Today we have one of the more contentious votes in Parliament of the last few years. The Government is implementing new measures to try and slow down the spread of the Omicron variant. This involves the guidance to work from home where you can, extending the use of masks into most non hospitality settings, and requiring a lateral flow test to enter larger venues, with an exemption for the fully vaccinated.
While there is much still to learn about the Omicron variant, what is clear is that it spreads much more quickly than anything we have seen so far. How exactly this will translate into hospitalisations and tragically deaths is something we will come to understand in the weeks and months ahead. With infections doubling roughly every two days, we will not have long to wait.
I firmly believe that another lockdown would be devastating for our country, especially for children and young people. Schools must be kept open and education functioning as our highest priority. Many businesses have also been under incredible pressure for much of the last two years and the damage of another lockdown would push many of them over the edge.
I have spent the last few days going over this with colleagues and Ministers, carefully weighing the options available to us and how best to proceed. I have been very troubled by the notion of so-called vaccine passports. My instinct is that they are an affront to British and democratic values and the evidence seems clear that they do not work.
However, I am persuaded that what the Government has come forward with puts the focus on testing, with Covid certification as a secondary measure, allowing an exemption to testing. I will support the Prime Minister in this as there is no compulsion to use them, testing is the focus and this seems like a sensible step for high risk venues.
I would have preferred that testing was the sole element of this policy and I will be urging the Government to drop the use of Covid certification from any future policy decisions. Fortunately, these are temporary measures that will expire in January of next year, when we will have a better idea of what we are facing.
I am instinctively against further restrictions; we must learn to live with this virus. We have already felt the dreadful effects of lockdown, in lost time with loved ones, in lost education and in lost opportunity. I fear that there will be more consequences to come, as we move into dealing with the legacy of Covid-19.
So I will today support the Prime Minister who has led our country through such incredibly challenging times. My reservations and concerns persist but I have faith that Boris Johnson will lead us through the darkness as he has before, steering a course to recovery once again.
