UK Coronavirus Live: Gove Denies Conservative MPs Denied Secret Data on Impact of Covid Restrictions | Politics

Good Morning. Parliamentarians will vote on the new coronavirus restrictions for England at 7pm With all major opposition parties abstinent, there is no realistic chance Boris Johnson will lose; There are currently 364 Conservative MPs, so around 183 would have to vote against the government for it to lose. But in some respects, that will make it easier for the many conservatives who are unhappy with the new system, and in particular that their constituents are placed at level 3 or level 2, to register their disapproval.

If so, does it matter? In the short term, no; The 70-page regulation published yesterday explaining the new rules for England will almost certainly go into effect tomorrow, regardless of what happens in the chamber this afternoon. But in the long run, this afternoon’s debate may well influence government policy against the coronavirus for months to come.

During the first wave of the pandemic, ministers were able to impose draconian lockdown rules with virtually no parliamentary opposition or even scrutiny. This time it is different; the opposition and the parliamentarians in the background are more critical, 34 conservatives opposed the blockade in the vote in early November and it is likely that today they will more defy the whip. The rebels do not need to exceed 40 before reaching the point where, in theory, they could defeat the government in alliance with the opposition. That is why today’s debate can be significant; it may limit the options of ministers in the future.

One advantage of the number 10 is that the Tory rebels and Labor disagree on many things; In general, Labor wants the restrictions to be tighter, while the Tory rebels want them to be looser. But they agree on the need for more support for businesses in their districts. And they are united in wanting the Commons to have more say in what will happen next.

This morning, the government’s attempt to win over MPs willing to vote against suffered a further blow when the Times claimed on its splash (paywall) that Whitehall has produced “a secret dossier detailing the impact of the coronavirus on the economy. , with a dozen sectors classified as ‘red’ and facing significant job cuts and income losses ”. The Times says the secret document undermines the impact assessment claim published yesterday that it is not possible to know what effect the new restrictions will have on companies. Even before the Times story was published, publication of the impact assessment had failed because Tory MP deemed it useless.

This morning, in an interview on the Today show, Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, sought to minimize the damage caused by history. He said he had not seen the file the Times is referring to, a “Covid-19 sectoral impacts dashboard,” and continued:

The evidence I understand is on that dashboard is generally from the ONS and other publicly available statistical databases, and also reports from representative commercial organizations … The information it contains is based on information that is publicly available.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30 am: Boris Johnson chair cabinet.

9.30 am: The ONS publishes its weekly death figures for England and Wales.

9.30 am: Public Health England, the ONS and others provide evidence to the joint health / science committee’s research on the lessons to be learned from the coronavirus.

9.30 am: Richard Hughes, chairman of the Office of Budget Responsibility, gives evidence to the Commons Treasury committee on the spending review.

11.30 am: Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, answers questions in the Commons.

12:00 h: Downing Street is expected to hold its daily lobby briefing.

12:15 pm: Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s Prime Minister, is expected to hold a briefing on the coronavirus.

Around 12:45 pm: Boris Johnson should open the Commons debate on the new coronavirus restrictions for England.

2.30 pm: Robert Buckland, the attorney general, testifies to the Commons justice committee.

19:00 h: MPs vote on new coronavirus restrictions for England.

Politics Live is now doubling down as the UK’s coronavirus live blog and given the way the Covid crisis overshadows everything, this will continue for the foreseeable future. But we will also cover political stories that do not belong to Covid, and when they seem more important or more interesting, they will take precedence.

Here’s our global coronavirus live blog.

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