(Bloomberg) — Boris Johnson suffered his biggest rebellion since becoming U.K. prime minister, forcing him to rely on opposition votes to implement a key part of his strategy to tackle the new omicron Covid-19 variant.
Almost 100 Tories opposed his plan to mandate the use of so-called Covid passes at nightclubs and other venues in England as tries to stem the tide of coronavirus infections, easily surpassing the 55-strong rebellion Johnson suffered a year ago that was also over coronavirus measures.
It’s a significant blow to his authority and comes at a critical time ahead of a special parliamentary election this week that could damage his standing still further. It also risks limiting his options to respond to the pandemic if the omicron crisis deepens, with infections running at an estimated 200,000 a day.
The magnitude of the rebellion illustrates the depth of anger among his MPs, not just at the erosion of civil liberties they say his coronavirus rules represent. They’re also frustrated at some of Johnson’s self-inflicted errors that have damaged the party in recent weeks.
“This will happen over and over again” unless the government listens to what MPs are saying, Conservative rebel Mark Harper told Sky News after the vote. He said ministers should be consulting with the party before deciding on regulations and putting them to a vote.
What began with his mishandling of an ethics probe morphed into a major public relations crisis over allegations his staff held Christmas parties against pandemic rules last year. Amid the turmoil, the Tories have slumped in the polls, handing a lead to Keir Starmer’s Labour in many surveys.
Key Election
It means that Thursday’s vote in the parliamentary seat of North Shropshire, which in normal times should be a safe hold for the Tories defending a majority of almost 23,000, is suddenly a moment of danger for Johnson. There are signs the Liberal Democrats are running the Tory candidate close.
Boris Johnson’s Furious MPs Fear His Next Misstep May Be Fatal
A loss there, on top of the restlessness among Tories over Johnson’s recent missteps, would raise questions about his continued leadership.
Ahead of the votes on Tuesday, Johnson had met rank-and-file Tories to persuade them of the need for the new pandemic rules. The prime minister told them that lots of people will catch Covid-19 due to omicron and it only needs a small percentage of them to be hospitalized to create a real problem, according to one MP in the meeting.
As if to illustrate the point, a succession of high-profile MPs announced positive tests on Tuesday, including Labour shadow cabinet members Rachel Reeves, Bridget Phillipson and Jim McMahon, and Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey.
Johnson is relying on the new rules, along with a massively expanded coronavirus vaccine booster program, to get the country through the omicron crisis. He overcame smaller Tory rebellions to win votes to expand the use of face coverings and mandate vaccination for National Health Service workers.
Christmas Curbs
The government has said it has no plans to introduce tougher rules, Johnson is particularly keen to avoid any more curbs at Christmas for a second year.
Yet his dependence on Labour votes on Tuesday, just two years after he secured the Tories’ biggest majority since 1987, could have major implications if the virus demands further steps he’s politically unable to take.
During nearly five hours of debate preceding the votes, a succession of Tory backbenchers intervened to criticize even the new measures — which are far less stringent than the lockdown and other rules in other parts of Europe — arguing they are illiberal, unproven and inconsistent with the evolving understanding of the new variant. They also made clear
Steve Brine, a former health minister, said the measure on Covid passes “crosses a Rubicon” and he could not support it. Andrew Bridgen suggested the rules aren’t “effective, evidence-based, logical” and lacked broad public support. And Richard Drax said criminalizing people for breaking rules that they couldn’t understand “is not the way to win trust and confidence.”
“I cannot see when this will end: Covid will be with us for many years to come, and it’s unthinkable that every autumn from now on we will be limiting the quality of life for all citizens just to be on the safe side,” Andrea Leadsom, a former member of Johnson’s cabinet, told the Commons. “This is a slippery slope down which I do not want to slip.”
(Updates with context starting in seventh paragraph)
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