see if we are reaching a plateau in the deaths ”.
In her first Easter audio message to the nation, the Queen urged people on Saturday to hope and hope for better times, with the words: “We know the coronavirus will not defeat us.”
But with growing concern that the peak may be far away, and questions about the government’s handling of the pandemic while Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains in hospital, Labor leader Keir Starmer said parliament It should be removed as soon as possible.
In a letter to the Leader of the Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, demanding urgent talks with spokesman Lindsay Hoyle, Starmer said “there was no substitute for parliamentary scrutiny” particularly “at this time of national crisis.”
“The best decisions are those that are challenged and subject to scrutiny. And through that process, problems can be resolved, mistakes can be quickly rectified, and individual concerns can be addressed. That will help save lives and protect our country. But if parliament is not sitting down or working effectively, that cannot happen. “
All parliamentary affairs were suspended on March 25 for fear that parliamentarians would contract the virus while working nearby. There was also concern that they would spread Covid-19 when they returned to their constituencies.
While the parliamentary website says that the parliamentarians will return to Westminster on April 21, few believe there is any chance of this happening. But no alternative arrangements for virtual sessions have been announced.
A senior Labor source said: “I don’t think this government wants parliament to come back, as it will allow parliamentarians to focus on the ways they are messing things up.” So they like daily press conferences. They give them the opportunity to control everything. “
Patel said they were debating how parliament would resume and function. However, she insisted that the entire focus was currently on dealing with the pandemic. “I think at this particular time, we have to focus the government’s resources, all our energies, all the government’s nerves, focusing on saving lives and dealing with this terrible disease.”
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said it was essential that parliament return to virtual work this week. This should include a virtual “Question Time” with whom he was replacing Johnson, using a model similar to the video question session with Nicola Sturgeon in the Scottish Parliament.
Blackford said he found it surprising that Downing Street had not yet asked him for a confidential meeting on the terms of the private council. He also revealed that he had written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak more than two weeks ago, expressing concerns about whether the money would reach those most in need, but had had no response. “This is simply not acceptable,” he said.
Tory MP David Davis, a former cabinet minister, went further by saying that MPs should return to Westminster in person as soon as possible and undergo daily Covid-19 tests if necessary. The House of Commons met when air strikes occurred in the war. I think it needs to be reconstituted even if it means that the MPs are tested every day, “Davis said.
Liberal Democrats acting leader Ed Davey said the lack of parliamentary scrutiny at the moment was “intolerable” and could not be allowed to continue.
Meanwhile, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, whose father was a bus driver in the capital, says in an article for the Observer Online who is exploring how protective gear could be given to London transport workers. In the middle of last week, nine London bus drivers had died from Covid-19.
Apologizing for the lack of personal protective equipment, Patel said: “I am sorry if people feel that there have been failures.” She admitted that there had been “distribution problems” as a result of the global demand for PPE and that there was now a “clear plan” to deliver it.
Patel also launched a public awareness campaign aimed at protecting people at risk of domestic abuse. In the West Midlands alone, 400 domestic abuse suspects were revealed to have been arrested in the past fortnight.
As government experts continue to say that the number of people with Covid-19 entering the hospital is stabilizing, an Opinium survey Observer Find support for your management of the pandemic has grown since last week, from 52% to 61%.
