Tory MPs threaten rebellion after minister refuses to rule out Tier 4 Covid restrictions

Tory MPs are threatening to mount a rebellion after a senior Government minister refused to rule out new Tier 4 restrictions being introduced in England when the second lockdown ends. 

Speaking on Tuesday morning, Robert Jenrick, the Communities Secretary, said: “We are reviewing the tiers so that when the national measures come to an end on December 2, we’re able to move the country, we hope, back into the tiered structure.

“We will be looking at whether the measures that we had in the old tiers were effective. Remember, they varied quite a bit in different parts of the country because in Tier 3 there was a baseline of measures, which the chief medical officer and others have always said was only the beginning.”

Asked about the introduction of a stricter Tier 4, Mr Jenrick said: “We haven’t come to a decision on that, but the Tier 3 that we had before was just considered a baseline.”

The Government has not yet made clear what Tier 4 might involve, but in Scotland the “level four” restrictions – reserved for areas with “stubbornly high” Covid rates – resemble England’s national lockdown restrictions, with measures including the closure of pubs, restaurants and non-essential shops.

The Government is expected to announce the next set of restrictions next week. They will need to be voted through the Commons in order to become law.

Former chief whip Mark Harper, the leader of the newly formed Covid Recovery Group (CRG) of around 70 Tory lockdown sceptics warned that any Tier 4 proposal was unlikely to win the support of Conservative MPs (the video below analyses the Tories’ difficulties over lockdown restrictions).

If all CRG members opposed the plans it would be enough to overhaul the Government’s working majority of 85, taking into account Sinn Fein MPs, who do not vote, the Speaker and the deputy Speaker.

Boris Johnson was forced to give MPs a say on future lockdowns after Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers, threatened a rebellion over new coronavirus powers in September.

Mr Harper said: “If the attempt is to put most of England into a Tier 4 that will be seen as lockdown by another name, then I don’t think Conservative MPs will support it.

“The PM has been very clear that the current lockdown will end on December 2. Any attempt by Government to effectively continue the lockdown by another means will be very badly received by backbenchers.”

Mr Jenrick also raised the spectre of closing off-licences by 9pm to stop people gathering together in areas worst hit by the pandemic, saying the cut-off time was one of a string of measures that could be “embedded” into any area of England that goes into Tier 3.

Under the previous rules, the worst-hit Tier 3 areas only had a basic menu of closures and then chose an “a la carte” menu on top.

Tier 1 imposed the “rule of six” on gatherings and forced pubs and restaurants to close at 10pm. Tier 2 had those rules but also banned all indoor social gatherings, while Tier 3 banned all social gatherings, indoors or out, other than in public spaces, and people were told not to travel out of the area.

On Monday, The Telegraph reported that MPs were calling on the Government to exempt under 12s from the “rule of six”. Currently, only under-fives are excluded from the rules on household mixing.